Site and Location Plans: Your common questions answered.

TerraQuests ReQuestaPlan team gets asked many questions about the creation of site and location plans. We have answered the most frequently asked questions for you in this blog.

What should be included on a site and location plan?

Block/Site Plan

A block/site plan shows exactly where you are intending to develop within the boundaries of a site. You should include any associated new work such as hard surfaces, driveways, walls, and fences. The plan should be clear as to what you are proposing and often it is more helpful to your application if you include two plans, one which shows the current site as it is and one that shows how the site will look after the development has taken place. As with location, the plan should include a north indicator and be on A4; however larger developments may require a larger size.

Location Plan

The location plan should show the planning authority where the site is, clearly indicated by a red border around the property boundary, this should include any land needed for access to the site. If you own any land already on the same plan, this should be coloured blue around its boundary. The plan should have a north indicator and be of A4 in size.

Do ReQuestaPlan Plans have a north arrow and scale indicator?

Yes, our PDF plans are fully compliant with planning authority requirements.

Can I print my plans at home?

Yes, our plans come in PDF format for home users which can be easily printed using your regular printing software. You will need Adobe Reader to open the PDF format or, if you are using Windows 10 they can be opened in the native Windows app or MacOS preview, for users of Apple computers.

Are my maps guaranteed to be accepted by planning authorities?

Planning permission is a complex process and planning authorities can reject a planning application for many reasons. If your planning application is rejected and the cause of the rejection is singularly shown to be down to the plan you purchased from ReQuestaPlan and there is a technical issue as to why the plan is wrong, we will work with you to produce a correct plan. Planning applications that are rejected because of user error are unfortunately not covered by this service.

Can I preview my plan before purchase?

Yes, once you have drawn your plan you can select the preview plan icon before paying. This shows the plan as it will be produced in the final output.

The map area I have selected is out of date or shows buildings or structures that are no longer there or does not show buildings or structures that should be there, why is this?

Our map data is supplied by Ordnance Survey which we cannot alter; for discrepancies in mapping you should contact OS using their help pages.

What happens if I make a mistake?

Before purchase:

If you realise you have made a mistake, you can return to your map and correct any errors using our drawing software, or re-centre your map to the correct location or even change the location of your map.

After purchase:

If you are a registered user and realise you have made a mistake after purchase, you can go to your plans and click on edit. You can add or remove items from the plan but you are unable to alter the scale, format or orientation. There is no charge for this.

If you are a guest user and realise you have made a mistake after purchase, we may consider a refund minus 50%. For more information, please refer to `Non-refundable products` within our Terms and Conditions.

What is the difference between PDF and DWG output? 

A PDF is a commonly used format for sharing or printing documents. Most computers include a PDF reader, but if not installed, they are freely available from Adobe, or other suppliers for all devices. The PDF you will receive when creating your plan will match as closely as possible what you see on screen.

DWG is a specialised format designed to be used in Computer-Aided Design software. The output you will receive for this file format will include the objects drawn on the map, but the format of the text descriptions and titles may be in a different location. If you are not comfortable in editing DWG type files and configuring them into the format you need, you should use the PDF format.