A: Submit-a-Plan is the name given to the online web portal for submitting Building Control applications to Local Authorities. The site has been designed as a single location for both the general public and professional users to submit Building Control applications to your Local Authority. Once you have registered your account, you will have access to Submit a Building Regulation application to over 400 Local Authorities in the UK.

A: Yes. In order to submit an application to your Local Authority you have to first register an account with the website.

Benefits of registering an account are:

• It will save you time when filling in your application forms, as your details will be automatically populated
• Secure access to your previous applications
• Ability to upload additional documentation
• Online application tracking
• Email functionality direct to Local Authority

You can either register as an Applicant or an Agent. An Applicant account is for those who are submitting an application on behalf of themselves. An Agent account allows a user to submit an application on behalf of another person. Once you have successfully registered an account, you will receive an email with an Activation Link inside. Click this and your account registration will be complete.

A: Due to certain Email providers assuming that our emails are spam mail, a very random few users will not receive your activation emails. The first place to look if you have not received your activation email is your Junk/Spam box.

If you have not received an activation email at all, it is very likely that your mail provider has blocked it at the first instance before sending it to you. Please contact Submit-a-Plan Support on helpdesk@resolutiondm.com or call 01242 260505 and the support team will gladly assist you.

A: There are 3 main possibilities for not being able to gain access to your account.

1. You have forgotten your password.
2. You have attempted to log in incorrectly too many times and disabled your account.
3. You haven’t received your activation email or wasn’t aware of needing to activate your account.

First thing to try when you have this situation is the 'Forgot your Password' link on the login screen of Submit-a-Plan (Below the password entry box). This will email you your password for future reference. If you have received an email informing you that your account has been disabled, please contact Submit-a-Plan support using the Contact Us form. We will then ask you a security question before enabling your account once again.

If you have not received an account disable and know your password, your account may well be inactive. Please use the Contact Us form and the support team will activate your account for you.

A: The most common types of application forms are Full Plans and Building Notice.

Full Plans
This is the most common type of application local authorities receive for building works. It requires detailed drawings to be submitted together with the relevant fee for the work being undertaken. The plans are checked and an approval notice is issued before work commences. This process can take up to 8 weeks dependant on the project, but in most cases it will be completed well before this.

Building Notice
This is a simpler procedure generally used for minor works such as the removal of an internal load bearing wall, but cannot be used for commercial developments. A big advantage is that it allows work to start 48 hours after submission of the application as there is no plan checking involved before work begins.

For clarification on which application type would be suitable for your project please speak to your Local Building Control Office.

A: There are numerous ways of selecting the correct application to your submission Authority.

1. Select the 'Make An Application' link which will take you to the Council Selection page.
1. Here you can type in the Postcode for the work location to find the nearest Authority
2. Select the Submission Authority from the drop down list
3. Select the Submission Authority from the Interactive Map

Once you have selected the correct Authority, choose the Application type you wish to Submit and you are ready to start.

A: In order to allow you to submit to all Local Authorities using the same form, we list authorities even if they dont require electronic applications via Submit-a-Plan in the form of a Postal Delivery Application. This means you will always have a record of your applications and they will always be in the same place.

A Postal Delivery Authority means that the particular Local Authority you wish to submit to have not subscribed to the Submit-a-Plan scheme. We do not allow you to upload any drawings to the application. We allow you to create an electronic pdf of your application, however at the end of the process you are prompted to print the application off and send the application and any supporting documents to the Authority by post, you will be able to gain access to your pdf at any time through your DataSpace Live Account.

An Electronic Delivery Authority allows you to upload as many documents to your application as you like. Once you have finished creating your application, you can simply hit ‘Submit Application’ and the application form and all documents attached will be sent to your submission Authority. They will be emailed to notify them of your new submission and be able to gain access to it straight away. You will have the option to print off your application form, and will always be able to gain access to your application through your DataSpace Live Account.

A: Since March 2012, Submit-a-Plan.com has changed. This is now a front end to a more comprehensive web product. Users will now create their applications in the main application hub www.dataspacelive.co.uk (DataSpace Live)

You can access this site directly via the above URL (Select Create Application from the My Application section), or via Submit-a-Plan.com going through the Local Authority Selection Process. Once you have selected your chosen Application Type, the website will automatically direct you into DataSpace Live where your application creation wizard will begin.

A: For users using Internet Explorer 9 you may have configure www.dataspacelive.co.uk to run in compatibility mode the first time you gain access to the site.

The website does prompt you if it requires your Internet Explorer to run in compatibility mode, alternatively click here for instructions on configuring your browser for compatibility mode. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-to-use-Compatibility-View-in-Internet-Explorer-9 Once you have stored the site in your compatibility settings it will refresh and you will not have to make this change again.

A: This is a common mistake when users are creating their accounts the first time using Submit-a-Plan. If you have selected Applicant Account instead of an Agent Account please contact Submit-a-Plan support via the Contact Us form and we will update your configuration for you.

A: Even though Submit-a-Plan is free to use to its applicants/agents, you still have to pay fees to your l Local Authority. Building Control does not have a national charging structiue, so in many cases the Authority you are submitting to will want to inspect your application before taking any fees.

On the Charges page, we have put a link to each Local Authority website, to give you the chance to view the current fees schedule. If you are still unsure, you are welcome to give the Local Authority a call prior to completing your application and they will give you the fees advice you need.

Once you are clear on what the fees for your application are, indicate them on your form, along with your preffered payment method and the Local Authority will contact you to take payment.

A: When you have reached the required documents page of you will be taken through a 3 step wizard process to upload your documents. First you have to select the 'Uploading Documents as part of this application' option.

Step 1. Select the Add Files button and list all of the files you wish to submit to your Authority.
Note: You also have access within your DataSpace Live account after submission to upload additional/revised documentation.

Step 2. Once your files are uploaded you will need to specify the document type, sht no, doc no, and revision for each document.
Note: In order to differentiate one document from another, it is important to specify as much information as possible.For document number and sheet no, you can leave these as the default values given.

Step 3. Confirm details are correct and move on to the next stage of your application.

A: Throughout the application creation wizard you can preview your application form at any time and even print off as incomplete, for those times when you need to run certain information through with your clients prior to submission. Simply click the Adobe link at the top of the Application creation page. This can be done right up to the validation stage of your application.

A: You may have noticed when filling in your application that the page sections down the left hand side of the wizard process turn green/red.

If for any reason a page section on the left is red, it could mean that a certain field is not validating with the website validation system. This could be a field has not been filled in, a text field has too many characters in (limit will be specified) or your application instance cannot connect to the validation system.

Alternatively it could mean that your session has timed out with our validating system. For example you could of stepped away from your computer or taken a phone call. If this happens simply close your browser down, (do not worry your application automatically gets stored as incomplete) and open your incomplete application back up.

A: Once you have submitted your application, you will need to contact your Local Authority direct to make payment.

Within the Charges page for each Local Authority, there is a link which will take you to the Local Authority Building Control charges area. There may be some information on there to explain how to pay for your application.

A: For a postal application, at the end of the process you are prompted to print the application off, and you will be able to gain access to your pdf at any time.

You can access it by visiting www.submit-a-plan.com and selecting 'Existing Applications' or by directly logging into your DataSpace Live account at www.dataspacelive.co.uk.

You will have to send your paper copy of the application form as well as your supporting documents in the post to your Local Authority.

For Electronic Application Delivery, by hitting Submit Application, an email will already be on its way to your submission Authority informing them of your successful submission. Once you have finished printing off your application, you will be able to track the progress of your application in DataSpace Live, uploaded additional/revised documentation, and email your Local Authority directly. Lastly of course, you will also be able to gain access to your previously submitted applications.

A: When you have successfully submitted your application you will see a message pop up informing you that your application is now being processed.

You will receive an email when it has finished being processed and it is at this time you application will go into your applications list in DataSpace Live.

In times of busy traffic it could take upto an hour to process your application but it is usually in within a minute of submitting it.

If after an extended period of time your application isnt in your list please get in touch with the Support Team on 01242 260505.

A: First of all, at the end of the application process you are prompted with an open to view your pdf in our print viewer. Here is the first place you can save it to your computer.

If you have simply printed the application off, you can still access the electronic copy of your pdf within DataSpace Live.

Go to the 'My Applications' section, and open the application you wish to download. By opening it from the list you will be taken to the General Details page.

You will see at the bottom of the screen the documents list containing your application form. You can either double click it to open the pdf viewer and save from there, or alternatively right click on the application form and select the download document option.

A: Within the DataSpace Live website, we have given Applicants several functions to enable you to keep track of your application and make amendments to the supporting documentation.

A: You will see next to each application a status. It is the responsiblity of the Local Authority to keep the status of each application up to date. If you are finding your application status hasnt changed please enquire with us or indeed your Local Authority.

A: By opening up your application from the DataSpace Live application list, it will take you to the General Details page of your application.

Here you have the ability to add Additional Documentation, or add Revisions of previously submitted documentation.

All documents will be seperated into their correct folder on the page to make finding them much easier for both you as an applicant and the Local Authority.

All document changes will be sent in the form of an Email notification to the Local Authority

A: You now have the ability to email your Local Authority direct from the application within DataSpace Live.

All Emails are stored in your online mailbox within the website, but can be replied to via your mail client on your personal computer.

A: Here at Resolution we do not offer the functionality to view your supporting Documents that you have submitted with your applications.

Technically once these documents have been sent to the Local Authority, by any means, they are the under the Local Authorities control.

We do however give you the ability to view your Application Form. To which you can also save a pdf copy for yourself.