Planning conditions
Archaeological planning conditions and condition discharge
An archaeological condition is a sequence, not a single task: approve a scheme, carry out the work in accordance with it, then report and archive. Developments get caught out by the sequence far more often than by the archaeology.
- Applies at
- Pre-commencement, and often pre-determination
- Key document
- Written Scheme of Investigation
- Approved by
- Local planning authority
- Completed by
- Reporting and archive deposition
Reading the condition
Start with what the condition actually says
Conditions vary substantially in scope. Before any work is priced, the wording needs to be read carefully against what the development is proposing to disturb.
- Is it pre-commencement, or tied to a specific phase or trigger?
- Does it require evaluation, mitigation, or a scheme covering both?
- Does it name a standard, a brief, or the authority's approval as the test?
- Does it include post-excavation analysis, publication and archive?
- Does earlier archaeological work already satisfy part of the requirement?
- Is the condition attached to the whole site or only to defined areas?
- What is the actual depth and footprint of ground disturbance proposed?
- Are there other conditions — ecology, contamination, arboriculture — that share the same site access window?
Sequence
The discharge sequence in practice
- 01
1. Scope agreement
We review the condition and any authority brief, then agree the scope of archaeological work informally with the archaeological advisor before it is formalised.
- 02
2. Written Scheme of Investigation
WSI prepared and submitted for approval, covering method, standards, staffing, sampling, phasing, reporting and archive.
- 03
3. Fieldwork
Work delivered strictly in accordance with the approved scheme, with any necessary variation agreed in writing before it is implemented.
- 04
4. Reporting and sign-off
Post-excavation assessment, analysis where required, archive deposition, and submission of the reporting the authority needs to confirm discharge.
Documents
What a Written Scheme of Investigation has to cover
A WSI is a contractual and regulatory document. A thin one gets rejected, delays approval, and often has to be rewritten at the point the programme can least absorb it.
- Site and proposal
- Site location, development proposal, extent and depth of impact, and the condition being addressed.
- Archaeological background
- Known heritage assets, HER data, previous fieldwork and the resulting expectation for the site.
- Aims and objectives
- What the work is intended to establish, framed against regional research priorities where relevant.
- Method statement
- Fieldwork method, sample, recording standards, environmental and finds sampling strategies.
- Programme and staffing
- Duration, phasing, team structure, supervision, plant and monitoring arrangements.
- Reporting and archive
- Reporting stages, timescales, archive standards and deposition arrangements with the receiving repository.
Common questions
Planning conditions: common questions
What does an archaeological planning condition actually require?
Most archaeological conditions have two limbs: no development until a written scheme of investigation has been submitted to and approved by the authority, and then the development carried out in accordance with that approved scheme, including post-excavation reporting and archive deposition. Both limbs have to be satisfied. Completing fieldwork alone does not discharge the condition.
How long does it take to discharge an archaeological condition?
The approval of the written scheme is usually a matter of weeks, depending on the authority's workload and whether the scope is agreed first time. The fieldwork and reporting stages then run to their own durations. The realistic answer is that condition discharge is a sequence of several steps, and it is the sequence — not any single step — that developers underestimate.
Can we start groundworks while the condition is being discharged?
Not where the condition is worded as a pre-commencement condition. Starting groundworks in breach of a pre-commencement archaeological condition is a serious matter and can put the lawfulness of the whole implementation at risk. Check the wording with your planning consultant before anything is disturbed.
Who writes the Written Scheme of Investigation?
The appointed archaeological contractor normally prepares it, because it commits that contractor to a method, a resource level and a reporting standard. It is submitted by or on behalf of the applicant and must be approved by the authority before the work it describes begins.
What if we inherited a condition on a site we have just acquired?
Send us the decision notice and the condition wording. Inherited conditions are frequently misread — sometimes the requirement is far lighter than assumed, and occasionally previous work has already satisfied part of it.
Project review
Send us your planning condition
Paste the condition wording or attach the decision notice. We will tell you what it requires, what sequence it implies and how long a realistic discharge route takes.