How many revisions are included in architectural drawing fees in London?

With us there is no revision count: our planning drawings start at a fixed £745, and if the case officer asks for changes to a scheme we drew, we revise and resubmit at no extra fee until the decision. The fee moves only if you change the job itself, such as a materially different scheme, an extra storey or a second property, and we quote that before doing any work.

By the DrawingsDirect drawing team · 31 October 2026 · 5 min read

Do drawing companies charge extra for revisions?

Some do and some do not, which is why it is the first thing to ask when you compare quotes. Firms that charge by the hour bill each round of changes as time spent. Some fixed-fee quotes include a stated number of revision rounds and charge for any beyond it. Read the quote or the terms for the word revision before you sign.

Our terms do not set a number. If a case officer raises comments on a scheme we prepared, we revise and resubmit at no extra fee for as long as the scheme stays the same. A revision cycle that runs long is our risk, not yours: the fee does not rise because the drawings took longer than expected.

What a fixed-fee drawing service includes

A fixed fee is only useful if you know what it covers. Our planning drawings package is the measured existing and proposed plans and elevations, the location and block plans, the application form and submission as your agent, and replies to the case officer, including the redraws they ask for. The planning drawings page lists the drawings in full.

What it does not include are third-party costs. The council's own application fee, building control fees, structural engineer's calculations, party wall surveyors and specialist reports are paid by you to those bodies, and we tell you what we expect them to be before you commit.

What a typical householder planning job costs, and who is paid

Our planning drawings, redraws included: £745
Council householder application fee: £548
A change after approval, if one is needed: £295
Total: £1,588

Fixed fee or hourly rate: which protects you better?

An hourly rate looks cheaper on day one and costs more each time the council asks for something. You cannot know in advance how many questions an officer will raise, so you cannot know the final bill. A fixed fee moves that uncertainty to the practice drawing the scheme.

The catch with any fixed fee is the boundary. Ours changes only if you change the job: a materially different scheme after drawings have started, an extra storey, a second property, or work outside the scope in your quote. In that case we tell you before doing anything and issue a revised quote you can accept or decline. If a drawing is wrong because information you gave us was wrong, correcting it is chargeable, so tell us early about past refusals, leases and boundaries.

For other ways to spend less on the whole job, see how to keep extension drawing costs down.

Old blue-print sections through four villas showing stairs, floors and roofs, the kind of sheet that is revised after officer comments — Each round of officer comments means revised sheets. On a fixed fee, the number of rounds is not your cost.

Amendments after council feedback: how the timing works

Most householder applications have 8 weeks for a decision, and comments from the case officer often arrive well into that period. The council can take longer only by agreement, and that agreement must be in writing and set out when a decision is expected.

That is why we turn officer comments round quickly. A council can decline to consider revised drawings that arrive late and decide the application as submitted, and a refusal followed by a new application costs more time than a redraw. If the officer asks for more time to look at revisions, we tell you what is being agreed before you sign it.

What happens when the case officer asks for changes

Comments arrive
The case officer emails questions or asks for a change, such as a smaller dormer or a moved window.
We advise
We explain what the officer wants and whether the change keeps the scheme you asked for.
Redraw and resubmit
The revised sheets go back to the council at no extra fee while the scheme stays the same.
Decision
The council decides. We cannot promise the outcome, and no honest practice can.

If the council takes too long

Delay is not a reason to pay more for drawings. Government guidance says a valid non-major application still undecided after 16 weeks, with no appeal made and no longer period agreed, gets its council fee refunded. It also warns applicants not to delay a decision just to obtain that refund.

If no decision arrives within the statutory period, you can appeal to the Secretary of State against non-determination. That is a separate decision with its own costs, and we would talk it through with you before anything is filed.

Two-storey extension shell in white blockwork beside a semi-detached house, built once the approved drawings are final — Building starts from the approved drawings, so the last set of revisions is the one that matters.

Changes after approval are a different job

Free redraws run to the decision. Once permission is granted, a change you or your builder want is a request to alter that permission, and it has its own route and council fee. A non-material change to a householder permission costs £46 at the council, and a variation of the approved plans condition costs £89.

There is no statutory definition of non-material, and the council has 28 days to decide one unless a longer period is agreed in writing. Our fixed fee for a planning amendment is £295.

A refusal is different again: the scheme usually has to change, and who can redraw your plans after a refusal covers how that redraw is scoped.

Open-plan kitchen extension mid fit-out with plastered walls and bare screed, the stage when builders often suggest changes — A change suggested on site after approval needs its own amendment, not a free redraw.

Questions to ask any practice before you sign

How many revisions are included, and are they counted per sheet or per round? Are changes asked for by the council treated differently from changes you ask for? What exactly makes the fee change, and will you be told before the work is done? Is the council fee included or extra?

Our answers are in the terms and on the pricing page, and the fee in your written quote is the fee you pay. If you are still weighing up who should draw your scheme, our guide to the full planning permission service covers the process from survey to decision.

Sources

Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.

£548: Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: enlargement, improvement or other alteration of an existing dwellinghouse, where the application relates to a single dwellinghouse. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
£46: Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: non-material changes to planning permission, where the application relates to householder development. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
£89: Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: removal or variation of a condition, where the application relates to a householder application. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
8: PPG Determining a planning application para 001: statutory time limit for most non-major development (source wording: 8 weeks). www.gov.uk
in writing: PPG para 003: an extension of time must be in writing and set out the timescale for a decision. www.gov.uk
16: PPG para 004: fee refunded if a non-major application is undetermined after 16 weeks, no appeal made and no longer period agreed. www.gov.uk
no statutory definition: PPG Flexible options para 002: there is no statutory definition of non-material. www.gov.uk
28: PPG Flexible options para 007: s96A determination period, or a longer period agreed in writing. www.gov.uk

Questions people ask

Is there a limit on how many times you redraw?

No set number. Redraws the case officer asks for on a scheme we prepared are free until the decision, as long as the scheme stays the same.

What if I want to change my design myself?

Tell us what the change is. If it makes a materially different scheme, adds a storey or falls outside the quote, we issue a revised quote before doing the work.

Does your fee include the council's application fee?

No. The council fee is paid to the council. For a householder application on one house it is £548 from 1 April 2026.

Do free redraws mean the council has to say yes?

No. The decision is the council's, and nobody can promise it. If we think a scheme is unlikely to be approved, we say so before you spend money on it.

Are changes after approval free too?

No. A change to a granted permission is a separate application with its own council fee, handled through our planning amendments service.

Photographs: Derek Harper (CC BY-SA 2.0); Jules Bilmeyer Joseph Van Riel (CC0); David Hawgood (CC BY-SA 2.0); Brett Jordan (Pexels License).

Planning Drawings: a fixed fee from £745

Read more on the planning drawings service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.

Planning Drawings

from £745

£545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total)

Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.

Get a fixed quote Call 020 7864 7245

What you get

A fixed fee quoted in writing before work starts, with no hourly rate
Measured existing and proposed plans and elevations for the application
Submission to the council as your agent and replies to the case officer
Free redraws to approval while the scheme stays the same
A revised quote before any work if you change the scheme or scope
A clear list of third-party fees you pay to the council and others