Planning permission vs exempted development — 29% of section 5 requests came back "not exempt"

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin decided 251 requests for a section 5 declaration in the 12 months to 12 September 2026, and in 74 of them, 29%, the answer was "not exempt": the works needed planning permission. Another 14 were split, exempt in part. Those two councils are the only Dublin registers that publish section 5 requests as a type we can count, and they are the closest thing there is to a measured error rate for the word "exempt". Nearly a third of the people confident enough to ask were wrong.

Development, and the exemption from it

Section 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 defines development as the carrying out of works on land, or the making of a material change in its use. Section 32 says development needs permission. Section 4 and the Regulations made under it then carve out exempted development, which is development that does not need permission. Everything on the register is the residue: works or uses that fall inside s.3 and outside s.4.

Section 4(1) lists exemptions in the Act itself. The one householders use is s.4(1)(h): works affecting only the interior of a structure, or not materially affecting its external appearance so as to make it inconsistent with the character of the structure or its neighbours. Agricultural use of land, works by a council in its own area, and land drainage are others. Section 4(2) lets the Minister add classes by regulation, which is where Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 comes from.

Schedule 2: the classes

Article 6 of the 2001 Regulations makes each class in Schedule 2 exempted development, subject to the conditions written beside it in column 2. Part 1 is the domestic list: Class 1, an extension to the rear of a house (45 m² from 27 July 2026); Class 3, a garden shed or room (30 m²); Class 3A, a detached garden dwelling of 32–45 m² until 31 December 2030; Class 5, a wall or fence to 2 m at the back and 1.2 m at the front; Class 7, a porch to 2 m²; Class 9, a vehicular entrance to 3.5 m. Part 2 covers advertisements, Part 3 rural and agricultural buildings, Part 4 changes of use between listed uses.

The conditions are the trap. Each class is exempt only while every condition in column 2 holds, and the conditions are cumulative across earlier works. An extension that would be exempt on its own is not exempt if an earlier extension already used the area. A shed within 30 m² is not exempt if it leaves less than 25 m² of garden. The site of the works matters too: Class 1 is "to the rear"; the same room to the side is an application.

Article 9: where the exemption is lost

Article 9 of the 2001 Regulations takes exemptions away in listed situations. Works that would contravene a condition on an existing permission are not exempt. Nor are works that would obstruct sightlines at a road junction, endanger public safety, or consist of an extension to a building that is itself unauthorised. Works to a protected structure lose every Schedule 2 exemption unless a s.57 declaration says otherwise, and inside an architectural conservation area anything that affects the external character of the building needs permission. Anything needing environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive is never exempt.

We read the not-exempt declarations Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown issued in August 2026. One was a stair lift to a timber staircase in a protected structure at Rochestown Avenue: internal works, exempt in any other house, not here. Another was the temporary removal of a boundary wall on Dalkey Avenue, and a third a change of external finish from plaster to brick at Hyde Park Gardens, Blackrock, which the council found did materially affect the appearance. Nobody in those cases was trying it on. They asked, and the answer was no.

How to get a section 5 declaration

Section 5 of the 2000 Act lets anyone ask the council, in writing, whether a particular development is or is not exempted development. The fee is €80 under Schedule 9. You send a description, drawings and a site map; the council must issue its declaration within four weeks, and can request further information once, which restarts the clock. The declaration goes on the register against the address. Either you or the council can refer the question to An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála) within four weeks of the declaration, for €220, and the Commission's answer is final short of the courts.

A declaration is what a purchaser's solicitor wants to see for works that were never on the register. An architect's opinion on exemption is the cheaper substitute and most sales run on it; a declaration is the one that binds the council. Our reading: get a declaration before building anything within 10% of a Schedule 2 limit, on a corner site, or on any house built before 1963. The €80 and four weeks are cheap next to a retention application at three times the fee, refused 27% of the time.

What "exempt" does not cover

Exemption is only from planning permission. The Building Regulations apply to exempt works in full, with a commencement notice through BCMS for a material alteration. A lease, a management company or a covenant on the title can still prohibit the works. A neighbour's right to light is a matter for the courts, not the council. And an exempt structure used for a purpose the class does not allow, a garden room let to a tenant for instance, becomes unauthorised through the use even though the building was exempt.

Check the address

Open the Explorer on your address. Section 5 declarations appear in the applications tab for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin with the decision text; for other councils, the planning search guide says what a search will and will not find. The South Dublin place page shows that council's live figures.

Figures from the register on 12 September 2026 (live callouts refresh hourly); law checked 12 September 2026. Check with the council or a planning consultant before relying on this.

Frequently asked questions

What is exempted development?

Development that does not need planning permission: the categories in s.4 of the 2000 Act and the classes in Schedule 2 of the 2001 Regulations, each subject to conditions. It is still development, and the Building Regulations still apply.

How do I find out if my works are exempt?

Ask the council for a section 5 declaration for €80. It must answer within four weeks and the answer goes on the register. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin 29% of requests in the past year were declared not exempt.

Can I appeal a section 5 declaration?

You can refer it to An Coimisiún Pleanála within four weeks of the council's declaration for €220. The Commission's determination is final unless challenged by judicial review.

Does a protected structure have any exemptions?

Almost none. Article 9 removes the Schedule 2 exemptions for works to a protected structure that affect its character, and s.4(1)(h) internal works are not exempt where they affect character. A s.57 declaration from the council, which is free, sets out what the owner may do without permission.

Are the 27 July 2026 exemptions retrospective?

No. Works built before that date are judged by the rules in force when they were built. A 40 m² extension built in 2024 without permission is unauthorised, even though the same extension would be exempt today, until retention is granted.