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Your first site check

This walks through running your first constraint check, from opening the tool to reading the result. No account or sign-up is needed for this — the interactive checker is free and unlimited.

1. Open the tool​

From planningconstraints.com, select Open Tool (or go straight to /app). This drops you into the map view.

2. Find your site​

Search by address, postcode or place name in the search box, or click directly on the map if you already know roughly where the site is. The map will centre on your location and drop a pin.

If your device supports geolocation, you can also use "my location" to jump straight to where you are standing — handy for a site visit.

3. Set your search area​

By default the free checker sweeps a small circle (up to 50 m) around your pin. For most quick checks that's enough. If you need a wider sweep, a whole land parcel, or a boundary you draw yourself, that's a paid feature — see Plans and what they unlock.

You can also choose a role preset (for example "homeowner extension" or "developer") which pre-selects the categories most relevant to that kind of project, so the panel isn't cluttered with things that don't matter to you.

4. Read the results​

The constraint panel on the side of the map lists every category checked — conservation areas, listed buildings, flood risk, TPOs, green belt, and so on — with a status for each: Clear (nothing found within range) or a finding with distance and detail. If a data source couldn't be reached, that category shows Partial rather than Clear — see Reading your results for why that distinction matters and is never skipped.

5. Go deeper if you need to​

From here you can:

  • Click into any flagged category for the plain-English explanation and the source it came from.
  • Adjust the pin or the search radius and re-run the check.
  • Buy a Site Report Pass (£9.99, one-off) for that address to get a full PDF report, wider radii, and every export format — see Generating a report.
  • Save the site to a portfolio for later — this needs a Pro plan (or a Team/Practice seat); see Saving sites.

That's the whole loop: search, check, read, and (if the finding matters enough) buy the paper trail or start monitoring it. Nothing about steps 1–4 requires payment or an account.