What does planning permission with conditions mean?

Almost every grant of planning permission in Ireland comes with conditions attached, issued under section 34 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. These conditions form part of the legal permission itself - the development must be carried out fully in accordance with both the approved drawings and every condition listed in the decision, not just the general design. Ignoring a condition can render the development unauthorised even though permission was technically granted.

Common conditions include specifying external finishes or roof materials to match the surrounding streetscape, restricting construction working hours to protect neighbouring amenity, requiring landscaping or boundary treatment to be completed within a set period, limiting the use of a building (for example, restricting a granny flat to use ancillary to the main house), and requiring the payment of a development contribution to fund public infrastructure such as roads and water services in the area.

Some conditions require you to submit further details to the council for written agreement before works commence or before a certain stage of construction - for example, agreeing final external materials, a landscaping scheme, or a construction management plan. These are sometimes called 'agreement' conditions and must be actioned and cleared with the planning authority before the relevant stage of the works proceeds, even though the permission itself has already been granted.