Design with planning and Building Regulations confidence.
Since the Building Safety Act, compliance is the designer's responsibility. QCheck turns the Approved Documents into interactive checks on your own plans, records every design decision, and exports marked-up drawings ready for building control.
The guidance behind every drawing.
Every QCheck sheet records what was tested, against which guidance and edition, by whom and when. That record supports the duties below. It does not replace your judgement.
The Code asks architects to work competently, with skill and diligence. Each check names the guidance and edition it was tested against, so your reasoning can be shown.
The Rules ask for competence and a diligent, good quality service. A marked-up sheet shows what was measured, how it was measured and the limit it was set against.
The Code asks for reasonable skill, knowledge and care, and for independent judgement. Planning checks are set against the published standard, and gaps read Not assessed.
PRINCE2 manages by stages and focuses on products with agreed quality criteria. A dated, revisioned check sheet is a quality record for each design issue.
CDM asks designers to eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks and to pass information on. Results and design notes travel with the drawing. Workplace checks use L24.
Site managers trained under the scheme plan and supervise work from clear information. One sheet, one key and a source for every figure make design stage checks readable on site.
Three assurances behind every record
QCheck uses no AI of any kind. Every result is replicable and referenced directly to the policy it comes from. It helps dutyholders make critical decisions, so safety is never left to an AI hallucination.
QCheck runs locally in your browser and uploads nothing. Work on sensitive client information knowing your data is never used for training or analytics. Contact me directly to find out how the tool is built and verified.
Experienced designers can jump straight into the tools and switch the guidance off. Everyone else can use QCheck to learn: each tool explains how to measure before it asks for a figure.
QCheck is independent. It is not endorsed by, or affiliated with, any of these bodies. Following guidance does not guarantee compliance.
I amChoose a role: dutyholder, stakeholder or end user
As contractor or principal contractor under Part 2A of the Building Regulations 2010, you must carry out the work so that it complies with all relevant requirements. Settle on-site building control queries and design debates with the Approved Document guidance set out as cold, hard annotated drawings.
ArchitectPlanning consultantPRINCE2 certified
In today's building industry landscape, an ambitious concept drawing that wins work can quickly become a slow process of scope creep, variations and a compliance nightmare when Building Regulations and planning policy checks do not start at RIBA Stage 0.
This tool has one goal: empower designers and prevent tragedies. When regulations are confusing, and correcting them means losing a project or a client, people slide non-compliant drawings under the table.
Instead, design from the get-go with confidence, with evidence of compliance, and streamline any regulation-related problem solving.
As an award-winning architect, I have spent years in the industry delivering projects closely with project managers, contractors and engineers, and learned that great design comes with buildability, viability and compliance confidence. The built environment is a world where confidence on site is demanded, and when regulations are not clear and easily interpreted, that same confidence becomes “Nah mate, don't worry about it, we have always done it like this”.
With a background in architecture, planning and game design, I saw a clear gap to fill: a tool that is as interactive and intuitive as it is rigorous and policy based. This is exactly why no AI functions exist: it empowers you to make decisions, it does not make them for you.
We always welcome feedback and involvement. Currently, we are looking for input from:
Get in touch, and make a difference in the built environment.
This is a draft. Items marked to be confirmed will be completed before public release.
QCheck is a toolkit of planning, Building Regulations and workplace checks that runs in your browser. You load your own drawing as a PDF, trace what you want checked, and QCheck measures it at the drawing's scale, sets it against the published guidance and marks the result on the sheet.
It is built for the early stages of a project, when a concept needs technical and planning confidence before the design is fixed. It is written for anyone with a duty on a project, whether or not they know the guidance well. Each tool explains how its measurements are taken before it asks for them, and people who know the tools can turn that guidance off.
QCheck is one app. Every tool shares the same drawing, scale, project file and PDF export.
Scroll or pinch to zoom, and drag empty space to pan.
Project setup records the work type, building class, height, fire strategy, heritage status and planning requirements for the file. Does it apply? turns those answers into the Parts of the Building Regulations that are likely to apply, and links to the tools for each. Library shows every document QCheck holds as a shelf of covers: the National Planning Policy Framework, the Nationally Described Space Standard, each Approved Document and HSE's L24. Open a cover to read the document inside QCheck.
Measures areas from the drawing. Trace each area corner by corner, edit it by dragging corners or walls, and place a schedule of areas on the sheet. Dimensions and notes can be added alongside. It applies no limits: it measures what you trace.
Checks dwellings against the Nationally Described Space Standard. Trace each unit outline along the inside face of the external and party walls, then trace its rooms and pick their types. QCheck works out areas and room widths, links windows to rooms, and reports each unit against the standard.
Set the unit type first: bedrooms, bed spaces and storeys, for example 2b3p on one storey. QCheck asks for it the first time you trace a unit outline or a room, because every minimum in the standard depends on it. Later units start with the same type and can be changed in their unit card. If you choose to decide later, QCheck reads the type from the bedrooms you trace and marks the checks that depend on it as Not assessed until there is enough to go on.
Draws swept paths on the plan. A step strip takes you through it: choose the vehicle, click the route of its front axle, then trace the walls, kerbs and other obstacles. Any clash turns the path red. Parking bay rows, distance and width checks, visibility splays and fire service templates are scheduled with a pass or fail. Swept paths are a kinematic estimate from published vehicle dimensions.
Checks a rear extension to a house against Class A of the General Permitted Development Order, with one route for permitted development and one for prior approval. It works as a checklist, and every measurement can be traced on the drawing.
The 45° and 25° tests from BRE 209 show whether a new building or extension is likely to affect a neighbour's window. Amenity space tests private outdoor space against London Plan Policy D6, or a local figure you enter.
Checks means of escape against Approved Document B, for flats under Volume 1 and for other uses under Volume 2. Set the building details, trace the spaces, then draw each escape path. QCheck measures travel distances, including the 9 m rule inside a flat, tests doors and passage widths, can lay out routes for you to check, and shows fire resistance, fire doors and smoke vents on the plan.
Checks a stair against Approved Document K. Choose Trace stair, then click the centre of the bottom nosing, each turn and the top nosing. Enter the floor-to-floor height and the number of risers shown on the drawing. The going is measured from your trace. QCheck redraws the stair on the plan and checks rise, going, pitch, 2R + G, headroom and handrails. Section and 3D views, a specification, and DXF and SVG exports are available.
If you are working from a survey, choose Survey levels under Layout and enter the level of the lower floor, each landing and the upper floor in metres. QCheck sets the floor-to-floor height from the levels, works out the risers in each flight from the difference between its two levels, and checks each flight's rise on its own. Winders have no single level, so only landings are listed.
Checks a ramp against Approved Document M, with Approved Document K for guarding. Choose Trace ramp, set Run or Landing before each segment, and click along the centreline. Enter the total rise and the gradient is worked out from your trace. QCheck checks gradient against run length, landings, widths, handrails and guarding, and can show the ramp in section and 3D.
With Survey levels, enter the level at the foot of the ramp and at the top of each run in metres. Each run is then checked on its own going and its own rise, and the run lengths can be set from the levels at a target gradient.
Hose reach, bin carry distances and drain runs share one tool. Pick the rule in the toolbar, trace the route as it would be walked or laid, and QCheck measures it against the limit and shows what is spare or over. A ring shows how far a route can still reach while you trace it. Drag any point to test a shorter route.
Turning circles, access zones, accessible WC sizes and Approved Document T cubicle sizes are placed on the plan at the page scale. A stamp follows the cursor at true size before you place it and shows in red any lines of the drawing that fall inside it. Drag to move, press R to turn. A stamp placed inside a room traced in Take-off or Space standards is tested against that room.
Short forms for the checks that do not need a full drawing: space separation, house escape, windows, guarding, critical glazing, door clear widths, extension glazing, U-values and heat loss, purge and background ventilation, extract rates, Part O glazing, cross-ventilation and free areas, refuse storage and gutters. Any area or length field has a trace button that takes the figure straight from the drawing, and a line beneath it says where to measure from. Areas can be taken from a room that is already traced. Used calculators are added to the PDF export.
Workplace capacity tests a workroom's floor area and headcount against 11 cubic metres per person and gives the toilets needed for that headcount. Toilet provision counts toilets and washbasins against the people at work. Both follow HSE's L24, which covers the building in use as a workplace and is not an Approved Document.
In Take-off and Space standards, choose Detect room and click inside a room. QCheck fills outward from the click until it meets the wall lines, closes off door openings, squares the outline and adds it as an area you can drag and edit like any other. It uses the drawing as loaded, with no AI and nothing sent anywhere. It works best on clean plans with walls drawn solid or as closed lines. Always check the outline: furniture drawn against a wall, hatching, or a room open to another can throw it, and it then asks you to trace by hand.
Tap Space or right-click on the drawing to open a radial menu at the pointer. On open ground it offers what you can draw in the current tool; over an item it offers actions for that item; while drawing it offers Finish, Undo point and Cancel. Hold Space, move toward a wedge and release to pick it in one motion. On a touch screen, press and hold.
The bar at the bottom of the drawing holds the same choices on the number keys 1 to 9. Q repeats the last one. F frames the item under the pointer, Home fits the page, and holding Space while dragging pans. A tag at the pointer shows the live length or area as you draw, and turns amber then red near a limit. The card at the top left of the drawing shows the current objective and what is left to fix.
Press N, or choose Note in the radial menu, and click the plan to pin a short note. Notes are typed Fix, Consider or Note. Only a small numbered pin shows on the drawing; hover or tap it to read the note, click it to edit, and drag it away from its point to pull out a leader arrow. Any item outside the guidance or not assessed has a "+ note" link that carries the shortfall into the note, and that note closes itself when the check passes.
Every tool shares one key table. Choose Key in the toolbar to place it on the page: it lists the areas, routes, clear zones, measurements and notes on that page in the same layout, and can be dragged and resized.
Press / or Ctrl K to jump to any tool by name. Toolbars wrap onto a second row on a narrow screen, so Finish and Undo are always in reach. Click any check to zoom to it on the plan, and hover a result to highlight it on the drawing. The chips above a check list show or hide items outside the guidance, items not assessed, items that meet it and notes. Undo with Ctrl+Z and redo with Ctrl+Shift+Z.
QCheck is meant to be usable by someone who has not read the guidance, without slowing down someone who has.
Click a Part heading to read its Approved Document inside QCheck, or open any document from the Library under Start here. A side rail of bookmarks jumps to key diagrams, tables and clauses, and links to the matching tool where there is one. HSE's L24, the National Planning Policy Framework and the Nationally Described Space Standard are held in the same library.
Selected diagrams and tables are interactive. Hover a table to highlight its row, column and value. Many have a lookup: enter your figure and the matching cell lights up. For example, on the ramp gradient graphs, a 4 m flight highlights 1:14.
QCheck uses no AI of any kind. Checks are fixed rules taken from the published guidance, so the same drawing always gives the same answer.
Each check names the requirement it relates to, the document and clause the limit comes from, and the edition it was tested against. Clicking a citation opens the document at that paragraph, so a result can be read against its source.
Your drawing is opened, measured and checked inside your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and QCheck has no server to receive it. Your drawings and project data are not used for training or analytics. Projects are saved as files on your own computer.
A check that is missing something it needs reads Not assessed and says what to add. Only a measured figure that falls outside the limit reads Outside AD guidance.
QCheck © 2026 Chen Qi. All rights reserved.
The drawings you mark up and the files you export are yours.
These terms are a draft. wording to be confirmed
The Approved Documents and HSE's L24 are Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The libraries QCheck uses keep their own licences: pdf.js (Apache 2.0), pdf-lib (MIT) and the Albert Sans typeface (SIL Open Font Licence).
These are the editions of each document held in QCheck's library. Guidance changes, so always check your result against the current edition.
| Part | Title | Edition held |
|---|
Space standards are checked against the Nationally Described Space Standard (DCLG, 2015). The rear extension tool uses Class A of the General Permitted Development Order 2015, the daylight tests use BRE 209, amenity space uses London Plan Policy D6 or a local figure, and the HSE tools use L24 (second edition 2013). None of these is an Approved Document.
QCheck has been reviewed by senior practitioners outside architecture, so that its outputs make sense to the people who cost, manage and fund projects.
| Discipline | Reviewer | Organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity surveying | Senior Quantity Surveyor, name to be confirmed | To be confirmed |
| Project management | Senior Project Manager, name to be confirmed | To be confirmed |
| International development | Consultant, name to be confirmed | International development consultancy, to be confirmed |
Testers are named only with their written permission. Being listed here records that a person tested QCheck. It is not an endorsement, and it does not transfer any responsibility for results to them.
2026.01, 12 November update: object snapping, undo and redo, guided steps, zoom to a check, calmer check lists and notices; Escape extended to non-residential uses, doors, passage widths, automatic routes and repeated floors; measured routes, stamps and calculators added for the remaining menu items. Printed review sheets now mark the drawing with an icon and a reference only, set out so marks do not overlap, with a key under the drawing and the figures in the schedule beside it.
2026.01, result states and project setup: every check now reports Meets AD guidance, Outside AD guidance or Not assessed, with the Schedule 1 requirement, the Approved Document reference and the edition tested against. Project setup, under Start here, sets the work type, building class, height and planning optional requirements for the file. Hold the cursor still for one second on a term, a result or a control to read what it means.
2026.01, document library: the Approved Documents in the viewer were replaced with the editions on GOV.UK on 12 November 2026. Parts O, R, S and T were added, Parts F, L and R are split into their volumes, and the 2026 editions of Parts F and L sit beside the 2021 editions. Bookmarks, tables and diagram lists were rebuilt from the new documents.
2026.01, guided setup: project setup is now a short run of questions, one to a screen, that opens when you load a new drawing. It adds whether a fire engineered solution is used and whether the building has sprinklers, and it accepts Not known yet. It ends with the Parts that are likely to apply, and Does it apply? is now always available under Start here.
2026.01, limits rechecked: every limit and citation in the Building Regulations tools was read against the Approved Documents on GOV.UK on 12 November 2026. Corrections: ramp flight lengths for M4(2) and the 1:15 maximum gradient for M4(3); the ambulant WC cubicle, now 920 by 1465 mm; guarding to ramps outside dwellings from a 380 mm drop; minimum rise and maximum going on stairs; north-facing limits in the Part O table without cross-ventilation; and renovated roof U-values. Citations now give paragraph numbers, and clicking one opens the document at that paragraph.
2026.01, working on the drawing: a stamp follows the cursor at true size before you place it and shows in red any lines of the drawing that fall inside it. A ring shows how far a route can still reach while you trace it, and a placed route gains a handle on each leg to add a point. Calculator areas can be taken from a room that is already traced, and lengths from a line of the drawing. Hovering a result highlights it on the plan, and the reverse.
2026.01, workplace guidance: HSE's L24, Workplace health, safety and welfare (second edition 2013), is in the library. The toilet provision counter is now read from its Tables 1 and 2, with washbasins, dirty work and the rule above 100 people. A new check, Workroom space per person, tests a room against 11 cubic metres each. L24 covers the building in use as a workplace and is not an Approved Document.
2026.01, ribbon: the top bar is now four headings, Start here, Planning Policies, Building Regulations and HSE. Choosing one shows its row beneath: the tools themselves, or the Parts for Building Regulations, each with its own menu. HSE holds Workplace capacity, which tests gross internal floor area and headcount against 11 cubic metres each and gives the toilets for that headcount, and the Toilet provision counter.
2026.01, tool tutorials: Each tool now opens with a short tutorial the first time you use it in a session. The ? button at the top of the panel brings it back. Calculators and the start pages gained the same guide strip as the drawing tools. The PD envelope calculator has been removed; the rear extension tool replaces it.
2026.01, rear extension: A new planning tool checks a rear extension against Class A of the General Permitted Development Order, with one route for permitted development and one for prior approval. It works as a checklist, and every measurement can be traced on the drawing.
2026.01, document loading: Opening a library document now shows a small progress bar while the file arrives, and pages shimmer softly until they are drawn.
2026.01, loading screen: A short loading screen now sits between the opening page and the disclaimer.
2026.01, start page: QCheck opens on Start here, Project setup. The guided setup is now a panel over the blurred workspace, and it begins with an optional step for the project name and number and the designer or dutyholder, which print in the header of every export.
2026.01, type and notes: the typeface is now Albert Sans. Summaries, figures and totals read as notes: the value first, its label beside it, and a fine rule between rows.
2026.01, how to measure: every tool now opens with a How to measure note. It says where each measurement starts, what it follows and where it ends, the slip people most often make, and the source. Calculators carry a line under each measured figure, and a second hint appears on the drawing while you trace.
2026.01, ease of use: measuring notes now open only the first time a tool is used. A Guidance button in the top bar turns tutorials, notes and tracing hints off for people who know the tools. Press / to jump to any tool by name. Toolbars wrap, so Finish and Undo are never pushed off the side. Vehicle tracking has a step guide. In the space standards tool the unit type follows the bedrooms traced until it is set, and checks that need rooms read Not assessed until rooms are traced.
2026.01, 13 November update: the documentation was brought up to date with the tools. The three promises on the opening page were reworded. The licence terms were restated: QCheck is free for small practices, sole traders and educators, established practices need a licence, and the source is not published.
2026.01, library: a Library page under Start here shows every document held as a shelf of covers. The National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) and the Nationally Described Space Standard were added to the library, and both can be opened from the Planning Policies row. The document viewer's back button now returns to the drawing, or to the library when the document was opened from there.
2026.01, survey levels: the Stair Builder and Ramp Builder can be driven by surveyed levels in place of a single height. A stair takes the level of each floor and landing and designs each flight from the difference. A ramp takes the level at the top of each run and checks each run on its own.
2026.01, order of work: Space standards now asks for the unit type before tracing, and its toolbar, guide and tutorial follow that order. The Means of escape tutorial starts with the building details, and the calculator tutorials start with the options that set the limits and check the scale before tracing.
2026.01, opening pages: the page after the opening page sets out how the record QCheck produces supports the ARB, RICS and RTPI codes, PRINCE2, HSE duties and site management training, with the assurances beneath as outline cards. The opening document stack now includes HSE's code of practice.
2026.01, export record: every export now carries the same record as the review PDF: what was tested, the guidance and edition, who checked it and when. This covers the stair and ramp specifications, DXF and SVG files, the area and space standards schedules, and the vehicle tracking image and schedule. Specifications report Meets guidance, Outside guidance or Not assessed in place of OK and FAIL.
2026.01: first draft release. Take-off, NDSS, Escape, Stair Builder, Ramp Builder and Vehicle tracking on one drawing; the Approved Document library with interactive diagrams and tables; project files and PDF export.
QCheck tests drawings against guidance in the Approved Documents. Following that guidance does not guarantee compliance with the Building Regulations, and the Approved Documents may not suit unusual or complex buildings. Responsibility for compliance stays with the dutyholders for the project. Verify every result before relying on it.
Hold Alt to place a point freely. Hold Shift to lock square.
Drop a PDF here or pick one. Multi-page sets are fine, and every page can be marked up. Or start on a blank A3 sheet to try the tools or draw from scratch.
Your drawing is read in this browser and is not uploaded.