Permit Application Flow Sankey Diagram: Planning and Building Template
Trace a year of building or planning permit applications from submission channel through completeness checks, review and decision to appeals. Invented figures.
A permit application Sankey follows each application from how it arrived to how it ended. It shows where applications are returned, withdrawn or decided late, which a simple approval rate hides.
The example has 1,000 applications received in a year through three channels. A quarter fail the completeness check and are returned, and a third of those never come back. Of the 910 that reach review, most are approved, some with conditions, and a small group is refused or withdrawn.
Read it from the left for process problems. The channel column shows that counter submissions are returned far more often than agent submissions, which points at guidance and forms rather than at reviewers. The last column splits decisions into on time, late and appealed. For a related picture of demand arriving at a service, see /sankey/support-ticket, and /sankey/sankey-diagram-for-service-demand explains the method.
How to read this diagram
- 250 of 1,000 applications (25%) are returned incomplete; 90 of them (36%) are withdrawn rather than resubmitted.
- Counter submissions are returned most often, 90 of 230 (39%), against 140 of 620 online (23%) and 20 of 150 from agents (13%).
- 750 applications are approved, with or without conditions: 75% of everything received, from 910 that reached review.
- Of 870 decisions, 135 (16%) came after the target time and 45 (5%) led to an appeal, 25 of them from the 120 refusals.
The data behind it
Invented figures for illustration. Not data about any real planning or building authority and not an official statistic. Processes and legal tests differ by place; this shows throughput only.
| From | To | Amount (applications) |
|---|---|---|
| Online portal | Complete on receipt | 480 |
| Online portal | Returned incomplete | 140 |
| Counter | Complete on receipt | 140 |
| Counter | Returned incomplete | 90 |
| Agent | Complete on receipt | 130 |
| Agent | Returned incomplete | 20 |
| Complete on receipt | Reviewed | 750 |
| Returned incomplete | Reviewed | 160 |
| Returned incomplete | Withdrawn at checking | 90 |
| Reviewed | Approved | 520 |
| Reviewed | Approved with conditions | 230 |
| Reviewed | Refused | 120 |
| Reviewed | Withdrawn during review | 40 |
| Approved | Decided within target time | 440 |
| Approved | Decided after target time | 80 |
| Approved with conditions | Decided within target time | 170 |
| Approved with conditions | Decided after target time | 40 |
| Approved with conditions | Appeal lodged | 20 |
| Refused | Decided within target time | 80 |
| Refused | Decided after target time | 15 |
| Refused | Appeal lodged | 25 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Online portal,Complete on receipt,480
Online portal,Returned incomplete,140
Counter,Complete on receipt,140
Counter,Returned incomplete,90
Agent,Complete on receipt,130
Agent,Returned incomplete,20
Complete on receipt,Reviewed,750
Returned incomplete,Reviewed,160
Returned incomplete,Withdrawn at checking,90
Reviewed,Approved,520
Reviewed,Approved with conditions,230
Reviewed,Refused,120
Reviewed,Withdrawn during review,40
Approved,Decided within target time,440
Approved,Decided after target time,80
Approved with conditions,Decided within target time,170
Approved with conditions,Decided after target time,40
Approved with conditions,Appeal lodged,20
Refused,Decided within target time,80
Refused,Decided after target time,15
Refused,Appeal lodged,25How it works
Pick a period and count each application once
Use applications received in one year and place each in exactly one channel.
Record the completeness check
Count how many passed on receipt and how many were returned, then how many of the returned came back or were withdrawn.
Enter decisions and timeliness
Add approved, approved with conditions, refused and withdrawn during review, then split decided cases by on time, late or appealed.
Check the balance
Reviewed should equal complete plus resubmitted, and every decision node should send on exactly what it received.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add a stage such as technical consultation?
Yes. Insert a node between completeness check and decision and name the column. Widths follow the amounts you enter, and flows must still point to a column on the right.
Can I paste my own figures instead of typing them?
Yes. Paste or import a source, target, value list from a CSV or a spreadsheet range and it becomes a table of flows. The diagram is a copy of that data and is not linked to the workbook, so paste again to refresh it.
Edit this permit flow Sankey
Open the example as your own chart and enter your annual application counts.