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● Public sector — Planning assessment

The AI agent for assessing planning applications: prepare the analysis, secure the decision

The time allowed to assess a planning application is set by law, and every analytical error exposes the authority to litigation. This AI building block equips the whole case-handling department: systematic testing against the local plan, completeness checks, detection of inconsistencies. Hosted in France — on local inference or an isolated resource — it is installed without changing your business software. The competent authority decides and signs, file by file.

Hosted in France Configured on your local plan GDPR & AI Act: governed deployment Reinforced human oversight

Updated on

Deployed in a few weeks
Planning assessment assistant · hosted in France
For prior declaration DP-2026-0184 (extension + fence), test the project against the local plan and check that the file is complete.
File tested against the zone UB regulations. Footprint and height compliant. Two points to watch: the proposed fence colour is not in the palette allowed by article 11, and the plot falls within a heritage protection easement (listed monument perimeter) — the heritage architect's opinion is required.
Completeness: the dimensioned site plan (document DP2) and the certificate of compliance with the 2020 environmental regulation are missing.
⛓ Source · the local plan's regulations + the council's easement map
The heritage perimeter — is that certain?
To be verified by the case officer: the plot is about 480 m from a listed monument, within the inherited 500 m protection perimeter, not yet replaced by a delimited perimeter. Recommendation: consult the heritage architect before deciding, and notify the applicant of an extended assessment period.
I am preparing the letter requesting documents and the heritage referral form, for your review.
✎ Action · draft letters ready — the case officer approves and the authority signs
Local inference · no data outside the EU
Data hosted in France
Sovereign by designLocal inference or hosting in France
GDPR & AI Act: governed deploymentTraceability & human oversight
TurnkeyDesigned, installed and operated for you
The authority decidesThe agent assists, never decides alone
✦ In brief

For a case-handling department (council, intercommunal body, shared planning service), a Blue Lemon Agent agent prepares the assessment of planning applications — testing against the local plan and the easements, checking the completeness of the documents, spotting inconsistencies — and highlights the points the case officer should look at. It is configured on your own local planning documents and runs on local inference or is hosted in France: applicants' documents are never exposed to a foreign service, architecture designed to reduce exposure to extraterritorial legislation, location alone not being enough to guarantee immunity. Strictly in support, with no automated decision and reinforced human oversight. The decision and the signature remain with the competent authority.

100%
hosted in France in the target architecture
0
transfer outside the EU in the target architecture
8
uses ready to deploy on this scope
0
decision taken without human approval

Reference points describing our offer, not results measured at a client. The scale of the gain is confirmed by a pilot on your own scope.

The context

Why AI matters to assessment services — and why they hesitate

The statutory assessment deadlines are tight, the regulations increasingly dense (local plan, easements, environmental regulation, heritage architect), and the slightest error of completeness or consistency opens the door to litigation. But the data handled concerns real people and real projects.

! The issue

The case-handling department is caught between assessment deadlines that cannot stretch, planning rules that layer on top of each other (zoning, articles of the regulations, public utility easements, external opinions) and a requirement of legal soundness on every decision. Yet most consumer AI solutions amount to entrusting applicants' documents, plans, land registry data and local regulations to a third party, often hosted outside Europe and subject to the Cloud Act.

Our answer

For a public service, AI is only of interest if it is sovereign and confidential by design. Local inference or an isolated resource hosted in France, configuration on your own planning documents, reinforced human oversight, no automated decision: the time saved on preparation is never paid for in lost sovereignty or diminished equal treatment. The aim is not to replace the case officer, but to make their analysis more reliable and faster.

The decisive point

Sovereignty of planning data: compliance & continuity of public service

A case-handling department handles applicants' documents and projects, and engages the authority's liability. Here is how the architecture of our agents protects them, file by file.

Local inference

The agent can run on a machine belonging to the department: no document leaves the authority's network, nothing passes through a public cloud.

Hosting in France

Otherwise, a dedicated and isolated resource, hosted in France under French law — planning data: processing and access within the European Union targeted by the architecture.

Reduced extraterritorial exposure

Architecture designed to reduce exposure to extraterritorial legislation, location alone not being enough to guarantee immunity for applicants' documents: our architecture stays out of the American hyperscalers' reach, even when hosted in Europe.

One isolated resource per authority

No pooling of data: an environment strictly dedicated to your case-handling department.

Encryption & controlled access

Encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access (RBAC), strong authentication and logging.

AI Act: governed deployment

An agent strictly in support; no automated decision; traceability and reinforced human oversight from end to end.

What depends on the architecture chosen These points are not general guarantees: they are settled deployment by deployment, in the quotation.

  • The applicable location is that of the architecture set out in the quotation and verified before commissioning.
  • Local execution is announced only for the configuration explicitly described and accepted in the quotation.
  • The applicable isolation depends on the deployment mode set out in the quotation; no dedicated isolation is presumed.
  • The encryption mechanisms in transit and at rest, their components and key management are those documented for the architecture chosen.
  • Roles and permissions are configured and accepted for the identities and systems actually connected.
  • The events logged, their content, their retention period and who may access them are defined for the deployment chosen.
For the highest requirements, SecNumCloud and qualified hosting options are available according to the level required. A single architecture is designed to answer both the GDPR and extraterritorial exposure. Designed for deployment in line with the GDPR and the AI Act, after the processing, roles and context-specific risks have been assessed.
Demonstration

See the agent at work

4 real situations, taken from those that come up most often. Pick one: the exchange unfolds as it would in your organisation.

A scripted demonstration. These exchanges show how the agent behaves — its sources, its refusals, what it leaves to your teams. Nothing is sent from this page, no model is queried here, and the matters named are fictional. That is precisely what we promise your data.
The behaviours shown here — monitoring, automation rules, routing and reminders — are configured with you during deployment, from your tools, your rules and your thresholds.
The architecture points named in these exchanges — location, local execution, isolation, encryption, role-based access, logging — are not a guarantee attached to the demonstration: they are those of the architecture set out in your quotation, and verified before commissioning.

Planning assessment assistant · hosted in France
Four flags this morning, with no request from you.
· A request for documents was notified on the 47th day after filing on DP-2026-0203. Article R*423-38 provides for it within the month.
· Three files reach the end of their assessment period this week and no decision is drafted.
· A second request for documents went out on PC-2026-0088. The first was therefore not exhaustive.
· Documents arrived on 14/07 on two files and the period was not recalculated in the system. morning-watch_4-flags.pdf4 flags · files concerned
⛓ Source · filing register, notified letters, acknowledgements, system deadlines
The request sent on the 47th day — what does that change?
It bears on the period, and it is the only one of the four that can produce a decision without anybody taking it.
What I established, document by document: filed at the town hall on 18/05, acknowledged the same day, request for documents notified on 04/07 — that is the 47th day.
What the two texts say, which I quote because they are short and checkable:
· R*423-23 — the standard assessment period is one month for a prior declaration.
· R*423-38 — where the file is incomplete, the authority sends the applicant, within the month following the filing, a recorded-delivery letter setting out exhaustively the missing documents.
What I do not say: that a tacit decision has been acquired. That is a legal characterisation, and it is yours to make — I record two dates and I quote two articles.
The note is ready, with the three dated documents, for your legal team. DP-2026-0203_notified-on-day-47.pdf3 dates · 2 articles quoted
⛓ Source · filing of 18/05, notification of 04/07 · art. R*423-23 and R*423-38 French planning code
How did you spot all that? And who do you tell?
I watch, continuously, what you have opened to me: the filing register and its acknowledgements, notified letters and their dates, your system's deadline schedule, and documents received.
Routing follows your organisation: the late notification to the head of service and the lawyer, both together — one assesses, the other characterises; the three expiring periods to their respective case officers; the second request for documents to the head of service, because it is the first one that raises the question; the unrecalculated periods to the system administrator.
With a chase: 12 h on the late notification and the three expiring periods — a period cannot be recovered; 48 h on the rest. Then a weekly summary to the head of service: by file, never by case officer.

What that gives you this morning: four files picked up before a deadline decided in the service's place. A request for documents notified on day 47 taken to the lawyer with its three dates, three expiring periods handed to their case officers, a second request for documents raised with the head of service, and two deadline schedules brought up to date in the system.
What that gives the service back from tomorrow: the case officer opens a file already checked against the local plan and the easements, completeness verified, contradictions between dimensions and floor areas brought out. The competent authority decides and signs in minutes on a complete, reasoned file, instead of piecing the chronology back together. Statutory periods are met, and the same project gets the same analysis whichever officer handles it and whoever the applicant is.
On what I consult: access is opened by service and by file type, every lookup is logged, and it is withdrawn with a single word. And applicants' documents leave neither the service nor France, architecture designed to reduce exposure to extraterritorial legislation, location alone not being enough to guarantee immunity.
The next step is ready: a few minutes to load your local plan and your easements, and I take up this month's deadline schedule, file by file.
✎ Proposal · watch and chases to be configured — you set the thresholds
Local inference · no data outside the EU

Your case is not here? That is exactly what a 15-minute conversation is for. Book the free audit

Use cases

The facets of the agent in assessing planning applications

Each use corresponds to a capability we configure on your local documents. All of them work in support, subject to approval by the case officer and the competent authority.

Included in your agent The 8 capabilities essential to this promise are included, at no extra cost.
From 1,295 € incl. VAT / month

Testing against the local plan

Reading the project against the zoning and the articles of the regulations (footprint, height, setback, appearance), for the case officer to approve.

Easements & constraints

Spotting the public utility easements and perimeters (heritage, risk) that may require an opinion or an extended deadline.

Completeness checks

Checking the file's documents (application forms, plans, certificates) and flagging gaps before requesting further documents.

Reading documents & plans

OCR and extraction of the key information from application forms, site plans and notices, to prepare the analysis.

Detecting inconsistencies

Highlighting contradictions between documents (areas, dimensions, description) and points of legal concern.

Preparing the letters

Draft requests for documents, deadline notifications and referrals for external opinions, from your own templates.

Informing applicants

Answers to everyday questions: documents to provide, deadlines, applicable zoning, progress of a file.

Planning memory

Instantly find an article of the regulations, a local court ruling or an earlier assessment precedent.

Controls and safeguards These 7 controls are built into the agent: they frame what it does, whatever plan you pick. They are not chosen and are not added to your order.
Human validation, exceptions and escalation Status, safe closure and audit trail Sources, access rights and handling of questions with no answer Prepare without deciding: sourced rules, supporting documents, anomalies and explanation Guarantee the decision, signature, recourse and responsibility of the public official Record versions, access, criteria, actions and notifications Test for bias, false positives, fundamental rights and continuity of service
The gain

How much time can an assessment department win back?

By automating the reading of documents, the testing against the local plan and the completeness checks, a department can aim for a noticeable reduction in preparation time on standardised files — reinvested in detailed analysis and in meeting the deadlines.

First local plan analysis + completeness of a file
Today · done by hand
Prepared by the agent, to approve
Spotting easements and points to watch
Today · done by hand
Near-instant
Answering an applicant's question
Today · done by hand
Automatic
Qualitative, non-contractual comparison: the proportions shown illustrate the shift of the work towards review, they represent no measurement. Every output of the agent is reviewed and approved by a competent person.
How it works

The stages of your AI agent project

1

Audit & scoping

15 minutes to target the use case with the best return.

2

Quote or direct sign-up

A catalogue offer is bought online; a specific need gets a costed quote.

3

Design

We design the agent and its guardrails.

4

Integration & testing

We connect your tools to the agent, which is itself hosted in France.

5

Rollout

Going live and training your team.

6

Operation

Continuous supervision and improvement.

Pricing

A clear offer, one agent

An agent supporting the assessment of planning applications (local plan, completeness, consistency), configured on your local documents, installed and operated for you. Prices exclude VAT — annual subscription, the time it takes for the gains to settle in.

Agility

Setup + controlled subscription

17,005 € incl. VAT setup
then 1,295 € incl. VAT/month — you invest at installation and pay a reduced subscription. Ideal for keeping the cost under control over time.
  • Installation, configuration and training for your teams
  • Operation, human oversight, updates and support
  • Sovereign hosting in France, a dedicated and isolated resource
Order →
The simplest Serenity

All inclusive, no setup fee

2,240 € incl. VAT /month
all inclusive, immediate start. No upfront investment: a single subscription. Ideal for starting quickly and simply.
  • Setup included (installation, configuration, training)
  • Operation, human oversight, updates and support
  • Sovereign hosting in France, managed end to end
Order →
100% Sovereign

On site, you own it

22,666 € incl. VAT setup
then 1,560 € incl. VAT/month · + hardware from 2,989 € (one-off purchase, in addition) — a sovereign computer installed on your premises, maintained remotely. Models run locally, your data returned at the end of the contract. 36-month commitment.
  • Hardware installed on your premises (you own it)
  • French / European AI models run locally
  • Secure remote maintenance (Pro support included)
Order →
Not included in the packages: AI consumption (model tokens), re-invoiced at real cost with no margin, and tracked in real time in your client area. Maintenance and supervision subscription for an initial term of 12 months for the Agility package, 24 months for the Serenity package and 36 months for the 100% Sovereign package, renewable; support levels (SLA 72 h / 24 h / 4 h) optional. Bespoke development, additional integrations or exceptional volumes are quoted separately. Support Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. Prices include VAT at 20%: as a public body that is not VAT-registered, you cannot reclaim it.
AI model: none of the AI models offered currently carries a fixed surcharge. When the selected model carries a cost, that cost is shown when you choose it, before you order, and re-invoiced at the cost incurred, with no mark-up; usage is billed at the publisher's price. Publishers' prices are published in US dollars: the amount re-invoiced is the amount in euros actually borne by Blue Lemon Agent on the publisher's invoice, at that invoice's exchange rate, with no commission or mark-up.
Included components and additional components Components included in the base offer: the Blue Lemon Agent software foundation, the AI models listed in the order journey, the standard channels (Microsoft Teams, Slack, WhatsApp Business, email, website chat, calendars, Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace, file storage, market VoIP telephony, professional social-media pages and accounts, Google Business Profile), hosting in France for the package chosen, backups, supervision, updates and support. If adapting the AI agent to your constraints, your needs or your requests requires other paid components — a third-party publisher's software licence, paid API access to one of your applications, hosting of health data, for which French law requires an HDS-certified host (art. L. 1111-8 of the French Public Health Code), SecNumCloud-qualified hosting, a speech synthesis service, particular hardware —, they are offered to you as an option or on quotation and re-invoiced at the cost incurred; nothing is committed without your written agreement. Where the artificial intelligence model you choose entails an additional cost, that cost is shown to you before you order and re-invoiced to you at the cost incurred, with no margin.
What to expect
Go-live 2 to 3 weeks
Agent designed, channels connected, team trained.
Steady state 4 to 7 weeks
After a few weeks of real use, once the agent's behaviour matches what you expect. Indicative estimate, adjusted to the options you keep. It is not a delivery commitment.
Our commitment

Four guarantees that matter to a public service

Applicants' documents never leave the departmentLocal inference or an isolated resource hosted in France; no file entrusted to a foreign third party.
Data in France, under French lawDeployment objective: processing and access within the European Union for applicants' documents; architecture designed to reduce exposure to extraterritorial legislation, location alone not being enough to guarantee immunity.
The case officer prepares, the authority decidesThe agent produces verifiable analyses, checks and draft letters; no decision is automated.
Reinforced human oversight & traceabilityMonitoring, updates and logging: compliant with the requirements of the AI Act for a supporting use.
Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Does the agent issue the permit?
No. It prepares the analysis: testing against the local plan, completeness checks, identification of the points to watch. The decision and the signature of the order remain with the competent authority. The agent works strictly in support, with no automated decision whatsoever.
Does it adapt to our local plan?
Yes. The agent is configured on your local planning documents: the regulations and zoning of the local plan (or intercommunal plan), the public utility easements, and where relevant the council map or national rules. The analysis reflects your rules, not a generic model.
What is the framing under the AI Act?
A supporting use, with no automated decision and reinforced human oversight. The agent produces analyses and draft documents that the case officer reviews and approves. Full traceability and logging meet the applicable requirements.
Is applicants' data protected?
Yes. Documents, plans and land registry data are sensitive: our agents run locally in the department or are hosted in France, with the deployment objective of processing and access operated within the European Union and an architecture designed to reduce exposure to extraterritorial legislation, location alone not being enough to guarantee immunity.
Do we have to change our planning software?
No. The agent connects to your existing tools (planning software, document management, online submission platform) and complements them, without imposing a migration. We adapt the integration to your environment.
Does the agent guarantee equal treatment of applications?
It contributes to it: the same analysis grid, configured on your rules, is applied to every file, which reduces omissions and differences of judgement. The final, reasoned decision remains that of the case officer and the authority.
How long does it take to deploy an agent?
A few weeks as a rule, after a free audit that identifies the priority scope, then a phase of configuring it on your planning documents, integrating and testing before going live and training the case officers.
Let's talk

Let us estimate the potential in your assessment department

A few minutes to identify the most useful scope — hosted in France, supervised, with no commitment.