Validation

Overview

Effective Biodiversity Net Gain validation is essential. It saves time, avoids risks, and ensures planning applications aren’t progressed based on incomplete or incorrect information.

Mycelia helps you do BNG validation quickly and easily, checking applications against both the national statutory rules and any local validation requirements your authority has adopted, and giving you results you can share with applicants straight away.

What Mycelia checks

When you upload a BNG submission, Mycelia automatically runs checks against two sets of requirements:

• National validation requirements – based on Natural England’s statutory guidance
• Common local validation requirements – additional checks that many LPAs include on their local lists

Validation that takes 30-45 minutes manually can often be done in 1-2 minutes.

Clear results you can act on

Each check returns one of three outcomes:

• Validation failure – something is missing or incorrect and needs to be resolved
• Validation info – something to be aware of, but not necessarily a blocker
• No issues – the check has passed

Explanations are written in plain English and designed so you can copy and paste them directly into emails or letters to applicants.

Catch problems early

Mycelia catches missing or incorrect information upfront, so you don’t get stuck at later stages of the process. This includes verifying that the correct statutory version of the metric was submitted – protecting against tampered or outdated metric files.

One-click communication

Two copy buttons make it easy to share findings with applicants:

• Copy national guidance – copies all national validation notes into a format ready to send
• Copy local information – copies local validation findings for correspondence

Once a case is valid – or any issues have been resolved – you can move straight on to Assessment within the same case workflow.

National Validation Checklist

National validation checks an application against the statutory requirements set out in Natural England’s guidance. Mycelia runs these checks automatically the moment you upload a submission, and presents the results in plain English so you can act on them straight away.

Watch the video below to see how national validation works in Mycelia.

How national validation results work

After you upload a submission, Mycelia displays a National validation results box showing whether the case is valid or not. Underneath the overall result, you can expand detailed checks to see exactly what was assessed.

What Mycelia checks

Metric version

Confirms the submission uses the correct statutory metric version. This protects against outdated or tampered metric files.

Metric content completeness

Checks that all required information is present in the metric, including:

• Baseline area data
• Author name
• Completion date
• Required photographs (for Small Sites Metrics)

Key values for cross-checking

Mycelia highlights important values – such as the on-site baseline area – so you can quickly cross-check them against other application documents.

Non-metric issues

Lists validation considerations that sit outside the metric itself. For example, whether there has been site degradation after January 2020.

Sharing results with applicants

The Copy national guidance button copies all validation notes into a format suitable for sending to applicants, so you can paste them straight into an email or letter.

Local Lists

Local validation checks an application against the additional requirements on your authority’s local list: the information you want submitted upfront, over and above the national minimum.

Watch the video below to see how to validate against your authority’s local list.

Why local requirements matter

National validation requirements are a baseline minimum. Many LPAs add local requirements to their validation lists so the right information is submitted upfront. Without them, you may be forced to assess key details only at discharge stage, when time is limited and options are narrower.

What Mycelia checks

On-site post-intervention information

Flags missing or inconsistent post-intervention details in the submission, so you can request corrections before the application progresses.

10% gain across modules

Shows whether the required 10% uplift is met for each of the three modules:

• Area habitats
• Hedgerows
• Watercourses

Metric errors summary

Pulls through any red-box errors from the metric spreadsheet, giving you a quick view of problems without needing to open the file yourself.

Sharing results with applicants

The Copy local information button copies all local validation findings into a format ready for correspondence with applicants.

Local lists are not nationally binding

Unlike the national requirements, local validation lists are set by each individual authority and are not mandated nationally. Mycelia shows these local checks for every LPA, whether or not your authority has formally adopted a local list. It is up to your authority how to use the findings: as formal validation requirements where your local policy provides for them, or simply as useful information to raise with applicants.