Built-in Rule Packs
Five curated rule packs validate common design concerns — from wheelchair clearances to plant spacing conflicts. Enable the packs relevant to your project type.
Built-in rule packs are pre-configured sets of spatial validation rules. Each pack addresses a specific design domain and can be enabled or disabled individually from the Packs tab in the Rules panel.
The five built-in packs are:
- Accessibility — pathway widths, turning circles, ramp slopes, step dimensions
- Safety — pool fencing, trip hazards, clearances from structures
- Sustainability — minimum planting area, impervious surface ratio, water capture
- Plant Health — plant spacing, sun/shade conflicts, water compatibility
- Drainage — minimum slope away from buildings, drain coverage radius
Each pack can be enabled independently. Rules within a pack are always on when the pack is enabled — individual rules within a built-in pack cannot be disabled selectively (use the Exceptions tab for individual overrides).
Accessibility pack
The Accessibility pack validates spatial clearances required for inclusive design.
Key rules:
- Pathway minimum width — paths must be at least 1.2 m wide for wheelchair access (1.5 m for passing space). Violations flagged as Required.
- Turning circle clearance — pathway junctions and destinations (e.g. seating areas, garden rooms) must provide a 1.5 m diameter clear turning circle. Flagged as Required.
- Ramp maximum slope — ramps must not exceed 1:20 (5%) gradient for wheelchair use. Steeper ramps flagged as Required (over 1:12, 8.3%) or Warning (1:20–1:12).
- Step riser height — steps should have a riser height of 100–175 mm. Outside this range flagged as Warning.
- Step going (tread depth) — steps should have a going of at least 280 mm. Below this flagged as Warning.
Enable the Accessibility pack for any project where wheelchair access or inclusive design is part of the brief.
Safety pack
The Safety pack validates clearances and barriers related to common garden safety concerns.
Key rules:
- Pool fencing — pool or water feature edges must be enclosed by a barrier (fence, wall, or hedge) at least 1.2 m tall with no climbable elements within 900 mm of the barrier. Violations flagged as Required.
- Trip hazard height change — level changes of 12 mm or more on pedestrian surfaces without an edge treatment (step, ramp, or chamfer) are flagged as Warning.
- Clearance from overhead structures — pergolas, overhead beams, and similar structures must maintain minimum headroom of 2.1 m above pedestrian surfaces. Below this flagged as Required.
- Clearance from boundary — structures must respect minimum boundary clearances. Violations flagged as Advisory (indicating a likely planning consideration, not a safety rule per se).
Pool fencing rules in the Safety pack are indicative of common requirements. Local pool fencing regulations vary by jurisdiction — always verify compliance with the applicable local standard.
Sustainability pack
The Sustainability pack validates design choices related to environmental performance.
Key rules:
- Minimum planting area ratio — the total planted area (soft landscaping) should represent at least a specified percentage of the total site area. The default threshold is 40%. Below this flagged as Advisory.
- Impervious surface ratio — the total impervious surface area (hard paving, concrete) as a proportion of total site area. Exceeding a threshold (default 60%) is flagged as Warning.
- Water capture area — if a water butt or rain harvesting element is present in the design, the ratio of impervious surface draining to it is checked. Insufficient coverage flagged as Advisory.
The percentage thresholds for Sustainability rules can be adjusted in the Custom Rules panel.
Enable the Sustainability pack when designing for clients with explicit sustainability briefs or for projects in areas with sustainable drainage requirements (SuDS).
Plant Health pack
The Plant Health pack validates plant placement against growing-condition compatibility.
Key rules:
- Minimum plant spacing — plants placed closer than their recommended spacing may not have sufficient room to reach mature size. Violations flagged as Advisory (minor encroachment) or Warning (severe overlap).
- Sun/shade conflict — a plant requiring full sun placed in a predominantly shaded area (or vice versa) is flagged as Warning. Sun/shade data comes from the project's sun analysis or from manually set zone properties.
- Water compatibility — drought-tolerant plants placed adjacent to moisture-loving plants in an irrigated zone may indicate a watering incompatibility. Flagged as Advisory.
The Plant Health pack relies on plant metadata (spacing, sun preference, water need) from the plant database. Plants without metadata are skipped by these checks.
The Plant Health pack is most useful at design development stage, when plant selections are firm. Running it at concept stage (when plants are indicative) may generate many Advisory notices for unset metadata.
Drainage pack
The Drainage pack validates surface water management in the design.
Key rules:
- Slope away from buildings — paved surfaces adjacent to buildings should slope away from the building at a minimum gradient. Insufficient slope (less than 1:60, approximately 1.7%) is flagged as Warning. Zero or inward slope is flagged as Required.
- Drain coverage — if drainage channels or gullies are present, each area of hard paving should be within the effective drainage radius of a drain element. Areas beyond the radius are flagged as Advisory.
- Permeable surface adjacent to planting — hard surfaces directly adjoining a planted area without a defined drainage break are flagged as Advisory, indicating potential runoff onto roots.
The Drainage pack works best when terrain data (actual site slopes) is present. On flat terrain (all at elevation 0), slope-based rules generate fewer meaningful results.
Enable the Drainage pack for any project in a flood-risk area, for designs with significant hard paving, or where SuDS compliance is part of the planning requirements.
Planting Good Practice — spacing and overlap checks
The Planting Good Practice pack helps avoid overcrowded planting layouts. Shrubs should be at least 0.6 m apart center-to-center and perennials at least 0.45 m apart at planting time — both rules are Advisory. The shrub-spacing rule also runs live as you drag, while the perennial-spacing rule runs in full checks only to avoid excessive interruptions while placing dense perennial planting. The pack also flags planting areas and meadow fills that overlap hard-surface circulation elements such as paths, walkways, stepping stones, patios, and decks (severity: Warning, runs during drag). The default lawn surface is intentionally excluded from this overlap check because paths naturally sit on lawn.
Run Planting Good Practice at design development stage once plant selections are firm. Enabling it during early concept work — when positions are indicative — will generate many advisory notices that are not yet meaningful.
Enable only the packs relevant to the current project type. A small residential garden with no pool typically needs Residential Garden Core and Planting Good Practice — adding all five packs on every project creates unnecessary noise.
Built-in rule thresholds reflect widely used best-practice standards but do not replace jurisdiction-specific regulations or professional judgment. Always confirm planning, building, and safety requirements against the applicable local codes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I adjust the threshold distances in a built-in pack?
Yes. In the Rules tab, click the threshold value displayed on any rule row — built-in or custom — type a new distance in your project's current unit system, and press Enter to save. The rule name on a built-in rule cannot be renamed, but its threshold is fully editable.
Can I disable individual rules inside a pack without turning off the whole pack?
Yes. In the Rules tab, every rule has its own toggle switch. Turn off individual rules you do not need — the pack remains active and its other rules continue to run. The pack switch in the Packs tab is a convenience toggle for the whole group.
Why does the Pool Garden Safety pack show Required severity instead of Warning?
Required severity is reserved for clearances that commonly appear in regulatory standards — in this case, pool setback from the site boundary and tree-to-pool clearance. Required issues appear more prominently in the Issues tab and are intended to prompt the designer to verify the specific regulation before issuing drawings.
Why does the perennial spacing rule not fire while I drag plants?
The perennial-spacing rule runs during full checks only, not during drag, because firing it on every drag event would interrupt placement too frequently on dense perennial layouts. The shrub-spacing rule and the planting-area overlap rule (paths and circulation) do run during drag, since shrub crowding and overlapping hard surfaces are more immediately visible problems.
Will more built-in packs be added over time?
Yes. Additional packs are planned for future releases — for example, irrigation coverage and lighting. New packs appear in the Packs tab disabled by default, so existing projects are not affected until you choose to enable them.