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Class F: CCTV cameras on buildings and permitted development
Class F of GPDO Part 2 permits the installation, alteration or replacement of CCTV cameras on a building for security purposes. It includes detailed size, mounting, height and spacing limits. The headline allowance of 16 cameras is only one of the tests.
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The Class F limits at a glance
| Test | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Camera and housing dimensions | No more than 0.75 metres × 0.25 metres × 0.25 metres |
| Clearance above ground | Every part at least 2.5 metres above ground level |
| Projection from the building | No part more than 1 metre from the building surface |
| Mounting contact points | No point of contact more than 1 metre from another point of contact |
| Separation from another camera on a building | At least 10 metres between any parts of the cameras |
| Number on the same side | No more than 4 |
| Total on the building | No more than 16 |
The building must not be a listed building or scheduled monument. All the relevant limits apply together. Four cameras on one side cannot be squeezed together by relying on the overall numerical allowance.
What counts as part of the camera?
For the dimensional test in F.1(b), measure the camera including its housing. For the other Class F tests, the definition also includes its pan and tilt mechanism, infra-red illuminator, receiver, mountings and brackets. A low bracket or projecting accessory can therefore cause an installation to fail even when the camera body itself appears compliant.
The mounting-contact rule concerns the points where the installation touches the building. It is not a requirement to keep a camera 1 metre away from another wall. The 10 metre rule concerns another camera installed on a building and is expressed in terms of any part of either camera, rather than their centre points. Check nearby cameras as well as those in the proposed scheme.
The four-camera limit is per side of the building, not automatically per individual wall panel or architectural recess. Breaking a façade into sections does not necessarily create additional allowances.
Ground level and the 2.5 metre clearance
Class F has its own express definition. Ground level is the surface immediately adjacent to the building or, where that surface is not uniform, the highest part of the adjacent ground. The minimum clearance applies to every part included within the relevant definition of camera.
For a pan-and-tilt installation, check the intended range of movement and its lowest or furthest projecting position. Show dimensions on elevations and retain the manufacturer’s drawings. The illustration above explains the tests on a level site; the statutory definition must still be applied to the actual building.
Small domestic cameras and video doorbells
First establish whether an installation amounts to development requiring planning permission. A small device which does not materially affect a building’s external appearance may raise a different question from a substantial commercial CCTV installation. Failure to meet Class F does not, by itself, prove that every domestic doorbell needs a planning application.
Where permission is required, assess the actual proposal against Class F and any other applicable planning route. A free-standing CCTV pole is not an installation on a building under this class merely because it serves the same security purpose.
Appearance, removal and separate privacy duties
The camera must, so far as practicable, be sited to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building. It must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable after it is no longer required for security purposes. These conditions continue after installation.
The heritage exclusion in Class F refers to the building on which the camera is installed being listed or a scheduled monument. It should not be rewritten as a blanket exclusion of every building in a listed building’s curtilage. However, a curtilage structure may itself fall within listed building protection, and separate listed building consent requirements still need checking.
Planning permission does not settle privacy, surveillance or data-protection responsibilities. Camera coverage, recording and the handling of footage require separate consideration, particularly where neighbouring property or public areas are recorded.
Checks before work starts
Permitted development is a grant of planning permission subject to the legislation. Check the planning history, any condition restricting the right and any applicable Article 4 direction. The existing use and development must be lawful where the GPDO requires this. A conservation area designation does not by itself remove every Part 2 right.
These rights apply in England. They do not override ownership, lease restrictions, restrictive covenants, listed building consent, highway consent or other separate controls. Where the planning position needs formal confirmation, a lawful development certificate can establish whether a clearly specified proposal is lawful. An informal opinion is not the same as a certificate.
Class F legislation
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2. The operative wording below omits editorial amendment annotations. Read it with the GPDO general provisions.
Class F – closed circuit television cameras
Permitted development
F. The installation, alteration or replacement on a building of a closed circuit television camera to be used for security purposes.
Development not permitted
F.1 Development is not permitted by Class F if—
(a) the building on which the camera would be installed, altered or replaced is a listed building or a scheduled monument;
(b) the dimensions of the camera including its housing exceed 0.75 metres by 0.25 metres by 0.25 metres;
(c) any part of the camera would, when installed, altered or replaced, be less than 2.5 metres above ground level;
(d) any part of the camera would, when installed, altered or replaced, protrude from the surface of the building by more than 1 metre when measured from the surface of the building;
(e) any part of the camera would, when installed, altered or replaced, be in contact with the surface of the building at a point which is more than 1 metre from any other point of contact;
(f) any part of the camera would be less than 10 metres from any part of another camera installed on a building;
(g) the development would result in the presence of more than 4 cameras on the same side of the building; or
(h) the development would result in the presence of more than 16 cameras on the building.
Conditions
F.2 Development is permitted by Class F subject to the following conditions—
(a) the camera is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building on which it is situated; and
(b) the camera is removed as soon as reasonably practicable after it is no longer required for security purposes.
Interpretation of Class F
F.3 For the purposes of Class F—
“camera”, except in paragraph F.1(b), includes its housing, pan and tilt mechanism, infra-red illuminator, receiver, mountings and brackets; and “ground level” means the level of the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building or, where the level of the surface of the ground is not uniform, the level of the highest part of the surface of the ground adjacent to it.
Explore GPDO Part 2
Part 2 overview: minor operations
- Class A: gates, fences and wallsNew enclosures, height limits and changes to existing boundaries
- Class B: access to a highwayAccess required for qualifying permitted development on an unclassified road
- Class C: exterior paintingColour changes, advertising exceptions and heritage controls
- Class D: wall mounted charging outletsElectric vehicle outlets in lawful off-street parking
- Class E: charging upstands and equipmentFreestanding chargers and qualifying non-domestic equipment housing
- Class F: security CCTVBuilding-mounted cameras with size, height and spacing limits
- Class G: moveable pub and restaurant structuresOne qualifying structure, subject to footprint, height and location limits
Back to Part 1: development within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse
Updated: 24th September 2026