The planning advice certificate (icertiflcat d’urbanisme) is issued by the mairie or by the prefet and provides general planning information on a particular site. It may be best described as an “in principle” planning consent; it does not give planning permission for a particular project, for which specific approval must be sought but it does suggest that the proposed use is allowable within the current law. Planning certificates are useful documents in that they offer a strong assurance for routine developments, but they do not provide the same level of guarantee as planning permissions and they contain far less detail. In cases w'here there is a first division of land for one or more new dwellings, a special kind of consent called a declaration prealable or a permis d'amenager (where more than one dwelling) is required.