Work Signals research guide
How opportunity evidence scores work
An evidence score helps you see how much supporting information is available for a planning opportunity.
The five contributing factors
- Planning record: 30 points. The application supplies the starting evidence.
- Recent planning activity: 25 points. Available for non-archived records with activity within the last 90 days.
- Specific proposed work: 15 points. The proposal identifies a relevant work category. General proposed work and planning follow-up do not receive these points.
- Matched sale evidence: 15 points. A recorded property sale has an exact normalised full-address and postcode match.
- Matched energy evidence: 15 points. Linked domestic EPC evidence adds information about the property.
What does 85 out of 100 mean?
A planning record with recent activity, specific proposed work and matched sale evidence totals 85. Without a matched EPC it receives no energy-evidence points. You can inspect the components on the scorecard rather than relying on the number alone.
What the score does not tell you
It is not an 85% chance of winning work. It does not confirm a project budget, a start date, permission to contact someone, or that a contractor has not already been appointed. A lower-scoring record may still be useful if the proposed work fits your expertise.
Company identity and HMLR portfolio research add separate context without increasing the score. A similar company name does not establish a connection, and a portfolio match does not prove ownership of a planning site.
Use the score with the underlying sources
Sort results by evidence score, then read the description, source dates and status. If a council extract supplies a searched activity period instead of an exact validation date, the scorecard explains that limitation. Downloading old data never turns its collection timestamp into a new planning event.
Read about matching and source coverage · Explore Work Signals plans