DPP establishes new review standards to speed up building permit approvals

HONOLULU — The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) is establishing new review time standards for agencies and entities involved in the building permit approval process, a significant step toward reducing delays, strengthening accountability, and providing residents and businesses with faster, more predictable permitting.

Under the new standards, participating review groups will be expected to complete individual residential technical reviews within two business days and commercial technical reviews within 10 business days. The standards are part of DPP’s ongoing efforts to modernize permitting while maintaining essential public health and safety protections.

“For far too long, our permitting process has been a source of frustration for residents, businesses and developers, and we have a responsibility to do better,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. “Delays drive up costs, slow down housing construction and hold back important investments in our community. We are committed to changing that. These new standards set clear expectations, demand greater accountability, and ensure everyone involved in the process shares the same sense of urgency. The people of Oʻahu deserve a permitting system that is efficient, predictable, and responsive, and we are determined to deliver exactly that.”

Building permit applications often require approvals from multiple City, State, and external agencies. While these reviews generally occur simultaneously, a permit cannot advance until all required reviews are completed. As a result, delays by even one reviewing agency can hold up an entire application.

“Our permitting process is only as efficient as its slowest review, and that is something we are determined to improve,” said DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna. “We are establishing clear expectations and holding ourselves and our partners accountable for meeting them. This is about eliminating unnecessary delays, improving coordination, and delivering the level of service our residents and businesses deserve, without compromising public health or safety.”

New Review Time Expectations

The following standards will apply to each individual review assignment during each review cycle, including resubmittals:

The standards will apply to DPP’s internal review groups and participating City and State agencies. Private utilities and other external entities involved in the coordinated permitting process will also be expected to work toward these timelines, consistent with their legal and regulatory responsibilities.

Participating agencies will have six months to evaluate their staffing, operations and procedures and identify what is needed to consistently meet the new expectations. During this period, DPP will monitor review times, assess challenges and work with participating agencies to improve efficiency.

Beginning May 10, 2027, the new standards will become the expected operating performance for participating review groups, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Understanding How the Building Permit Process Works

DPP is also working to improve public understanding of how building permits are reviewed and why some applications take longer than others.

Once an application is submitted and screened for completeness, it is routed to the agencies responsible for reviewing applicable building, zoning, infrastructure, fire, environmental and other requirements.

If deficiencies or missing information are identified, applicants and their design professionals must address those issues and resubmit corrected plans. Some applications require multiple rounds of review before all necessary approvals are obtained.

As a result, the total time an application spends in the permitting system is not necessarily the amount of time it spends under active government review.

The new standards apply to each reviewing agency during each review cycle, not to the total time required to obtain a building permit. Time spent by applicants preparing corrections is tracked separately from agency review time.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about permitting is that an application sitting in the system means DPP has been reviewing it that entire time,” said Takeuchi Apuna. “In reality, permits move between multiple reviewing agencies and applicants, sometimes through several rounds of corrections. We want the public to better understand where time is spent, who is responsible for the next step, and how everyone can help move applications forward.”

Applicants and design professionals also play an important role in reducing delays by submitting complete, code-compliant plans, thoroughly addressing review comments and promptly resubmitting corrected materials.

DPP’s HNL Build online permitting system allows applicants to track their applications and outstanding requirements, while CivCheck, the department’s AI-assisted plan review technology, helps identify potential code deficiencies earlier in the process.

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