The Challenge

Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) faces significant challenges in efficiently processing permit applications, leading to excessive delays and backlogs. Key issues identified in the 2020 (and 2024 follow-up) audit include:

1. Multiple plan review cycles: The current system allows for repeated submissions of inadequate plans, contributing to delays. While DPP now requires applicant meetings with staff after two review rounds, the core issue of improving initial plan quality remains unaddressed.
2. Difficulty in rejecting "inadequate plans": The lack of a standardized method to quickly assess plan quality across diverse projects hinders DPP's ability to reject inadequate submissions and streamline the process.
3. Lack of clear application guidelines: Despite long standing awareness of delays, DPP has failed to implement clear guidelines and checklists to assist applicants. The challenge lies in creating comprehensive guidance that can account for the unique nature of each project.
4. Staffing and capacity constraints: DPP struggles with low staffing levels and insufficient training, limiting its ability to manage workload demands effectively.

Underlying these challenges, CivCheck identified 3 areas for focus:

1. Focus 1. Improve the quality of initial plan submissions.
2. Focus 2. Create an efficient method for assessing plan adequacy prior to full plan review.‍
3. Focus 3. Enhance staff capacity through improved tools, education, and training.

Overview of CivCheck Platform

CivCheck offers an AI-driven platform designed to enhance the efficiency, predictability, and accuracy of the construction permitting process. The Guided AI Plan Review (GPR) platform streamlines and automates permit pre-screening and plan reviews for both applicants and municipal plan reviewers. 

By ensuring applications meet jurisdiction-specific rules and regulations before submission, and enabling a comprehensive and standardized review experience, CivCheck aims to reduce permitting times, improve compliance, and streamline communication.

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Focus 1: Improve the quality of initial plan submissions:

CivCheck helps improve the quality of initial plan submissions by ensuring a certain level of pre-screening compliance prior to submission.CivCheck also improves customer education and outreach by serving as an educational tool for applicants that helps them improve the quality of every document in their application.

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Focus 2: Create an efficient method for assessing plan adequacy prior to full plan review.

CivCheck allows city reviewers and intake staff to instantly evaluate plan quality prior to passing on the application to plan reviewers. City staff can use the pre-screening compliance results as a proxy for the quality.

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Focus 3: Enhance staff capacity through improved tools, education, and training.

The CivCheck GPR platform guides reviewers of all experience levels through a standardized, comprehensive, and streamlined review process. It provides them with tools to perform plan reviews in a streamlined fashion and can be used as an educational/training tool for junior plan reviewers.

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Preliminary Results

During the Honolulu case study, 11 reviewers evaluated the use of the CivCheck platform. They used the GPR platform to streamline their review of permit applications from the review backlog. Eligible applications were those that were in the first review round for the upcoming week, situated in residential zones, and categorized as single-family, two-family, or duplex dwellings.

With CivCheck, Honolulu residential reviewers experienced a remarkable reduction in plan review time by over 70%. The platform's efficiency and accuracy in identifying code conflicts and improving application quality led to substantial time savings and increased productivity.

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Conclusion

By fully adopting CivCheck, Honolulu has the opportunity to modernize its permitting process, enhance efficiency, and provide a better experience for both applicants and reviewers. Download the full case study for in-depth insights and discover how CivCheck can streamline and enhance the plan review process for your city.

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