Valenzuela launches automated permit approval system

Gone are the days when people wait for months on end for a much-needed building or construction permit. Instead, applicants will now get it ASAP, maybe in just a day.

This was the pledge of the Valenzuela City government as it launched recently what it claimed was the first-ever fully automated building and construction permit system at city hall.

Aside from being fully automated, the city government said that the application terminals would be easy to use and reduce corruption and discourage the need for so-called fixers.

The application terminals, installed at the third floor of the Finance Building in the Valenzuela City Hall complex, look and feel like an automated teller machine (ATM), which people use to withdraw cash.

“It’s like an ATM system. The machine guides you in the application process; you put all your documents in a box and drop it in a chute below the machine, and you receive information on when you can check when your permit will be available,” Mayor Rexlon Gatchalian said during the launch.

Gatchalian said he conceived of the automated terminals as he began his term as the city mayor back in July, after reviewing processes in the city hall still being done the “old way.”

“We started with one thing in particular: the harrowing experience of getting a building permit. Sadly, in our country, the building permit system has become a symbol of graft-ridden governance. Before, in my understanding, getting a building permit will take you five to six months, and that’s if you know an insider who will try to arrange and fix your papers to make the process faster,” he said.

Gatchalian said the new application terminals and the process for issuing building and construction permits would reduce red tape and corruption by keeping human intervention to a minimum.

All the processes are clearly posted and the machine will guide users through the steps. A checklist of the documents needed is also provided.

“And the heart and soul of this process is the randomizer. Once an application comes in, the machine will read its bar code and will assign the application randomly to a building inspector. So both the applicant and the inspector cannot start negotiations because they will not know if they will be paired together,” Gatchalian said.

The process will also keep track of how long the inspector will take to process the application. City hall officers who take too much time to process the documents will be exposed by the system. And, in another first, Gatchalian said the application would also be seen by a Bureau of Fire Protection inspector, who would also issue a fire clearance.

“This will happen very fast. If you have submitted all the documents needed, in one or two days, you should expect to have a building permit. That’s the fastest turnaround time for a building permit that we know of. And we’re setting this benchmark for ourselves,” he said.

In case the applicant does not receive a building permit, a holistic evaluation report about the application will be issued, providing a guide as to what applicants need to comply with.

Gatchalian said the next step in improving the application terminals would be a text notification system to inform applicants about the status of their application and when they should pick up their permit at city hall.

He added that the new automated building and construction permit application system was the first project under the city government’s 3S+ platform which promises simplicity, speed and service excellence in providing services to its constituents, aided by technology.