Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project
(Left photo) Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal (extreme right) explained to the DILG Monitoring Team (Ms. Grace Mago ofthe DILG Regional Office and Ms. Ma. Aimee Castino,and Maria Aya Lei Banzuela of the DILG Central Office), the changes in the procedures for the application of building permits and certificates of occupancy. Also in attendance are Building Official, Engr. Rafael Encarnacion (center) and Arch. Anthony Enaje, Chief ofthe Final Permits Division.(Right photo) The new one-stop-shop facility for construction permitting.
Upgraded construction permitting system of Legazpi City nears completion
On March 25, 2019, Legazpi City reported a 70 percent progress in enhancing its construction permitting systems to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) monitoring team. This progress was brought by the establishment of the one-stop-shop in the city hall, including the development of automated systems and the recruitment of additional technical personnel for the Office of the Building Official. With the continuing assistance of USAID’s Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project, the processing time for building permits and certificates of occupancy will be reduced to half, from ten working days to five working days. A total of PhP3 million was spent to cover expenses for the one-stop-shop, particularly in the procurement of hardware and equipment, and systems development. The budget was proposed in 2018 as a result of the streamlining construction permitting systems workshop facilitated by USAID/SURGE to assist in implementing the Guidelines in Streamlining the Processes for the Issuance of Building Permits and Certificates of Occupancy or Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2018-01. The city government aims to launch the one-stop-shop with the simplified process in July.