Frustrated building industry officials are hopeful a bill signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell Wednesday will speed up home construction on Oahu.

Through an expedited special assignment or “courtesy” inspection conducted by the city Department of Planning and Permitting, Bill 24 allows some construction to begin on commercial projects prior to the issuance of a building permit.

The project must be of a commercial nature (nonresidential use and/or more than two residences), had a building permit application accepted as complete and under review for 30 days, and have all discretionary land use approvals in place. It can’t have violations or unpaid fines, and must show intent to satisfy flood and storm water rules.

The nonrefundable special assignment inspection fee would be $1,000.

DPP inspectors, on their end, must determine that it is “reasonably likely” a building permit would be issued for the project, that the construction poses no threat to public health and welfare, and that there is an urgency to begin construction in a timely manner.

The Caldwell administration drafted the bill at the request of architects and others in the building industry stymied by the lengthy wait time for building permit approvals.

Council Zoning Chairman Ron Menor said he supported the bill because he also had heard from architects of major residential high-rise projects “who expressed concerns about gridlock occurring” in the building permitting process.

“Potential projects were being held up or canceled given the delays in the permitting process, Menor said. “This bill will help move the process along in a more efficient manner.”

The new law allows builders to begin work but they must still obtain standard building permits like everyone else, he said.

The City Council approved the bill 9-0 on Sept. 4.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Caldwell said. “DPP is understaffed, they’re flooded with a lot of projects because we live in a very strong economy which we’re very grateful for, and people tend to seek work in the private sector when the economy is strong and not in the government sector.”

And for homebuilders and contractors, “time is money,” the mayor said.

The homebuilder would have to ensure its projects are up to snuff, however.

“A building permit applicant requesting to proceed with construction under a special assignment inspection proceeds at the applicant’s risk without assurance that a building permit will ultimately be issued,” according to the new ordinance. “Violations discovered during the special assignment inspection may result in suspension of the special assignment inspection, a notice of violation, a stop work order, or suspension of the review of the building permit application.”

Timothy Hiu, DPP deputy director, said the new ordinance would not push single-family homebuilders further back in the building permit approval line since they are processed through a different set of criteria and line of inspectors.

DPP officials said there are currently 68 pending commercial permit applications “in the queue.”

Representatives from the Building Industry Association of Hawaii and General Contractors Association of Hawaii stood behind Caldwell as he signed the bill in Kakaako.

Layne Machida, a civil-mechanical contractor and president of the contractors’ group, said he expects the new ordinance will help builders of commercial and even government projects that are currently in the permit application hopper. “That should speed things up for us very much,” he said.

The new law will have the greatest impact on larger, residential projects because “these are the ones that really put a lot of people to work.”

Hiu said the new law “rewards those contractors who do the right thing.”