Processing of residential building permits on Oahu is expected to be easier under changes that have been put into place by the city Department of Planning and Permitting.

DPP began notifying applicants on Monday that permits are ready to be issued pending the approval of other agencies. It will then be up to the applicants or designated agents to route, or physically take, the applications to those agencies, DPP said in a news release.

The new procedure is only for residential building permits. Other applications, including those for filing through the ePlan process, still will be reviewed under existing rules and guidelines, DPP said.

Until now, DPP has withheld the issuance of a permit until all agencies have reviewed and approved the application. While DPP takes 12 days to review a residential building perm application, the average issuance time is 135 days once the other agencies have reviewed the application.

Those other agencies include the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Department of Transportation Services, the Department of Environmental Services, the state Department of Health, the State Historic Preservation Division and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.