A follow-up audit on the city Department of Planning and Permitting found prior recommendations related to the quicker issuance of city building permits to the public have been met, in some cases, but not yet been achieved in other instances.

Earlier this month the Honolulu Office of the City Auditor submitted an update to its original 2020 report. The prior audit resulted in 16 formal recommendations to DPP to improve building permit applications services that attempt to end controversial, months-long delays to process permits.

Under the past audit, the 16 recommendations included implementing performance benchmarks; improving planning check workflows; integrating online technologies to submit building permit applications and plans; and properly collecting, calculating and reporting performance data over the time of initial application receipt to building permit issuance.

In addition, the 2020 audit advised DPP to formally account and document third-party certification fees as well as implement and enforce controls to prevent private entities from booking more than two building permit review appointments per day, the audit states.

The latest audit — conducted from July to January — determined four of the original 16 recommendations were completed, two were unresolved, five were still in progress, one never started and four were dropped completely “as the risk associated with the recommendation no longer exists or is no longer applicable.”

Achieved recommendations include one in which DPP ceased repeated review cycles for building permits — a practice that created significant, often-costly delays for many building permit applicants.

In partial response the Honolulu City Council in November adopted Ordinance 29, meant to temporarily alleviate the permit backlog.

“The ordinance gives the director of Planning and Permitting, or their designee, authority to allow alternative means for reviewing building permit applications to ensure compliance with relevant codes,” the audit states. “This legislation also introduced a temporary professional self-certification program designed to expedite the review and processing of specific building permit applications.”

Another recommendation involved “expiring permit applications” in which applications are automatically terminated if they are not issued or are not picked up within 365 days of an application’s submission.

To remedy this issue, DPP “implemented an automatic notification system that alerts customers when their application is near the 365-day deadline, allowing them to request an extension based on reasonable justification,” the report states.

The auditor said it “tested and reviewed the new automatic notification system and concluded that the automated notifications achieve the intent of the recommendation to encourage applicants to pick up permit applications before expiration.”

Due to the notification system, the auditor deemed that issue resolved.

Likewise, DPP was requested to educate the public and implement its ePlans program — the electronic permit application submission system.

“As of July 2023, DPP requires all residential and commercial plans be submitted electronically,” the audit states. “The website now includes educational materials, including how to submit documents under ePlans.”

The auditor found DPP’s website changes were sufficient, deeming it completed.

Under recommendations still in progress, the auditor found DPP had, for a time, implemented its own internal audit of independent, third-party reviewers, or TPR — professionals who’ve been approved by DPP to review residential and commercial building plans which are then “fast tracked through DPP’s permitting process,” the report states.

“DPP conducted an internal audit of the commercial and residential TPR process from Sept. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021,” the report says. “The audit found a low success rate, and the internal audit function lasted only four months and lacked both reporting and ongoing continuous TPR audits.

“Specifically, four companies had 100% discrepancy with their building plan review submittals. Three additional companies had 50% discrepancy, 12.5% discrepancy, and 6.25% discrepancy, respectively, with their plan submittals,” the audit states.

It noted that “only one company had a 0% discrepancy with its plan submittals.”

“After the internal audit was completed, DPP suspended its internal TPR audit function until they can address the backlog effectively,” the report states. “DPP has communicated its ongoing efforts to enhance the existing TPR rules, aiming to establish more rigorous qualifications, testing procedures, and audit requirements.”

Ultimately, the audit stated, “DPP should revamp the TPR rules to provide more robust qualifications, as well as testing audit requirements.”

Meantime, another recommendation did not occur for DPP to show greater adherence to accepted international accreditation “to ensure DPP’s services meet the national standards to provide public safety serv­ices for the City and County of Honolulu.”

“DPP management reported that, at present, they are unable to implement this recommendation,” the report states. “However, they expressed an interest in the International Accreditation Service accreditation once the required changes have been enacted.”

To that, the auditor stated that when “DPP has sufficient time and resources, it should reprioritize IAS accreditation.”

In a written response Thursday to the auditor’s follow-up report, DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said her department “agrees with these findings.”

She added, “DPP is singularly focused and committed to address the long-standing systemic causes of permitting process inefficiencies and deficiencies in order to provide the public, commercial and residential development communities with timely and effective permitting reviews.”

On Tuesday, Takeuchi Apuna told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that “the permitting system has been broken for decades and will not be fixed overnight.”

“But our dedication towards modernizing the technology, hiring and training staff, and streamlining processes will result in a system that improves the experience of building permit applicants, including reduced processing time and providing applicants with a timely update on the status of their permit applications,” she said via email. “As the follow-up audit points out, DPP is well on its way to achieving a permitting system that the public deserves.”