Cebu City OBO chief commits to 1-hour processing of building permits
Cebu City OBO head Architect Florante Catalan (second from left) explains various developments in his office, including the implementation of the one-hour processing time for the issuance of building permits, during a forum on Wednesday, August 3, 2022./ CDN Digital File Photo/Wenilyn B. Sabalo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — It will only take an hour to process building permits in Cebu City.
This was the commitment of the Cebu City OBO head Architect Florante Catalan to city residents during a media forum on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.
“We are very proud and happy to announce that OBO Cebu City implements the issuance of building permit within an hour… For as long as documents, building plans are complete,” he said.
“We have a checklist, dapat nakompleto to siya ug nakapasar siya sa minimum standard required by the National Building Code and the City Ordinance,” he added.
Catalan said the shortened processing time of building permit applications is made possible through the implementation of the OBO-Information System (OBO-IS) version 3.
OBO-IS is a system developed by the City government’s Management Information and Computer Services.
In 2012, Catalan said, the said system won against 68 other local government units in a government-to-business competition.
Catalan said with the OBO-IS version 3 in place, building permit applicants only need to bring with them a flash drive containing all the pertinent documents required for the issuance of the permit.
“All documents ilaha nalang gi-scan, gi save into pdf file. Then, inig insert ana sa system (after the recording), simultaneous na mo process ang tanang section heads from architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, and so on,” he said.
Catalan said the receiving time would only take about five minutes, while the processing time by section heads would be taking a maximum time of 20 minutes.
After these, another five minutes would be allocated for the head of the processing to check the documents, before the payment for the permit.
Catalan added that since the City has already designated a teller at the OBO to take payments for the permit, applicants will no longer need to leave the OBO building and go to City Hall.
Catalan also said that OBO is part of a joint inspection team that conducts inspections for zoning or locational clearance.
He also requested Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to create a one-stop shop for the processing of construction permits in the City, wherein the zoning team, OBO, Bureau of Fire Protection, Office of the City Assessor, and the City Treasurer’s Office are already in one place.Among the services of the OBO are the issuance of a building permit, occupancy permit, electrical permit, temporary sign permit, billboard/signboard permit, renewal of permits to operate, and the submission and follow-up of complaints and communication. /rcg
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