Hawaiʻi County Reduces Permitting Backlog

Mayor’s Permitting Task Force Improves Review Process

News Release from County of Hawaii, August 14, 2025

With the help of a permitting task force formed by Mayor Kimo Alameda, the County of Hawaiʻi has significantly reduced waiting times for building permits.

“Improving the building permit system required an outside perspective and our County working collaboratively with the private sector,” said Mayor Alameda. “That’s why one of my first actions as mayor was to ask this task force consisting of contractors, drafters, realtors, architects, engineers, and County staff to come together to help identify existing barriers and solutions so that we can serve the interests of our community.”

He added, “Through this effort, I am happy to share we are seeing real results that are alleviating our permitting backlog. Because of their recommendations, and the commendable efforts of our staff, we are seeing that permits are getting out faster and applicants have more confidence in the timeline to receive their permits.”

Tracking Permitting Progress – First Half of 2025 vs. First Half of 2024

• All Permit Types: Average duration of permit review and approval process has been reduced by 66%, from nearly five months to under two months.
• Residential New Construction: Average duration of permit review and approval process has been reduced by 69%, from more than six months to about two months.
• Residential Rooftop Solar: Average duration of permit review and approval process has been reduced by 61%, with most approvals now completed in just over one month.

“These improvements couldn’t be made without the efforts of our permitting clerks,” Mayor Alameda said. “Their commitment to frontline customer service and making internal improvements to increase the workflow has made a tremendous impact.”

Changes made based on the task force’s recommendations include increased training for staff and the public, weekly permit tracking and reporting, filling long-vacant positions, and processes that allow for flexibility, such as corrections to applications that can be made over the phone. These efforts were aimed at minimizing corrections and resubmittals, significantly improving the efficiency of the review process.

Local contractors and business owners say they are noticing the improvements.

“There is much greater understanding and transparency in the department, which improves communication and engagement with the staff,” said Kaimi Chung, owner of Walter’s Electric Inc. and Lokahi Construction LLC.

Hank Correa, of Hank Correa Realty, HJC Development and Hanale Builders, said: “Prior administrations have been challenged with the building permitting process and it seems like this administration has found the recipe.”

Nicole Kanda, of Hawaiʻi International Consultants, noted: “Navigating the permitting process used to be a major hurdle for our projects, but now it’s much more efficient.”

Hawaiʻi County also plans to launch a pilot program to streamline residential rooftop solar photovoltaic permits by providing approval through the intake process.

By consolidating review in a single intake phase, processing times for those solar permits would be further reduced and allow staff to focus on more complicated and review-intensive applications.

“Because of [the task force] recommendations, and the commendable efforts of our staff, we are seeing that permits are getting out faster and applicants have more confidence in the timeline to receive their permits,” Alameda said.

The mayor added none of the improvements would be possible without the county’s permitting clerks.

“Their commitment to frontline customer service and making internal improvements to increase the workflow has made a tremendous impact,” Alameda said.