The backlog of building permits and the time it takes to get permit approval have been significantly reduced in Hawaiʻi County since the beginning of this year with the help of a permitting task force created by Mayor Kimo Alameda.

Average time of review and approval is down to less than 2 months for all permits.

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Take a look at the following comparisons between the first half of 2025 vs. the first half of 2024.

RESIDENTIAL NEW CONSTRUCTION: Average duration of permit review and approval process reduced 69%, from more than 6 months to about 2 months.

RESIDENTIAL ROOFTOP SOLAR: Average duration of permit review and approval process reduced 61%, with most approvals now completed in just more than a month.

ALL PERMIT TYPES: Average duration of permit review and approval process reduced 66%, from nearly 5 months to less than 2 months.

“Improving the building permit system required an outside perspective and our county working collaboratively with the private sector,” Alameda said in a release about the improvements. “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.”

The county is seeing real results through that effort, as well as those of its staff, alleviating the permitting backlog.

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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.

Processes that allow flexibility, such as corrections to applications that can be made via the phone.

Everything is aimed at minimizing corrections and resubmittals, greatly improving the efficiency of the permit review process.

Local contractors and business owners are noticing the improvements.

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

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Hank Correa with Hank Correa Realty, HJC Development and Hanale Builders added that prior county administrations were challenged with the building permitting process, but it seems like Alameda’s team found the right recipe for success.

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

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.

Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda laughs during his first State of the County Address on April 8, 2025. (Photo File: Kelsey Walling/Big Island Now)

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“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.