Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has made some major changes to the county's building approval timeline by cutting it from six months to two weeks.
Previously, the building approval timeline took a significantly long time stretching to six months with delays attributed to bureaucratic inefficiencies, lengthy paperwork, and compliance reviews causing frustrations for developers and project managers.
Developers were forced to put their projects on hold until all the necessary approvals were obtained. These hold-ups meant higher project costs, stalled timelines, and missed opportunities.
In some cases, developers even sought informal methods to move forward, which sometimes led to unregulated and unsafe construction.
However, during a meeting with the members of Kenya Property Developers (KPDA) at City Hall on Wednesday, the governor directed that from now on all building development approvals must be done after two weeks.
This means that the Nairobi County Government now aims to process and finalise these applications in a maximum of 14 days.
The governor has revealed that the move aspires to change the building urban development sector in Nairobi County address the challenges faced by the developers and project managers and provide a more streamlined and efficient process for building approvals.
"By reducing the approval timeline to be done after every two weeks, property developers can expect a more timely and predictable process, allowing them to plan and execute their projects more effectively," Sakaja said.
The move by the governor is intended to streamline the bureaucracy around construction permits, reduce delays, and promote efficiency in the development sector.
According to the governor, setting a specific schedule for approvals will help property developers to better understand the process and make plans for their projects.
Apart from speeding up the process, the move also seeks to encourage compliance with proper building standards.
Nairobi county has been a victim of substandard buildings that do not conform to the compliance standards leading to most of them collapsing resulting in loss of lives and properties.
