Colombia Reforms its Building Permit Process
This paper is the first in a series of case studies of reforms undertaken by Doing Business 2009 top reformers.
In 1995, Colombia introduced a new system that moved the administration of building permits out of the state-run Planning Office into the private domain. Private professionals called Urban Curators (Curadores Urbanos) became responsible for the complete and timely review of building permit applications. By 1996, the system of private Urban Curators was up and running. Fourteen years after its initial implementation, the system’s impact on the construction process is palpable.
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