SANTO DOMINGO.- The Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (Mivhed) reported that from August 2022 to April 2024, it carried out a total of 33,263 inspections in the various regions of the country, highlighting a monthly growth of 1.45%.
According to the “Mivhed 2020-2024 Memoirs”, released by the government entity, 20,319 of those inspections were carried out in the Santo Domingo Regional Office, 8,725 in San Francisco de Macorís, 1,353 in Santiago and 2,866 in Punta Cana.
“In addition, there has been a sustained average monthly increase of 1.45% in the inspections carried out from August 2022 to April 2024. As for the notifications made, 270 inspection visits were carried out and 219 projects were notified,” states the document entitled “Building a better future”, which contains 238 pages.
Mivhed's reports highlight that 198 projects are currently undergoing regularization and that inspection visits now take no more than two business days after receiving the application. "In fact, 96% of the inspections (31,932) were carried out on the same day as the application, 3% (998) within one day, and 1% (333) within two days," the report states.
One of the achievements highlighted by the Ministry of Housing in its memoirs refers to the Single Window for Construction, noting that the tool arrived to respond to the demand of actors in the private sector of construction, "who had to carry out duplicate procedures in the various institutions in order to obtain their permits and/or construction licenses for their projects, due to the multiplicity of procedures.".
“This Single Window integrates the various government institutions that participate in the country's construction operations, such as the National District City Hall, the Santo Domingo Water and Sewerage Corporation (CAASD) with its network connection services, approval of water and sanitation plans and construction of connections.”.
It also cites the Northern Electricity Distribution Company SA (EDENORTE Dominicana SA), EDESUR, EDESTE, National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA), Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Tourism, Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, Monumental Heritage, among others.
The Mivhed highlights that significant changes have been implemented from this platform to improve the efficiency of the services provided, such as process automation, reorganization of departments and the tasks performed, optimization and documentation of processes and management indicators, and a technological tool for virtual appointments with service users.
It highlights that significant progress was made in improving the quality of services provided, including staff training, the introduction of new technological means and tools for communication with users, the systematic scheduling of activities, and constant awareness of the work performed.
Permits
The Ministry of Housing reported that between April 2022 and April 2024, 3,167 building permits were issued. Of these, 2,073 were for new construction, and 367 were for modifications to existing permits
