Streamlining Development Approvals: The Case for a Centralized OSS System in Kenya

The 2023/24 Kenya Housing Survey reveals that 66% of Kenyans believe the process of obtaining development approvals from county governments is excessively slow and the associated fees are unreasonable1;p176. In addition, this has been highlighted as a key factor discouraging developers from seeking necessary approvals before commencing construction1;p194.?

This aligns with a survey conducted by @arch_ke in November 2024, proceeding the release of the 2024 Status of the Built Environment report (Access the report here: https://shorturl.at/AiKFF), which aimed to capture members' experiences in obtaining development permissions across various counties. In Nairobi County, 50% of respondents reported having to provide "unofficial facilitation" to secure approvals, underscoring the widespread and systemic corruption that continues to affect development control processes. Other issues highlighted included unreliable online systems and the absence of effective feedback mechanisms.

Despite the majority of counties lacking online construction approval systems, counties such as Kiambu and Kisumu regressed from their e-permitting development control systems to manual ones, which only serves to heighten these issues.

This highlights the need for the establishment of a centralized One-Stop Shop (#OSS) approval system to streamline processes for the issuance of building permits and planning approvals. For a couple of years now, @arch_ke has been at the forefront of advocating for efficient development control systems by proposing a nationwide implementation of an #OSS model. Consequently, the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development through the State Department of Public Work’s timely proposal of the implementation of an #OSS system could not have come at a more opportune moment.

Recent studies have established that approximately 80% of constructions are illegal developments constructed without obtaining the requisite approvals from the National Construction Authority (NCA), the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and the County Governments. This is further exacerbated by the fact that developers are not engaging duly registered professionals in the design and development of their buildings. For instance, the 23/24 Housing Survey indicates that developers engaged only 19.4% of Architects, 3.6% of Quantity Surveyors, 7.7% of Structural Engineers, 5.8% of Planners, 2.4% of Interior Designers, and 1.4% of Landscape Architects, amongst others1;p81. This is quite alarming!

In response, @arch_ke has been running the Mulika Mjengo and Je, Una Mjengo? advocacy campaigns, offering an anonymous platform for the public to report unsafe construction practices and unhealthy buildings while promoting the importance of engaging registered professionals in construction. Combined, these initiatives reached over 3,500 people in 2024 through various channels including roadshows, public awareness clinics, social media, and mainstream media platforms such as radio and television.

Implementation of an effective #OSS system will assist in promoting the efficiency of service delivery, time savings, cost reductions, enhanced transparency and accountability, and improved compliance, promoting the ease of doing business. Average approval times of 9-16 weeks, with some applications taking up to 32 weeks as reported by @arch_ke’s members in the survey are retrogressive and wayward, and should be a thing of the past. We need to embrace the adoption of efficient systems integrated with technological advancements to further advance the KES 954 billion construction sector, which accounts for 7.1% of Kenya’s GDP2.