Covering the Cost: The cost of construction permit delays and post-disaster rebuilding

News admin August 19, 2026 0 Comments

Covering the Cost: The cost of construction permit delays and post-disaster rebuilding

In HNN’s livestream show “Covering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,” we break down the numbers behind Hawaii’s affordability crisis in candid conversations with financial experts, entrepreneurs and community leaders.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In this episode of “Covering the Cost” on Aug. 18 at 12:30 p.m., Annalisa Burgos talks with Joe Kent, executive vice president of Hawaii think tank Grassroot Institute about the cost of rebuilding after disasters like Lala and construction permit challenges across the state, and Clariti CEOCyrus Symoom about the company’s work with Honolulu County’s Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP)

Clariti builds permitting and community development software for local governments in 26 states. Honolulu selected the mainland-based company as its new permit management system at a cost of $5.6 million.

Beginning September 1, DPP will require most residential projects to use the CivCheck Guided AI process before submitting their permit application.

Permit applications that do not use CivCheck for eligible residential projects will be rejected during pre-application review, and applicants will be directed to use CivCheck before resubmittal.

Applicants are encouraged to create a CivCheck account and become familiar with the software before the new requirement takes effect.

Projects required to use CivCheck beginning Sept. 1:

Projects that are not required to use CivCheck:

Projects eligible for “Quick Permits” should not be submitted through CivCheck.

“CivCheck is a proven tool for helping applicants prepare better quality and more complete permit applications before they enter DPP’s formal review process,” DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said in a news release. “CivCheck for eligible residential projects will reduce the back and forth between the applicant and the review agencies, thereby speeding up the overall permitting process.”

CivCheck is an AI-guided pre-application review tool that helps applicants identify and address potential issues before they submit their permit application. It does not replace DPP’s official plan review and does not guarantee permit approval.

Clariti says applicants using the software saved an average of 40.5 days during the permit review process. Because the CivCheck process often requires reviewing and revising technical plans, DPP recommends that the submission be completed by an industry design professional.

Getting started with CivCheck involves four steps:

Once the project successfully completes the CivCheck process, the plans will be marked with a CivCheck watermark, and the applicant will receive a CivCheck ID. The applicant will then use the CivCheck ID and watermarked plans when submitting their permit application through HNL Build.

CivCheck is currently available only for eligible residential permit applications. Additional project types, including commercial projects, will be added later this year.

For more information about CivCheck, eligibility requirements, or to request a free account, visit DPP’s CivCheck webpage.

Clariti says before an application reaches a city reviewer, its AI plan review tool walks the applicant through what’s required, reads the plans, and flags missing documents and code problems so they get fixed up front. People show up with a complete package instead of learning weeks later that a sheet was mislabeled. It doesn’t approve anything. DPP staff still make every decision.

Clariti released Q1 2026 results:

Symoom believes staff should be able spend their time making decisions, not chasing paperwork and AI won’t fix zoning and won’t create housing funding, but it can fix the review process underneath both.