Prospective homeowners in Kathmandu can now apply for a building construction permit online. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City formally launched the electronic building permit system or e-BPS on Sunday after the success of its pilot project run in 14 wards of the metropolis.

The e-BPS is a web-based application funded by the UNDP which allows users to submit permit applications and required documents through municipality’s website, removing the hassles of lengthy paperwork, bureaucratic hurdles, and visits to the municipality to track permit status. Alternately, the system also allows the municipality to check compliance of buildings standards and gather settlement data for planned urbanisation.

“The National Building Code was introduced in 1994, but its enforcement in the country was very limited even after 20 years,” engineer Bir Bahadur Khadka of KMC’s Urban Development Department said. “The e-BPS has been designed in such a way that the system automatically does not accept building designs which cross the limitation of building codes.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Kamal Thapa inaugurated the new system.

The April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks exposed faults in urban planning in Kathmandu and other cities in the country as the disaster mostly affected those buildings that had flouted the safe construction norms.

According to official data, the earthquake destroyed 5,227 private houses inside the metropolis. A total of 18,770 private houses were damaged. Likewise, 23 government buildings were destroyed and 21 were damaged.

As per the latest data, the e-BPS has processed 4,521 building applications, and issued 3,262 damp-proof course certificates, 2,230 super structure certificates and 121 completion certificates.

On behalf of prospective homeowners, registered KMC designers can access the e-BPS through the website www.kmcebps.gov.np, where details on land ownership certificate (lalpurja), house blueprint, plot specifications, etc should be entered.

If the information conflicts with the National Building Code and the Building By-laws, the system rejects the application. The online application will be automatically relayed to several departments of KMC for registration and analysis before the building construction permit is provided in printable format.  With the e-BPS, users can also track their permit status online, eliminating the need of making frequent calls to or visiting the KMC.

Earlier, building permit applications took a processing duration of minimum of 21 days. Clients then would have to wait another one month for the permit to be issued.

Addressing the inauguration function, DPM Thapa said that merely digitising the process will not do and urged the KMC to reduce the overall processing period with the help of new technology. He said the government was committed to introduce the system throughout the country.

KMC Chief and Executive Officer Rudra Singh Tamang said that the metropolis is moving towards paperless e-governance from the next fiscal year.  The KMC is also partnering with the Asian Development Bank to install Municipal Administration and Revenue System through which service seekers can apply and receive services online.

Nepal rose to second place in South Asia on the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings and to 78th globally (an improvement by 35 places) on dealing with construction permits rankings after the introduction of the e-BPS, according to the World Bank 2014 assessment on Doing Business Report 2015.

Salient features

-    The e-BPS has processed 4,521 building applications and issued 3,262 damp-proof course certificates, 2,230 super structure certificates and 121 completion certificates

-    Registered KMC designers can access the e-BPS on behalf of prospective homeowners through the website www.kmcebps.gov.np

-    The system will reject any application that does not adhere to the National Building Code and the Building By-laws

-    The online application will be automatically relayed to several departments of KMC for registration and analysis before the issuance of building construction permit

-    Users can track their permit status online