Streamlined process builds better buildings

Developers in Beijing take advantage of new rules that offer more convenience to projects

The municipal government of Beijing put in place new rules in April for small-scale building projects - Regulations on Approval Services for Simple and Low-Risk Construction Projects - to make the city more service-oriented and responsive to business needs.

Beijing has drawn on other countries' experiences, amended the procedures of construction permits and adopted a risk-based approach to sort construction projects into categories by their sizes, locations, uses and forms of work for better judgment in daily management.

According to Wang Wei, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, projects such as official buildings, public service facilities and warehouses that are in line with urban planning, have an aboveground area within 2,000 square meters and an underground area no more than one floor within 1,000 sq m, are classified as simple and low-risk.

"Beijing starts to reshape the assessment and management system of construction projects from this simple type," said Wang.

The one-stop service system for simple and low-risk construction projects was then introduced. Beijing Lideheng Environmental Protection Engineering Company is the first to use this system. It plans to build a 580-sq-m project in western Beijing's Mentougou district. The project falls into the low-risk category and will serve as a public service platform for enterprises to release products and display technology.

Bao Yijian, deputy general manager of Lideheng, said: "I still remember how amazed I was on my first visit to the service center in Mentougou. By filling out only one application form and handing in one copy of the documents, I got four applications submitted: construction project registration, planning permit, lumbering permit, and inquiry and request for water and sewage connection."

Backed by the government's easy measures, the company obtained the planning permit within 24 hours. They soon got the building permit and started building. One of the highlights of the one-stop service system is that Beijing allows public utilities enterprises to provide the water, sewage and power connection with no administrative procedure and free of charge.

"We just submitted an application and did not do anything else for those but they came to help, and those services were free," added Bao.

Lin Jingxiu, from the Beijing Economic Information Center that designed this new system, said: "The system is a new one. It is specially designed for the simple and low-risk construction projects, which can only be processed in this system. No other approvals and services can be handled outside the system."

"In order to improve operational efficiency and reduce processing time, enterprises will go through only five procedures, however government will implement many procedures internally through the one-stop service system. With the system, government departments can share information and data, and offer services without applications," said Lin.

"We are happy to work more as long as applicants can feel more at ease," added Lin.

When Lideheng's project was almost complete, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development called the Planning and Natural Resources Commission, the Fire Department, the Market Supervision Bureau, and the Real Estate Registry Center to conduct final checks together. "Notification of joint acceptance was printed out and issued on-site. It only took one day," Bao said.

"We now evaluate design quality by random check of building drawings after the projects begin construction. Quality and safety inspection will be conducted just once for no more than one day during construction. With all these measures, companies working on simple and low-risk projects will know what the government is doing for them. The whole process will be easy and quick," said Wang.

Officials in the Planning and Natural Resources Commission Mentougou branch said: "We will complete real estate registration in only one day, as we have integrated all the information from government departments."

"Beijing's recent establishments encourage enterprises like us to put more efforts into production and operation and give us support and confidence," Bao said.

yinruowei@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/24/2019 page12)