Puerto Rico, getting building permits now take only 20 days on average instead of 98 days

Puerto Rico, getting building permits now take only 20 days on average instead of 98 days.  While it’s definitely a big step in the right direction, 20 days is still too long.

https://caribbeanbusiness.com/puerto-rico-govt-doing-business-on-the-island-now-easier-than-ever

Puerto Rico gov’t: Doing business on the island ‘now easier than ever’

By Caribbean Business on May 8, 2019

Claims building permits are processed 5 times quicker

SAN JUAN – The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration says that as a result of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s permitting reform, enacted April 4, it is now “easier than ever” to do business on the island.

The law consolidates the process to obtain a permit, fire prevention and environmental health certifications, licenses and authorizations into one permit package. Small and midsize businesses “will be able to obtain the Single Permit automatically,” the administration says.

The law also created the Unified Information System, integrating business requirements in the same website, allowing users to apply for both state and municipal permits and licenses.

When the law was enacted last month, a release issued by the administration said that in 2017 the World Bank’s Doing Business Report ranked Puerto Rico 131 out of 190 countries for the difficulty in obtaining a building permit because it “used to take on average 165 days and involved 20 separate processes.” The administration said Tuesday that permit requests are being processed and delivered “much quicker than before” the reforms were enacted.

“Puerto Rico is now, more than ever, an attractive destination to do business. Before we streamlined the permitting process, getting a building permit used to take on average 98 days. This figure now stands at just 20 days as of 2019,” Public Affairs Secretary Anthony Maceira said in a statement Tuesday.

“Puerto Rico is now open for business, and our permitting reform is an important pillar as we rebuild our island after Hurricanes Irma and María. My administration will continue to cut red tape as part of our efforts to turn Puerto Rico into an attractive destination in which to do business,” Rosselló is quoted as saying in the release.

“We are committed to continuing to enact groundbreaking legislation so that Puerto Rico can be a modern jurisdiction in which world-class businesses can…not [only] establish themselves but thrive,” the governor added.