Construction of a building isn’t an easy process, more so in the case of Dhaka city. As one of the most densely populated cities in the world, there are many rules and procedures to follow if one wants to start constructing a building in Dhaka. Following these procedures and obtaining the permits can take a long time, but things are changing now. With the vision of “smart Bangladesh,” this permit-taking procedure is expected to get easier for general people. That’s why the Electronic Construction Permitting System, or ECPS, is concocted, and Dohatec New Media is proud to be a part of this.
ECPS in a glance
As part of modernizing the governance, the government of Bangladesh has decided to implement a system where all construction-related permits can be provided. In the previous era, obtaining those permits was hard; people often missed the requirements and needed clarification about where to go and what to do next. But now, there is a streamlined and one-stop solution for every confusion regarding construction. This solution is the ECPS or Electronic Construction Permitting System. What it does is it brings all the offices and permission-providing authorities in one place. Bringing them all together reduces the hassle, improves transparency, and accelerates the permit-obtaining process. For example, a person wants to construct a home on a piece of land they own and submit an application to obtain specific permissions or clearances. It is a prevalent incident that their submitted file is nowhere to be found. People in the office don’t know where the file is. But with ECPS, it is now easily trackable through the website.
How does it work?
In ECPS, a person seeking clearances and permits must register with their NID number and personal information. Let’s call it registering as a user. Then, the user must submit a file in the system, which a Deputy Town Planner or DTP will handle. The DTP then will assign those files to assistant town planners or ATPs, who will send the applications to the respective permission-giving authorities, such as RAJUK, to obtain the land use clearance or LUC. The user must submit all the documents needed to get these clearances, such as a land registry copy, possession letter, land survey report, etc. A user needs to submit the documents, and then he can check the progress of their application and track it through the system. Although the total process takes about 30 working days, currently, it takes a lot more than that due to bureaucracy and the sluggishness of the existing system. But with ECPS, this will not be the case. The time required will be much less, and the process will be transparent. The engineers and architects involved in the construction process must also be registered in the ECPS system. The system can access association servers such as the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) and the Institute of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB). This will ensure the technical persons are qualified and registered with their respective associations.
After that, the application will head to the second section, where the construction permit/RAJUK plan approval will be given. The process is still the same: submitting the necessary documents and waiting for the responsible officers to provide the clearance or support. The only difference is that there will be an Authorized Office or AO instead of DTP. If the permit is obtained, then and only then the construction can begin. But in some instances, there are special/large projects such as residential buildings with more than 40 flats, projects connecting to highways, any projects near a place of natural or historical importance, etc. In these “special” cases, people will need a Special Project Approval Form, which can also be obtained through the ECPS.
Why ECPS?
There are many benefits of using ECPS. For starters, ECPS will reduce the hassle for the general people. And there is the benefit of reduced paperwork. It also increases efficiency by streamlining the permitting process and reducing time and effort. Also, it improves transparency as a user can always track the submitted application on the system. Furthermore, safety will also be increased as with the online system, the constructor has to ensure all the safety measures to obtain their permit. The architects and the engineers involved in the construction process will need to be registered, and they need to be members of their respective institutes so they will all be qualified and provide better service.
Conclusion
The world is moving at a blinding speed, and keeping up with the ever-advancing technology is very important. Construction is already a lengthy process, which sometimes becomes even longer due to bureaucracy. ECPS is introduced to eliminate this and make construction easier. Hopefully, this will encourage people to improve the infrastructure and guide us towards a productive modern country.