The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has yet to implement a 2023 board decision to introduce pre-approved building plans for allottees, nearly three years after the directive was issued, despite the initiative being intended to simplify house construction approvals for citizens.
In September 2023, the CDA Board decided to introduce pre-approved building plans to eliminate the lengthy, multi-department approval process for house construction.
The board directed the relevant CDA wing to prepare, within eight weeks, a booklet containing 20 pre-approved plans for each plot size, to be made available online so residents could select a design with a single click.
The plans were also meant to be displayed on digital screens installed at CDA offices, and a fee structure was to be finalised in consultation with the authority’s finance wing.
More than 144 weeks later, the booklet remains incomplete. “Yes, we were supposed to have 20 pre-approved plans for each size of plot, but this process is still incomplete,” a senior CDA officer said.
A CDA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the delay was unusual given that board decisions are typically implemented within weeks of the minutes being issued.
The official said full implementation would spare citizens repeated visits to CDA offices and allow them to select preferred building designs with ease. He called on the interior minister, who also serves as CDA chairman, to take notice of the delay and fix responsibility for it.
The initiative originated after then CDA Chairman Anwarul Haq received multiple complaints in September 2023 about delays in building plan approvals.
Following a visit to the CDA’s Building Control Directorate, he proposed reducing the role of CDA officials in the approval process and presented the pre-approved plans proposal to the board, which approved it and set a two-month implementation deadline.
Last year, reports emerged within the CDA alleging that some officials with ties to private firms were resisting the initiative, an allegation the authority has denied.
Responding to queries about the three-year delay, the CDA said in a written statement that its Member Planning & Development had directed the Building Control & Housing wing to determine the software and hardware requirements for the system.
The authority added that implementing the mechanism would also require fresh recruitment of technical staff, and said it was working to roll out a complete, end-to-end solution to streamline the building plan approval process for residential and commercial properties.
