portal/intakes/building-permits.yaml

# A building authority's intake: the hardest sector the trainer has
# been given. Cases that pause and resume, cases that belong to other
# cases, a decision two roles sign, a deadline nobody in the building
# controls, and an appeal that reopens something already finished.
# Written the way the department head would write it, in plain words.
business: Vestmark kommune - Building and Planning
contact: { name: Solveig Hauge, email: byggesak@vestmark.example }
language: en

what_we_do: >
  We are the building authority for a municipality of twenty-one
  thousand people. Anyone who wants to build, demolish, divide a
  property or change what a building is used for has to come to us
  first. We check the drawings against the zoning map and the building
  regulations, we let the neighbours and the other authorities have
  their say, and then we approve or refuse. We also decide exemptions
  from the zoning rules, we inspect what is actually built, we sign off
  finished work, and we deal with building that was never applied for.

who_comes_to_us: >
  Homeowners who want a garage, an extension or a new window, and who
  have never read a regulation in their life. Architects and
  engineering firms who file on behalf of owners; they have to be
  approved by us before they may file anything. Neighbours who got a
  notice in the post and do not agree with what is planned next door.
  The other authorities we are obliged to ask: the road authority, the
  fire service, the heritage office, the county. People who ring to say
  something is going up behind their fence without permission. And
  anyone who wants to sit down with us before they spend eighty
  thousand on drawings.

what_we_keep_track_of: >
  Pre-application meetings: someone asks for one, we find a time, we
  meet, and we write down what we told them so they can hold us to it.
  Applications: they arrive, someone checks whether the papers are all
  there, and if something is missing we write and ask for it, and the
  twelve-week clock stops until they answer. Often we have to ask
  twice. When it is complete we send it out to the neighbours and to
  the agencies and wait six weeks. Then a case officer writes a
  recommendation, and the head of section signs the decision: approved,
  approved with conditions, or refused. People can withdraw at any
  point, and quite a few do once they hear from the neighbours.
  Exemptions: if what someone wants breaks the zoning rules they can
  ask for an exemption. It rides along with the application but it is a
  decision of its own, and we are not allowed to grant one before the
  county has been asked.
  Objections: a neighbour who got a notice writes to us within the
  hearing period. Each objection belongs to an application. We register
  it, the applicant gets to answer it, and the case officer has to
  address every single one in the decision, by name.
  Hearing answers: we ask an agency, they answer, or they do not, and
  when the deadline has passed we go on without them.
  Appeals: for three weeks after a decision anyone with an interest can
  appeal it. We go through it ourselves first, and if we change our own
  mind that is the end of it. If we do not, it goes to the appeals
  board, who meet once a month and either uphold us or overturn us.
  Inspections: we pick cases and go and look, on site. Either it is as
  approved, or we write up what is wrong and set a date for it to be
  put right, and then we go back.
  Finishing: when the work is done the firm asks for a completion
  certificate. If they want to move in before everything is done they
  can ask for a temporary permission instead. We check what was
  inspected and what is still outstanding before we sign anything.
  Illegal building: someone reports it, we go and look, we write to the
  owner and they have to explain themselves, and then they either apply
  for it properly, take it down, or we fine them weekly until they do.
  Approved firms: a firm sends us their registration, their insurance
  and what they are qualified for, we check it, and then they are on
  the list and may file applications.

who_is_involved: >
  The front desk logs what comes in over the counter and on the phone,
  and keeps the archive. Four case officers carry the cases. The head
  of section signs every decision and every exemption; a case officer
  may not sign their own. Two inspectors are out on site most of the
  week and write up what they find on a phone in a cold wind. The
  appeals board is seven elected politicians who meet on the third
  Tuesday of the month and read what we send them. The agencies are
  outside the building altogether and only ever answer hearings. The
  approved firms file applications and answer objections on behalf of
  their clients.

what_slows_us_down: >
  The twelve-week clock, and the fact that stopping it and starting it
  again is done by hand in a spreadsheet. Applications that arrive
  missing half the drawings. Objections that come in on paper and get
  stapled to the wrong case. Neighbours ringing to ask what is
  happening with the case behind their house, which we are obliged to
  tell them and which takes ten minutes every time. Agencies that never
  answer at all. And nobody outside this building can see a case
  without asking us for it.