KUWAIT CITY, May 23: In a significant move to streamline municipal procedures, the Director General of the Municipality, Eng. Saud Al-Dabbous, has issued a circular specifying strict timelines for the completion of building permit transactions. For private housing, the issuance of building permits must now be completed within one day. For commercial, investment, and industrial properties, the process should take no more than three days.

Eng. Al-Dabbous also announced that shop licenses in residential areas should be issued within two days, three days in commercial areas, and five days for other uses. Additionally, the issuance of description certificates is to be completed within one day for vacant land, three days for private housing, and five days for other uses. These measures are part of a broader effort to simplify municipal procedures through the automation of engineering departments and various service types, in alignment with the state’s push towards digital transformation.

In a related development, the Coordination Committee, chaired by Eng. Al-Dabbous, has approved the expedited establishment of the Kuwait Urban Observatory. This specialized center will focus on collecting, analyzing, and processing data related to urban development. The observatory will ensure that data handling aligns with requirements for measurement, comparison, publication, preservation, and retrieval.