County Sets New Hours For Building Permit Assistance

The county Department of Public Works has announced new hours for getting assistance for building permit applications.

Beginning Oct. 1, clerical assistance for applications at Building Division offices in Hilo and Kona will be available from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday. The exceptions will be Wednesday in Hilo and Thursday in Kona, where the hours those days will be 7:45 a.m. to noon.

The change is designed to give permit clerks an opportunity to process permits uninterrupted during regular business hours, said public works spokeswoman Noelani Whittington. The staffing levels remain the same in both offices, she said.

The hours are currently 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with the office closed on the first Friday of each month, which is a furlough day. In late June, a change was instituted where permits requiring front desk assistance were not being accepted from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Hilo and on Thursday in Kona.

The changes affect only applications that require permit clerk assistance. Regular hours will continue for code questions, plan review consultations and the dropping off or picking up of plans and permits.

Permits may still be submitted at any time online through the county’s website at http://papaaukahi.hawaiicounty.gov.  Public computers are available at both the Hilo and Kona Building Division offices for creating online permit applications.

Information on becoming an online user is also available at http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/storage/departments/public-works/documents/PapaAukahiCard.pdf.