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DPP pitches SivCheck AI precheck as a way to cut permit review times; committee asks for more user uptake
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Summary
The Department of Planning and Permitting briefed the committee on SivCheck, an AI-guided precheck tool for building-permit applications, saying it can reduce review cycles and speed approvals; council members pressed DPP on integration, review-group coverage and early adoption metrics.
The Department of Planning and Permitting on Jan. 15 briefed the Zoning and Planning Committee on SivCheck, the city’s new AI-guided plan precheck intended to reduce incomplete permit submissions and speed review.
Dawn Takuchi Opuna, director of DPP, described SivCheck as a guided AI plan-review tool that walks applicants through required documentation and flags missing or incorrect information before an application reaches city reviewers. “SivCheck was built to solve this problem at its core for both applicants and cities,” the presentation’s narration stated, and DPP told the committee that partner cities have seen an average 70% reduction in plan-review times.
DPP reported that the residential module (single-family, duplexes, ADUs and similar projects) went live in November and that SivCheck performs more than 245 regulation checks across multiple review groups. The department said 17 voluntary applications had used SivCheck since November and that the tool will be made mandatory for the residential module after officials evaluate the pilot results.
Council members asked technical and operational questions. Members sought clarity on which checks SivCheck performs, how it routes items to other agencies (such as Board of Water Supply and Fire), and how SivCheck will interoperate with HNL Build. DPP staff said SivCheck covers the defined prescreen checks and that routed reviews to other departments should be quicker for prescreened applications.
A council request for follow-up: the committee asked DPP to return with an update on usage, outcomes and integration issues at the next monthly permitting report.
Why it matters: DPP said the tool is intended to reduce repeated review cycles and speed housing delivery by ensuring applications are complete before formal submission.
