Honolulu DPP outlines HNL Build fixes after rollout and signals ~ $200,000 enhancement request

Don Takeuchi Epuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, told the Honolulu City Committee on Government Efficiency and Customer Services on March 5 that the department has moved most permitting workflows to HNL Build and is continuing to refine the system following an August 2025 launch.

"Technology, processes, and people are how we are fixing the department," Epuna said, framing HNL Build together with ePlans (Evolve) and the SivCheck AI tool as a coordinated modernization effort. He told the committee that the department is more than halfway through its implementation plan and that refinements and contract adjustments are expected as part of normal project oversight.

Abe Toma, DPP's applications platform administrator, described the contract structure and the post‑go‑live issues the city encountered. Procurement used the NASPO ValuePoint Master Price Agreement; Carahsoft serves as the prime contractor, Clarity is the product/vendor hosting the platform, and Spiridian handled implementation and will provide managed‑services support. Toma said data migration was the chief technical challenge because POSSE, the legacy system, contained 28 years of highly…