Espoo building control handles all building permits electronically

The building control department of the City of Espoo currently employs 17 handlers, 5 assistants and 13 building inspectors. Altogether, the building control organization includes approximately 50 persons. In addition to building permits, the department handles the landscaping, action, demolition and continuation permits.

The building control organization’s tasks include the pre-handling of permits together with the customers, inspecting the validity related information, consultation of neighbors, if necessary, and handling and admitting the actual permit as an official decision or prepared for the planning board’s decision. With this variety of tasks and the number of applications increasing per year up to nearly 2,000, it is clear that the department must function as effectively as possible.

Documentation clerk Jani Salminen and permit secretary Maarit Lakso have witnessed the change in the way of working in Espoo first hand.

“Over the years the permit handling has gone almost completely digital, and currently the entire process can be managed online from the first contact to invoicing. Stamped drawings are no longer sent to customers by post but uploaded in the electronic service to be immediately available. Authorized permits are announced online only,” Salminen and Lakso explain.

Currently the default in Espoo is to initiate the permit process online, and the department’s work has been optimized to support online handling.