The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico issues a favorable opinion with exceptions on the operations related to the granting of permits by the OGPe.
The audit reveals delays of more than four years in investigating complaints filed regarding alleged noncompliance in the application for and approval of permits. Act 161 of 2009 provides that complaints must be investigated within 15 business days from the filing date. However, as of June 15, 2016, the OGPe had 1,523 complaints pending investigation.
The two-finding Report also points out the granting of permits by professionals without authority to do so and without all the required documents. The examination of a sample of 10 construction permits in 2015 revealed that in three cases the authorized professionals granted permits without having authority as determined by the Office of Professional Regulation. In addition, in four of the cases permits were granted without completing the necessary documents. These situations may give rise to challenges to and questioning of the validity of the granted permits.
The Report comments that, through Executive Order OE-2016-038, the suggestions of the Permit Reform Committee were adopted as public policy, which among other things recommends creating an expedited procedure to grant construction permits within 30 days, reviewing the related laws, and unifying the digital filing and granting platforms for permits in all municipalities. The OGPe also had nine civil lawsuits for $46.6 million pending resolution in the courts, as of April 15, 2016.
To see other published reports, visit our Audit Reports section.
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