Opinions on Further Optimizing the Business Environment and Deepening the Reform of Administrative Approval Procedures for Construction Projects

To expedite the transformation of government functions and build a service-oriented government and better serve enterprises in the administrative approval, the Beijing Municipality has optimized the administrative approval process of social investment projects and formulated the implementation opinions as follows:

1. Implementing categorized management.

All construction projects are divided into three categories based on their modes of construction. Category I: Internal modification projects, for which construction permits can be handled directly. Category II: Status Improvement projects, for which planning permits can be handled directly. Category III: New or expansion projects, for which contracts on grant of construction land use right shall be concluded before planning permits and construction permits are handled. Landscaping permits and construction permits are in parallel approval.

2. Simplifying preconditions for approval.

In any housing construction project of social investment, the construction entity may decide at its discretion the mode of contract issuing and tendering and bidding are no longer compulsory. Capital guarantee or evidence of capital availability by construction entity is cancelled. Unless otherwise deemed legal, standardized and necessary, preconditions and application materials for various types of approvals shall be reduced as far as possible and miscellaneous provisions shall be forbidden. Any approval document issued by the competent department shall be distributed to other administrative organs by the handling department for information sharing, exempting the construction entity from submitting these documents repeatedly.

3. Advancing deep integration between administrative approval for construction projects and the Internet.

With Internet Plus government services as the driver and backed by the online approval and supervision platform of the Municipality for investment projects, we shall greatly advance electronic approval of construction projects. Starting with the review of construction drawings and issuance of construction permits, we shall gradually expand the coverage of online approval and advance the application of electronic seal technologies to administrative approval for construction projects, thus realizing whole-process supervision over project approval and construction.

4. Optimizing technical assessment.

First, regional planning management shall be implemented. In the processing of preparing regulatory plans at the block level, evaluation work including energy conservation evaluation, environmental impact assessment, water impact assessment, traffic impact assessment, seismic safety evaluation and archaeological survey & exploration shall be implemented simultaneously. All specific outcomes and review conclusions shall be included in the regulatory detailed plan. Any area with the approval of the regulatory plan at the block level, if not involving major planning adjustment, shall be exempted from aforesaid evaluations and reviews. Second, if any specific construction project involves evaluation work including energy conservation evaluation, environmental impact assessment, water impact assessment and traffic impact assessment, the Municipal Commission for City Planning and Land and Resources Management shall coordinate all competent departments to carry out the tasks simultaneously on the collaborative platform of "integration of plans" and complete them according to related regulations before signing the contract of land grant and strengthen oversight during the project construction.

5. Building the mechanism for unified construction plan review

The Municipal Commission for City Planning and Land and Resources Management shall take the lead in handing over existing construction plan reviews in architectural design, fire protection and civil air defense to a comprehensive review body for unified professional technical reviews. All departments shall mutually recognize the unified review results and there shall be no further review except the unified review.

6. Establishing a unified municipal mechanism for project completion acceptance

The Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development shall take the lead in transforming the mechanism for construction project completion acceptance from one realized through separated specialized completion acceptances by individual regulating departments to a unified "Five-in-One"mechanism characterized by unified platform, information sharing, joint acceptance, completion within a prescribed time limit and unified verification. No other acceptance shall exist except the joint acceptance.

7. Streamlining procedures for real estate registration.

"One-window" acceptance of real estate registration, property transactions and tax collection shall be executed, so that receipt of repeated documents is reduced and formalities are simplified. We shall actively constitute an "Internet + real estate" registration system, carry out online real estate registration and no longer require the applicant to submit any document that can be obtained through government information sharing. The time limit for real estate registration shall be shortened to 1-5 working days. The registration information of land and real estate that allows public inquiring shall be obtained online to improve convenience for acquiring information related to real estate.

8. Improving the efficiency and level of municipal public services.

"One-stop" service at the window and parallel handling shall be implemented in the access process of municipal public infrastructure including water supply, power supply, gas supply, heating supply, water sewage and telecommunication. Municipal public service enterprises in water supply, power supply, gas supply, heating supply, water sewage and telecommunication shall reside in the government service hall, publicize the service process and clarify handling duration, so as to make convenience for construction units. Access application for municipal public infrastructure is advanced from post-project completion to post-issuance of the construction permit. Access conditions for the municipal public infrastructure shall be completed during the project construction period and acceptance and access shall be directly handled after completion of the construction works.

These Opinions shall be implemented as of March 15, 2018.

Appendix: Work Flow Chart