Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business Regulation in 190 Economies — Dealing with Construction Permits
About this book
Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business Regulation in 190 Economies — Dealing with Construction Permits, published by the World Bank Group, is the 17th edition of the Doing Business annual report series, which benchmarks the regulatory environment for business activity across virtually every economy globally. While the full Doing Business report covers ten indicator sets, the Construction Permits component is of particular relevance to the building industry, providing a comparative assessment of the procedures, time, and costs required to obtain all approvals and permits to build a commercial warehouse in each of the 190 economies covered. The construction permits indicator measures the complete sequence of interactions between a hypothetical standardised construction company and relevant authorities — including permit applications, inspections, utility connection applications, and property registration — required to legally build a standard commercial warehouse.
In 2020, the global median for completing all procedures was approximately 15 procedures, 137 days, and 4.9% of warehouse value in costs. Variation between economies is extreme: the fastest and lowest-cost environments (Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea) complete the process in fewer than 5 procedures and under 30 days; the most burdensome (several African and Middle Eastern economies) require over 25 procedures and more than 200 days. The report examines quality of construction regulation alongside procedural efficiency — recognising that streamlining permits should not mean reducing building safety.
A Building Quality Control Index (BQCI) captures six dimensions: quality of building regulations, strength of pre-construction approval mechanisms, quality control before and during construction, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certifications required. The analysis reveals that high regulatory quality and procedural efficiency are not in conflict: economies scoring highest on the BQCI tend to also have efficient permit processing. The 2020 edition includes analysis of how countries have used technology — online permit applications, digital plan submission, real-time permit tracking, and automated approval workflows — to reduce processing times without compromising inspection quality.
E-permitting adoption is strongly correlated with reduced compliance times and costs. For the green building industry, the construction permits indicator is relevant as a barrier assessment tool: complex, costly, and uncertain permit processes increase project risk and reduce developer appetite for innovative construction approaches.