THE WORLD BANK TERMS OF REFERENCE CONSTRUCTION PERMITS: PROCESS MAPPING AND RE-ENGINEERING

Transcription

1 THE WORLD BANK TERMS OF REFERENCE CONSTRUCTION PERMITS: PROCESS MAPPING AND RE-ENGINEERING A. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Project Background The Objective of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) financing the South Africa Urban Development Program in Support of the National Treasury is to assist in the implementation of specific parts of the National Treasury (NT) sponsored Cities Support Program (CSP). The latter aims to contribute towards an improved business enabling environment, more competitive cities with higher job creation potential and more effective public service delivery - leading to inclusive and sustainable growth in the eight metros covered by the program. The MDTF is funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Switzerland and provides technical assistance to the 8 metropolitan cities ( metros ) in South Africa in several thematic areas. In Thematic Area 1 ( Business enabling environment and competitive cities ), the objective is an improved business enabling environment in the 8 metros, contributing to increased competitiveness and job creation. Reforms to the construction permitting process will form part of this work (alongside processes to obtain electricity connections and to register property). Assignment Objectives: a. The objective of this project is to reduce time, cost, and procedures required for the construction permitting process in six Metros across South Africa (City of Johannesburg, Buffalo City, ethekwini, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay). b. The Consultant shall design a streamlined and re-engineered construction permitting process which will follow two phases: i. immediate term, paper-based streamlined process; ii. short-term, automated streamlined process. The streamlined process shall entail, amongst other objectives, removing bottlenecks, redundancies and non-value adding steps and activities, in order to increase the process efficiency and reduce the time needed to obtain a construction permit. Where possible, the Consultant shall also recommend the reduction of certain fees (which is tied to the legal review deliverable), and shall propose enhancements to existing forms and templates including but not limited to merging certain forms to eliminate duplication, revising the forms content, and so on. c. The proposed re-engineering (to be) recommendations should aim at enhancing the role of ICT to streamline and simplify the processes, enable the transformation to a fully online system, integrate all processes online, as well as facilitate information sharing across 1

2 government entities and with the private sector. d. The proposed re-engineering (to be) recommendations should aim, to the extent possible, at the standardization of the construction permitting process across the different cities in South Africa, while taking into consideration the unique characteristics of each region where applicable. B. SCOPE OF WORK - The work will focus on the following six Metros: City of Johannesburg, Buffalo, ethekwini, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay - The work will focus on mapping and streamlining the construction permitting process in these six cities. - The work will be implemented with the Cities technical team and decision makers as well as the private sector. - The Consultant should consider the e-government infrastructure in South Africa when designing the automated (to be) re-engineered process. This will be crucial to help identify the appropriate technology platform, options for hosting and technical management, and the relevant standards and policies for shared services applications. The resulting system design should be compliant with the relevant e-government policies and standards. - The consultant will develop an implementation plan which outlines the activities and resources required to implement the short, medium and long term strategy. Accordingly, the WBG is seeking a consulting firm who can deliver the following activities: I. DEVELOP WORK PLAN AND CONDUCT INITIAL KICKOFF MEETING WITH STAKEHOLDERS - The Consultant shall develop the project plan including activities, timeline and responsibilities. The Consultant shall conduct a project kickoff meeting to present the project plan and methodology to the various project stakeholders, including the WB project team, National Treasury and participant city representatives. During the meeting, implementation arrangements will be agreed with the different stakeholders. - The Consultant shall prepare the material required for the kick off meeting (s) such as presentations, handouts, and minutes of meetings. Presentations and handouts (if any) must be submitted to the WB one week prior to the meeting for review and sign off. Deliverables: Detailed work plan; Client meeting presentations and materials; summary report on meeting outcomes and issues to be addressed in subsequent tasks. 2

3 II. PROCESS MAPPING / AS IS PROCESS MAPS - Conduct consultations with the cities technical team and the private sector to understand the process in detail, the bottlenecks in the process and get their input on potential reform recommendations to address these bottlenecks. - The consultant will map, analyze and describe every single regulatory process in detail, resulting in developing detailed process flow for the construction permitting process in each city showing: a. Related departments, agencies/ministries involved in the process and their location b. Detailed sequential licensing procedures in table format c. Process maps showing sequential activities and dependencies between various regulatory processes and any overlaps in requirements across different authorities (Preferably in Visio file format) d. Identify the legal/regulatory basis for each required step and procedure (when applicable) e. Forms to be completed and signatures/authorizations needed for each form f. Official cost related to the procedure g. Duration related to each step/form, sequencing and connection between all the various regulatory processes, providing a complete overview of all procedures h. Number of people (capacity) working on the procedure i. Number of applications submitted and permits issued per month j. Acquire from the cities historical data on the # of applications submitted and permits issued per year (for the past three years) - The consultant will validate the process maps with the private sector and architects through a number of meetings/workshops - The consultant will validate and sign off the process maps with the cities technical team through a number of meetings/workshops - Through the mapping exercise, the project team aims to accomplish the following tasks and activities: a. Document current procedures investors/applicants have to follow in order to obtain business licenses b. Establish the baseline by defining number of steps, time and costs related to the licensing procedures c. Obtain feedback from businesses and/or facilitators (intermediaries) on the constraints faced by them in obtaining licenses and time and costs included in various licensing procedures. d. Assess the bottlenecks in the process, the organizational structure, functions, and human resources. e. Pinpoint areas of bottlenecks or unnecessary steps. - Develop and present Interim Report which documents the requirements listed above in addition to observations, and findings. 3

4 Deliverables: Six Detailed Process Maps (one per city), validation workshops with private sector and cities, presentation of as is process maps and interim report. III. TO BE PROCESS MAPS (PAPER BASED AND AUTOMATION) - Develop recommendations for streamlining and re-engineering based on review of the process maps and discussions/consultations with the process owners/technical team and the private sector (end users). The recommendations should be divided into short term recommendations (not requiring parliamentary ratification /legal changes but feasible via regulatory instruments); and medium-long term recommendations which are only feasible through legal changes and including more politically challenging reforms. - The following is expected (but not limited to) what should be covered in the reengineering/reform design: - Determining whether the location of the steps can be combined (e.g., whether certain steps done in different offices can be done in one office); - Assessing whether the sequencing of the different steps could be changed to enhance the process; - Determining whether any related or supplementary processes (e.g., inspections) are necessary and, if so, whether they should be streamlined or simplified; - Determining whether the performance of steps can be done by fewer people; - Determining whether service standards can be imposed to reduce the time needed to complete a step; - Determining whether a step is necessary; - The legal/regulatory changes required to implement the re-engineering (where applicable). - Present draft recommendations for streamlining and re-engineering to the cities, National Treasury and the WB to get their sign off and approval. - Develop detailed process maps of the new re-engineered process, workflow design and new organization chart for the departments related to the new process (if needed) reflecting the new process. Two process maps should be developed per city. One for the immediate term illustrating the streamlined and re-engineered paper based process and one for the short term illustrating the automated to be process. - The new re-engineered process should be standardized to the extent possible across the six cities as the aim is to move to a national construction permitting system. - Develop action plan to put in place these recommendations including timeline, actions, resources and responsible person/department. - Identify if any legal and/or regulatory changes which are needed to put in place these recommendations. - Assess the expected impact of the reform in terms of: - Number of Documentary Requirements 4

5 - Number of Steps in the Process - Number of Visits to an Office - Time to Complete Process - Cost to Client - Final Report - Concrete detailed recommendations needed for the implementation of the suggested reforms in the construction permit process. - The recommendation report will include an implementation plan that will guide the policymakers, regulators and operators to implement the reforms required to improve the construction permit process. The plan will list the changes that need to be undertaken to implement the recommendations covering all aspects of the reforms including institutional, legal, human resources and system changes as well as the timeline and estimated costs related to these reforms. - Estimate of the potential impact of the reforms. Deliverables: Draft Recommendations and action plan presentation/workshop, endorsed to be /re-engineered process maps for a streamlined paper based and automated process, legal assessment/requirements to implement changes, action plan outlining the activities and resources required, estimate of potential impact of reform, final report. IV. PEER LEARNING AND SHARING OF BEST PRACTICE EVENT - The consultant shall draft key learnings and examples of best practice from across the six cities and present these in a practical workshop format to be attended by the participant cities and the remaining 3 cities under the Cities Support Programme that did not receive dedicated support. - The Consultant shall present the main findings, lessons, best practice from each city and new process in 1-2 day event (Logistics for the event will be handled by the WB and National Treasury). Deliverables: delivery of presentation summarizing main findings, lessons, best practice from each city and new process C. DELIVERABLES/SPECIFIC OUTPUTS EXPECTED FROM CONSULTANT - The Consultant is expected to travel to the six cities to implement the assignment. Additional meetings will be held through videoconference or telephone as needed. This assignment is expected to be implemented over weeks. 5

6 Deliverables and Outputs: I. Develop Work Plan and Conduct Initial Kickoff Meeting with Stakeholders - Detailed Work plan - Client meeting presentations and materials - Summary report on meetings outcomes 2 weeks from Contract signature II. III. Process Mapping / As is Process Maps - Six Detailed Process Maps (one per city) - Validation workshops with private sector and cities - Presentation of as is process maps - Interim report To be Process Maps (Paper Based and Automation) - Draft Recommendations and action plan presentation/workshop - Endorsed to be /re-engineered process maps (paper based and automated two per city/ standardized across cities to the extent possible) - Legal assessment/requirements to implement changes - Action plan outlining the activities and resources required - Estimate of potential impact of reform, final report 5 weeks from contract signature (process mapping in different cities should run in parallel) Draft Report: 7 weeks from contract signature Final Report: 10 weeks from contract signature IV. PEER LEARNING AND SHARING OF BEST PRACTICE EVENT - Delivery of presentation summarizing main findings, lessons, best practice from each city and new process 7-12 weeks from contract signature 6

7 D. SPECIFIC INPUTS TO BE PRESENTED BY THE CLIENT - Subnational Doing Business report. - High level action plans for reforms developed by the cities. - Introduction to and coordination with relevant government/public entities E. SPECIAL TERMS & CONDITIONS / SPECIFIC CRITERIA The selected consultant should meet the following requirements: Local South African based service provider References and examples of previous similar work done Meet all qualifying criteria as listed in Expression of Interest 7