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In Guatemala, by law, various public institutions must grant permits, licenses and/or authorizations to develop and/or build on real estate.

On average, one should go to 5 municipal entities, 2 governmental entities of ministerial rank and to the National Coordinator for the Reduction of Disasters (CONRED). If the property where you’re going to build/develop is located in the approach cone of an airport, you must go to Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC). If the property where you ‘re going to build/develop has vegetation and trees and must be felled, you must go to Instituto Nacional de Bosques. If the property where you’re going to build/develop has buildings that are more than 50 years old, you must go to Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH). There are 11 state institutions of different ranks that must be consulted in order to obtain all permits, licenses and authorizations. In some cases, it takes up to 2 years.

No one disputes that certain requirements must be met, as required by law. However, it is necessary to point out examples of other countries where there is an efficient management of the procedure. For example:

• Singapur
  • The procedure is electronic and the license or permit is approved in approximately 36 days. It is reviewed by 9 public offices and the approval rate of all files is above 70%.
• Hong Kong
  • There are 8 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 69 days.
• Malaysia
  • There are 9 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 41 days.
• South Korea
  • There are 10 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 28 days.
• Denmark
  • There are 7 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 64 days.
• Argentina
  • There are 17 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 318 days.
• Venezuela
  • There are 11 procedures to follow in public offices, the license or permit is approved in an average of 434 days.
• Guatemala
  • There are 11 procedures to follow in public offices, the license and other permits are approved in an average of 226 days.

It is important to point out that all the sectors involved in the real estate sector (developers, builders, lawyers, engineers, architects, building and government authorities) must investigate, analyze and try to emulate the procedures that Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Denmark have in place, to speed up these procedures, modify the legal regulations so that all procedures are efficient and thus be able to promote the real estate and infrastructure development that Guatemala needs so much.

My conclusion is that basically all governments request, prior to any construction or real estate development, that various public offices be approached for a license or permit to build or develop. However, when analyzing the Asian countries, it is surprising that despite the fact that there is almost the same amount of procedures in all of them (8-13), the times for delivery of a construction or development license are authorized between 28 to 88 days.

So, I think and suggest that what we should bet and support on as collaborators of the guild is to simplify, technify and digitize all procedures.

Data was taken from the website www.doingbusiness.org

Rodrigo Coronado Gálvez-Sobral
Senior Associate
García & Bodán
Guatemala