HNL BLD aka The New ePlans System

I have been running permits since 2007.

So I know all about taking a number and painfully waiting for your number to be called only to find out you are missing a very important form and you can not proceed to finish your permit process!

Since July 1, 2023, Honolulu DPP (Department of Planning and Permitting) has only accepted electronic plan submissions for ALL building permits requiring plans. The dashboard is as plain HTML as it can be. But hey, it got the job done right? They called the program just ePlans. Simple, plain vanilla, just like the design.

Then on August 4, 2025, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting officially rolled out the new HNL Build (or HNL Build) permitting software. It had such a painful start. We all had to wait for them (I think) to roll over all the exisiting information, and I personally had issues creating an account since I had an existing account. I got stuck on a waitlist for months before they got to mines. But just like anything new, it takes time to build something user-friendly and functional.

Remember, it's easy to grumble and complain when you aren't proactively part of the solution.

I created a new permit this week through the HNL BLD system and it eventually routed me back to ePlans. I guess there are hiccups that still need to be worked out. But I am glad they still kept the ePlans system as a backup. At least things are still up and running, even though it aint no smooth sailing.