Denver homeowners and contractors looking to build homes could see increased construction delays and costs as a result of overdue permit application reviews, according to a city auditor’s report.

Reviews are needed to determine if a construction project is qualified to start or complete within city limits.

Auditors inspected Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development, which is responsible for handling permit applications, and found that its reviewers did not complete 76% of reviews on time in 2022, a number which peaked to 81% by April 2023, according to the the auditors.

“Inconsistencies and errors in the process for issuing home renovation permits could lead more people to do the work without any approval at all,” Auditor Timothy O’Brien said in a news release on Thursday. “That puts residents and the community at risk if something were to go wrong during construction or sometime in the future.”

Auditors received survey responses from 55 people, 30 of whom said long review times complicated the permit review process, auditors said.

One aspiring homeowner paid $24,000 more than the original project cost because of extended payments on rent and mortgage, auditors said.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted more homeowner building projects, increasing the number of applications submitted to the city, consequently taking more time to review, a major issue for homeowners and contractors, auditors said.

Auditors are also concerned with the department approving construction permits without contractors.

Denver residents looking to build single-family homes have the option to apply for a permit without a contractor involved, according to the Community Planning and Development site.

The length of time for a review depends on the size of the project, according to department officials.

Permit responses took 12 to 15 weeks when applications “peaked” in 2022, a Community Planning and Development news release said in response to the audit.

Review times today, specifically for single family homes, are taking two to four weeks, according to CPD officials.

A public dashboard by the department shows permit reviews for major residential projects take on average 2.46 weeks, major commercial projects 4.55 weeks, intermediate residential projects 2.13 weeks and intermediate commercial projects 2.52 weeks.

“Our department and staff will continue to work hard to serve residents efficiently, minimizing delays without compromising CPD’s mission to ensure that all buildings meet the strict life-safety standards of our codes and regulations and maintain quality of life in our city,” Community Planning and Development officials said in a statement on Thursday.

Auditors recommended the department establish a training plan for reviewers, develop more policies and procedures for monitoring staff and provide more oversight monitoring guidance in the department.

Among three recommendations the planning department disagreed with was appointing a new contract administrator and limiting staff user access in the online e-Permit submission site Accela, according to the audit.

“Within the current configuration of Accela, this recommendation would be an overcorrection that would limit supervisors’ and plan reviewers’ ability to complete essential functions of their jobs,” Community Planning and Development said in its audit response to the Accela recommendation.

“Given the breadth of the problems with residential building permit reviews, the department is going to need to work hard and have plenty of resources to make improvements,” O’Brien said.