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Portland Permitting & Development has released the results of a survey of 465 building permit customers that was conducted in June, finding both frustration with the permitting process and some progress in customer satisfaction.

The city of Portland conducted the survey before the Bureau of Development Services was reorganized as Portland Permitting & Development on July 1. Development review officials in other bureaus 鈥� Water, Environmental Services, Transportation and the Urban Forestry division of Parks & Recreation 鈥� were brought into the reformed agency.

The results will provide a baseline to evaluate future customer satisfaction surveys in the reorganized agency, spokesman Ken Ray said.

鈥淥ur experienced staff is dedicated to providing timely service and ensuring the safety of Portland鈥檚 buildings,鈥� David Kuhnhausen, interim director of Portland Permitting & Development, stated. 鈥淥ur customers are our partners in this effort. This survey provides us with helpful guidance to address the pain points and validates our efforts at continuous improvement.鈥�

The survey results were not always complimentary.

鈥淚 am a general contractor and have pulled residential, commercial and PBOT sidewalk repair permits this year,鈥� one respondent wrote. 鈥淭he process is complicated and every inspector and department and trade has a different system of communication. 鈥� I think permitting is silly but I get paid pretty well to jump through the hoops and complain about it.鈥�

A plurality of respondents were residential remodelers. On the commercial side, several respondents said complicated processes sometimes led to canceled projects.

鈥淚t is almost always drawn out and expensive for the client, and it seems like there are no easy and effective ways to get multiple parties talking in these instances,鈥� a commercial respondent said.

Another respondent, an architect, wrote: 鈥淚 now work in multiple jurisdictions, and the process in Portland is the most difficult, lengthy and arduous permitting system of anywhere. 鈥� I鈥檝e seen multiple developers walk away from properties they are looking to purchase and develop simply because the city of Portland has taken months and sometimes years through their review process.鈥�

Respondents were more positive about the agency鈥檚 free, 15-minute appointments. Also, customer satisfaction improved from previous surveys when it came to interactions with permitting experts.

For email and phone interactions, 53 percent of respondents said they were 鈥渟atisfied鈥� or 鈥渧ery satisfied,鈥� up from 43.4 percent for email interactions and 45.3 percent for phone interactions in a 2022 survey.

Permitting & Development is also facing further cuts. In October, Mayor Ted Wheeler called for major budget reductions across the city government, with 鈥渓arger cuts to bureaus whose funding sources are seeing more dramatic declines, such as Parks (& Recreation) and Permitting & Development.鈥�

In January, 73 permitting bureau positions were eliminated. The agency has 331 employees; its annual budget is $104 million.