The district office of Munich introduces the digital building application. From March 1, builders can also submit their applications to the authorities online. A qualified test operation with selected planners has been running since January 1, 2023, in which the process is tested under practical conditions. During the test phase, the offices are asked to submit the respective applications in writing to the responsible municipality at the same time. From March onwards, applicants can decide for themselves whether they want to submit their planning application on paper or digitally. Analogous applications must then also be sent directly to the lower building authority in the Munich district office, there is no need to submit an application to the municipality.
On the occasion of this new offer, the district office refers to the expansion of digitization. The authority currently offers digital applications for more than 130 administrative services. So far, according to its own account, around 180 services, some with several different individual services, have been recorded that show digitization potential. Around 60 percent of this would be processed in their own area of responsibility, around 15 percent implemented centrally by the Free State. For a further eleven percent, market solutions are used, around seven percent are taken over by a Bavarian-wide authority according to the one-for-all principle.
According to the district office, the digitization of building applications should simplify the process. “At the same time, the processing of the application process in the lower building authority can be made even more efficient in this way and the decision can thus be accelerated.” The technical implementation takes place in cooperation with the IT service center of the Free State. With the help of online assistants, the applicants are guided step-by-step through the filling-in process. Plans from the relevant construction programs could be uploaded via the new portal. In this way, building applications can be submitted as completely as possible right from the start, which in turn reduces processing times.
During the corona pandemic, digitization got a boost
According to the report, online use is also increasing in other areas of the authority. In the years 2019 and 2020 there were just under 3800 applications and thus a share of around three percent. In 2021, more than 85,500 applications were received digitally by the Munich District Office. The increase can primarily be attributed to the corona pandemic. For example, test, recovery or vaccination certificates were submitted digitally or applications for entry to Bavaria that were required at times in the course of professional practice were submitted online. In 2021, around 30,000 test or vaccination certificates related to Corona were received online. Digital use is also increasing for regularly offered services. In 2022, for example, more than 3,600 applications for naturalization were made online. 2,500 applications for MVV subsidies were received online, and around 2,000 applications for the issuance or extension of the district passport.
District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) welcomes the “noticeable relief” from the upcoming digital building application. “After all, we’re talking about well over 1,000 applications per year within the last five years. But beyond that, we’re working to the best of our ability to further digitize our range of services.” It can be accessed via the Bavarian portal of the Free State. It can be found from March on under the following link: https://www.freistaat.bayern/dokumente/behoerde/93442507417/onlineverfahren.