ISLAMABAD: It seems some elements within the Capital Development Authority (CDA) are opposing the decision of the civic agency’s board to provide pre-approved building plans to citizens, sources have revealed.

The civic agency’s board, the main decision-making body, in its meeting held in September 2023 made a landmark public-friendly decision, deciding that the CDA would provide pre-approved building plans to citizens for the construction of houses and commercial plazas.

The board had decided that these building plans should be made available on the CDA’s website within eight weeks (two months), aimed at simplifying the house construction approval process. However, after the passage of two and a half years, the board’s decision has not yet been implemented.

This non-compliance with the board’s decision raises serious questions, as last year, when this issue was highlighted by Dawn, the CDA’s then spokesperson had said that the board’s decision would be implemented in true letter and spirit and that pre-approved building plans would be available on the CDA’s website by December 2025.

In September 2023, then CDA chairman retired Capt Anwarul Haq, during his visit to the Building Control Directorate, received a large number of public complaints regarding the approval of building plans.

Mr Haq pointed out that citizens had to visit various CDA offices for approval of plans. Therefore, he took up the matter with the CDA board. After detailed deliberation, the board unanimously decided that there should be pre-approved building plans available on the CDA’s website.

The board had directed the CDA’s concerned department to complete this task within eight weeks.

At that time, the CDA’s management received huge appreciation from the public for making this public-friendly decision. “I fail to understand why this decision has not yet been implemented. Maybe some elements within the CDA are opposing this move. There is a need to check these elements. Many officials who have been serving in building control for years may be creating hurdles,” said an official.

The official said that for all categories of residential and commercial plots, at least 20 sets of pre-approved building plans for each size should be available on the CDA’s website.

The official said that once this process is completed, people will have the option to construct their buildings by selecting one of the pre-approved plans, and in case they do not like these plans, they can opt for a new plan of their choice.

The CDA board’s decision also placed a check on citizens, as it was decided that if they made any violations of the pre-approved building plan, they would not be issued a completion (occupancy) certificate.

“Architectural designs for various categories of residential and commercial buildings have been finalised. There is a temporary delay in the implementation of this system as the CDA is in the process of procuring hardware facilities, which are important for processing applications,” CDA spokesperson had said in December last year.

He had added that the CDA had earlier encountered a temporary delay in procuring the necessary hardware for the online system after the initial tendering process received only a single bid. “The tendering process is ongoing again. The CDA is committed to launching this portal soon and is currently focused on completing this essential infrastructure step,” he said.

When contacted on Friday, the spokesperson said software component for pre-design approved building plans has been completed while CDA has initiated the process to procure hardware which could not materialise.

However, we have re-initiated the procurement process for hardware. The process of hiring staff for running this online system is in process. Once the hardware process and staff hiring are completed, pre-approved building plan policy would be implemented soon.

“It’s not possible that any element is intentionally involved in delaying this initatives since various wings are involved in this project,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2026