Law Simplifying Public Processes Not Obeyed
Building a house in Costa Rica and then have it supplied with water, electrical power and telephone, means have to deal with five public institutions, demanding more than 20 requirements that can slow down the entire process.

For example, public institutions like the AyA (water and sewer company) and the Municipality of San José will require the builder to obtain certifications from the Registro Nacional of the same document, each wanting an original of the certification, like a lot plan, title registration, etc.

The practice is agains the "Ley de protección al ciudadano del exceso de trámites" that was adopted in March of 2002, but is totally ignored by the public institutions.

The law is clear that public institutions cannot ask a user for to obtain the same document, like the case of a Registro certification, more than once and not to send the user to various departments for the same process. In addition, all public institutions are to be linked to the Registro Nacional database to obtain the required information.

However, that is not the case in practice.

The problem is that the law does not provide for sanctions against institutions who violate the code, accorind to Kevin Casas, second vice-president and Ministro de Planificación. Casas is placing is hopes that the project "Gobierno Digital" will connect the databases of the various public institutions and make the process of obtaining a building permit, for instance, much easier and speedier.

Casas added that some municipalities, like Heredia, are now connected, however, many are not.

An example that affects many businesses - small and large - is the obtaining of a "patente" or business permit.

The process starts with a "catastro" - lot plan - of the property, certified by the Registro Nacional. A number of copies are required, one each for the AyA, the ministerio de Salud, the Municipality and depending on the permit required, up to six certified copies may be required.

Once all the relevant public institutions have signed off and given their approval, which can be time consuming, again depending on the permit, the documents are submitted to the municipality and as custom each non-compliance is rejected individually.

The law requires that all the non-compliances are grouped and submitted to the user at one time, allowing the user to remedy the non-compliances. However, in practice, each non-compliance is dealt with on an individual basis, especially when different municipal departments are involved, slowing down the entire process.

Complicating the entire process are items like the CCSS - the Caja that has to certify that the owner of the property is up to date with the social security payments, etc., failing which a different set of documents and certifications are then required.