Evaluating digital transformation pathways in the German building permit process: a multi-actor, multi-criteria perspective

Building permit processes are increasingly subject to digital transformation initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, transparency, and coordination. However, the performance implications of different submission arrangements remain uneven in regulatory settings involving multiple actors with different responsibilities and evaluation priorities. This study applies Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis (MAMCA) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in the German building permitting context to evaluate four submission scenarios: paper-based submission, email-based submission, digital permit platforms, and collaborative submission environments. The analysis covers three stakeholder groups: permit authorities and officials, applicants and project initiators, and internal and external expert departments. Based on structured pairwise comparisons conducted by practitioners from German building permitting institutions, the results show that paper-based and email-based submission receive the lowest evaluations across all stakeholder groups, whereas digital permit platforms and collaborative submission environments are evaluated more favorably. Preferences diverge, however, between the two digital configurations, reflecting different stakeholder priorities. The findings indicate that performance in digital building permitting depends not only on digitalization itself, but also on how coordination responsibilities and decision-making are organized across actors, thereby helping public authorities compare centralized and collaborative system configurations against stakeholder-specific priorities.