Confusing things - inspectors and building regulations are necessary everywhere, to make sure fires don't break out, city blocks get flooded, buildings don't collapse, infections or mold or rodents don't take over... It just the neighbor's start a 2 year Reconstruction project that keeps everyone from sleeping or destroys the value of the block.

Unfortunately this can also (but doesn't completely have to be) a touchpoint if corruption. Yes, it's complex - because cities and buildings are complex. I remember a few years back when a NASA project built the wrong A/C system for a new building - looked nice, but oops, didn't fit.

Of course a permits office has to be relatively efficient to actually review things promptly and issue permits in a timely and complete fashion. Otherwise construction and other teams can't be scheduled, much less deployed on time. Even if they're corrupt, they still need to deliver.

So a company that facilitates getting all the permits in order with enough lead time is valuable, provides a service. Of course any time there's a bottleneck, someone will find a workaround for a buck. I remember buying a train ticket out of Calcutta - going to the ticket window was a waste of time, due to opening hours, queues, etc., so the normal procedure was to pay one of the expeditor lads hanging around to go through the back door and get your ticket - for those who had this much money. Yes, greased palms do exist in all sorts of professions, but a permits office that's just inefficient and broken isn't even good enough to support proper graft.