Multi-paradigm simulation approach for building permit process optimisation

Coordinating multiple stakeholders in building permit processes is a complex challenge in construction management. This paper examines whether a multi-paradigm simulation approach can model and improve stakeholder coordination in such permit systems. A simulation framework combining agent-based modelling, system dynamics, and genetic algorithms is developed under a complex adaptive systems paradigm and validated against regulatory benchmarks and an empirical permit process structure. The model automates scenario evaluation through rule-based stakeholder behaviour, enabling computational analysis of coordination bottlenecks, performance trade-offs, and synchronisation effects. Findings highlight that treating building permit systems as adaptive coordination networks can improve regulatory performance under fixed structural conditions. The approach offers a foundation for simulation-based building permit process tools and research on automating governance processes in complex regulatory environments.