Cayman islands has a very modern and professional Planning Department which follows the Southern Florida Dade County building code. The planning process is twofold. The Planning section deals with architectural aspects of a building and the Building Control division deals with the engineering details. For Planning approval in principal, one only needs to submit drawings showing floor plans, roof, elevations, building sections and site plan. For full Planning approval including the issuing of a Building Permit, one has to supply full structural, electrical and plumbing drawings to the Building Control division. A residential full Planning approval including Building Control approval process can take up to 3 months depending on how detailed your drawings are. Once you have Planning approval, there is a large selection of qualified builders to choose from and an owner can be involved during the construction process as much as they like. If you have any questions about building and construction in the Cayman Islands - let me know.