Bogus building permits are being displayed at construction sites, planners warned yesterday.

Now the public are being urged to report suspicious building activities to the Planning Department.

Acting Director of Planning Larry Williams said the problem was particularly acute given the construction industry boom.

Anyone with suspicions about builders showing false permit numbers should call 297-7756.

In order for a company to break ground on a construction project, it must first make an application to the Planning Department. The Development Applications Board then surveys the plans and either accepts or rejects the application. But that is not all. Builders also need to get a building permit number.

Mr. Williams, however, pointed out following the letter of the law took time and ?time is money?.

He said that some contractors were saving money by not waiting for the Planning Department to give them the correct permits.

?With a construction boom, there are more contractors than ever before on the Island ... It is very difficult. We cannot be everywhere. Unless the public assists us, then we can only do what we can.?

The Department of Planning has four enforcement officers.

?We are trying to make the legislation more punitive, but it is very challenging with so much construction going on ... People see (the building permit) and assume that Planning know it is there, sometimes we do not,? Mr. Williams said.

He gave the example of a street that he might not normally pass in his daily commute into Hamilton.

?Something might be going on down there that we do not know about. We do not know what is going on (as much as people who live on that road) ... It is a dilemma for us. People put up bogus numbers to sidestep Planning.?