Bill Text: HI HB2089 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To The State Building Code.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-03-22 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC. [HB2089 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-HB2089-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2089 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE STATE BUILDING CODE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is in a major housing crisis that continues to worsen. Residents of Hawaii face the highest housing costs in the nation. Median housing costs are 2.7 times the national level. Over the past year, the median price of a single-family home sold in Hawaii was $825,000 and the median condominium price was $600,000. Median single-family home and condominium prices have more than tripled since the 1990s. These costs have further increased due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on building materials and supply chains. Hawaii's geographic location also adds to the cost of housing due to shipping costs and high labor costs.
The legislature further finds that over the past two years, the share of households in the State who can afford mortgage payments on the median single-family home has fallen from forty-four per cent to thirty per cent, meaning fewer than one in three households can afford the typical single-family home. Fewer than half of households can afford the median condominium.
The legislature additionally finds that high housing costs lower the standard of living for residents and hinder the State’s ability to attract workers. Some households are forced to live in crowded conditions, some leave the State to find housing elsewhere, and some are forced to survive without housing at all.
The legislature also finds that building code cycles are three years apart. The state building code is adopting codes on the same cycle as they are being developed. With chronic understaffing across county departments, county building division employees are spending significant time and resources on constant code updates, which takes time away from plan review and inspections. The regular changes to the code arising from the three-year cycle also lead to unfamiliarity among private design professionals and public sector plan reviewers and inspectors, resulting in delays in permit approval. This increases the cost and leads to uncertainty in construction in Hawaii.
The purpose of this Act is to require that the adoption, amendment, or update of a building code or standard by the state building code council be within two years of every other official publication date of a code or standard. This change will allow for more time to get all stakeholders on the same page, resulting in quicker review times and a smoother permitting and construction process. This will not change the current process of allowing for up to two years to create amendments and adoption of the code that is scheduled to be adopted.
SECTION 2. Section 107-24, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) The council shall adopt, amend, or update
codes and standards identified in section 107-25 on a staggered basis as
established by the council; provided that the adoption, amendment, or
update of a code or standard shall be within two years of [the] every other official
publication date of the code or standard, pursuant to chapter 92, and exempt
from the requirements of chapter 91. If
the council does not adopt a code or standard identified in section 107-25
within the two-year time period, that code or standard shall automatically
become part of the Hawaii state building code until superseded by the adoption
of an amended version of the code or standard by the council pursuant to this
subsection."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Hawaii State Building Code; Code Cycles
Description:
Requires that the adoption, amendment, or update of a building code or standard by the State Building Code Council be within two years of every other official publication date of a code or standard.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
