STAND. COM. REP. NO. 384

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 217

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 217 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOME RENOVATIONS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to update the cost valuations of work on buildings for the work to qualify for an exemption from the requirement that plans and specifications for construction projects be prepared by a licensed engineer or architect.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Solar Association and three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, and Landscape Architects. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the American Institute of Architects Hawaii State Council.

Your Committee finds that making a house accessible, renovating a bathroom, modernizing a kitchen, or other simple renovation projects require a licensed professional engineer or architect to prepare plans for the renovation based on certain cost valuations. The exemption from this requirement is based on cost valuations originally established in 1979, which has not been updated since. Your Committee further finds that these outdated cost valuations have unnecessarily added to the costs of simple home renovations. This measure will update the cost valuations used to qualify for this exemption, thereby reducing costs for homeowners who wish to have simple renovations done to their homes.

Your Committee notes that the increases that are reflected in this measure were calculated by taking the amounts from 1979, when this requirement was first established, and calculating the cost of inflation, then adding it to the 1979 amounts.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 217, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 217, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

TROY N. HASHIMOTO, Chair