STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3093

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1633

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1633, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONTRACTORS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to remove the leasing restriction on owner-builders who obtain an owner-builder exemption to act as their own contractor and who build or improve residential or farm buildings or structures on their own property and do not offer the buildings or structures for sale.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Regulated Industries Complaints Office of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Contractors License Board.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii is currently in the middle of a housing shortage, including affordable rental housing. The escalating demand for rental properties, coupled with limited housing supply, has led to increased housing costs and economic strain on families throughout the State. Current regulations and barriers hinder homeowners in Hawaii from efficiently converting their single-family properties into multi-family dwellings, limiting their ability to actively participate in addressing the housing shortage. Therefore, this measure aims to resolve this issue by removing a major barrier faced by homeowners attempting to utilize their own property to construct additional dwellings.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 1633, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1633, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

________________________________

STANLEY CHANG, Chair