HCR82 HD1

WHEREAS, Hawaii continues to face urgent housing shortages, compounded by high construction costs, labor constraints, and limited buildable land; and

WHEREAS, the current State Building Code requires all new housing to comply with comprehensive standards, including energy-efficient windows, permanent insulation, and individual kitchens and bathrooms, which are appropriate for conventional housing but effectively prohibit low-cost, rapid-deployment housing solutions, such as single-wall plantation homes, Quonset huts, kauhale, and prefabricated accessory dwelling units (ADUs); and

WHEREAS, under gubernatorial emergency proclamations, temporary exemptions from full building code requirements have enabled innovative supportive housing models, including kauhale villages and the rapid deployment of prefabricated ADUs following the August 2023 Maui wildfires; and

WHEREAS, however, these solutions disappear when the emergency proclamations expire, leaving the State without durable tools to provide affordable and emergency housing; and

WHEREAS, section 107-25(6), Hawaii Revised Statutes, expressly authorizes the State Building Code Council to adopt provisions based on nationally published codes or standards, including mechanical standards, hurricane-resistant standards, flood and tsunami standards, and other loss mitigation standards; and

WHEREAS, establishing a new category of basic shelter standards will enable the adoption of minimum standards that ensure housing is safe, sanitary, and structurally sound, while also allowing greater flexibility than full building code requirements; and

WHEREAS, housing constructed under the basic shelter standards is intended to address immediate shelter needs arising from a natural disaster or other emergency and would only be deployed during, or in direct response to, a gubernatorial or county emergency proclamation issued pursuant to chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

WHEREAS, units constructed under the basic shelter standards are intended for temporary occupancy during the pendency of such emergency proclamation, consistent with the approach taken in Appendix P of the California Building Code, which limits occupancy of emergency housing to the duration of a declared state of emergency, local state of emergency, or shelter crisis; and

WHEREAS, adopting basic shelter standards would also provide a lawful framework for dignified, low-cost housing solutions, and restricting the use of basic shelter standards to projects built or conveyed by government agencies or nonprofit organizations would prevent speculative or profit-driven misuse; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, that the State Building Code Council is requested to develop and adopt basic shelter standards to enable low-cost, rapid-deployment housing solutions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Building Code Council is requested to adopt, amend, or update the State Building Code pursuant to its authority under section 107-25(6), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to establish a Basic Shelter Appendix; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Building Code Council is requested to consider the following suitable reference standards for the new Basic Shelter Appendix:

(1) United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Quality Standards (24 C.F.R. 982.401) and HUD Minimum Property Standards;

(2) International Code Council Off-Site Construction Standards (ICC/MBI 1200, 1205, and 1210), including provisions for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, energy efficiency, and water conservation; and

(3) Federal Emergency Management Agency and international humanitarian shelter standards, which are recognized benchmarks for emergency and supportive housing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Building Code Council is requested to authorize occupancy of housing constructed under the Basic Shelter Appendix only during, or in direct response to, a natural disaster emergency proclamation issued pursuant to chapter 127A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by the Governor or the relevant county mayor; provided that such authorization be limited to the duration of the applicable proclamation, unless the unit has been converted to permanent habitation as provided herein; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Building Code Council is requested to develop, as part of the Basic Shelter Appendix, a conversion pathway under which a unit initially constructed under basic shelter standards may be converted to permanent habitation upon a determination by the applicable county building official that the unit, as converted, complies with the Hawaii State Building Code or the standards for manufactured housing under title 24 Code of Federal Regulations part 3280; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Building Code Council is requested to consult with county building officials, housing advocates, nonprofit organizations, and industry stakeholders to ensure that the new basic shelter standards protect public health, safety, and welfare, and reflect Hawaii's climate, cultural context, and resilience needs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Comptroller, Chair of the State Building Code Council, Director of the Hawaii County Department of Public Works, Director of the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, County Engineer of the Kauai County Department of Public Works, and Director of the Maui County Department of Public Works.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	82
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII