SB2673

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the timely review of building and civil engineering permits is critical to addressing the State's housing shortage, enabling renewable energy projects, and supporting economic development.

The legislature further finds that the governor's emergency proclamation on housing and the subsequent findings of the simplifying permitting for enhanced economic development task force have highlighted significant challenges in tracking permitting performance. The task force's building permit permitted interaction group found that counties use incompatible data standards to represent permit status, key dates, valuations, and categories, which complicates meaningful comparisons and shared learning. The group further suggested that the counties and the State work toward common data standards and reporting templates for building permits, including more granular status categories that distinguish delays attributable to applicants from delays attributable to agencies.

The legislature finds that while some permit data is currently available, it is often difficult to access or is provided in formats that do not allow for routine aggregation, analysis, or cross-county comparison. Requiring counties to publish permit data in a standardized, machine-readable format will reduce the administrative burden of ad hoc information requests, support customer service improvements, and foster transparency and accountability.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Establish a statewide permitting data standard developed collaboratively by the office of planning and sustainable development and the chief data officer in consultation with the counties; and

(2) Require each county to publish monthly updates of building and civil engineering permit data in accordance with that standard.

SECTION 2. Chapter 46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part V to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§46- Publicly accessible permit data; monthly updates; statewide standard. (a) Each county shall host and maintain on its website a publicly accessible dataset containing data on all building and civil engineering permit applications administered by the county.

(b) The dataset required by subsection (a) shall:

(1) Be updated at least monthly;

(2) Be published in a machine-readable format, such as comma-separated values (CSV) or javascript object notation (JSON); and

(3) Include a data dictionary that defines each field and the permitted values for any coded field.

(c) To ensure statewide comparability, each record in the dataset required by subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following fields and defined field names, which shall be populated in accordance with the statewide permitting data standard established under subsection (f):

(1) The permit number ("PermitNum");

(2) A detailed description of work permitted ("Description");

(3) The date on which the permit application was submitted, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("AppliedDate");

(4) The date on which the permit was issued, if applicable, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("IssuedDate");

(5) The date on which the permit was completed or finalized, if applicable, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("CompletedDate");

(6) A raw value indicating the current status of the permit ("StatusCurrent");

(7) The original property street address line 1, as stored by the county ("OriginalAddress1");

(8) The original property street address line 2, as stored by the county, if applicable ("OriginalAddress2");

(9) The original property city, as stored by the county ("OriginalCity");

(10) The original property state, as stored by the county ("OriginalState");

(11) The original property zip code, as stored by the county ("OriginalZip");

(12) A unique identifier for the county publishing the record ("Jurisdiction");

(13) A raw value indicating whether the permit is for residential or non-residential property ("PermitClass");

(14) A standardized value for the permit class, as defined by the statewide permitting data standard ("PermitClassMapped");

(15) A standardized value for the current status, as defined by the statewide permitting data standard ("StatusCurrentMapped");

(16) A raw value indicating whether the permitted work is new construction or work on an existing structure ("WorkClass");

(17) A standardized value for the work class, as defined by the statewide permitting data standard ("WorkClassMapped");

(18) A raw value indicating the permit type in abbreviated or shorthand format ("PermitType");

(19) A standardized value for the permit type, as defined by the statewide permitting data standard ("PermitTypeMapped");

(20) A longer description of the permit type ("PermitTypeDesc");

(21) The date the permit record was last updated in the county's system of record, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("StatusDate");

(22) The total square footage relevant to the permit ("TotalSqFt");

(23) The uniform resource locator to the county's public web page for the permit, if applicable ("Link");

(24) The latitude of the property in decimal degrees ("Latitude");

(25) The longitude of the property in decimal degrees ("Longitude");

(26) The estimated value of the project, if known ("EstProjectCost");

(27) The number of housing units authorized or affected by the permit, if any ("HousingUnits");

(28) The parcel identifier used for tax assessment purposes, including the tax map key, if available ("PIN");

(29) The primary company name of the contractor, if applicable ("ContractorCompanyName");

(30) A raw value indicating the contractor's trade, if applicable ("ContractorTrade");

(31) A standardized value for the contractor's trade, as defined by the statewide permitting data standard, if applicable ("ContractorTradeMapped");

(32) The contractor license number, if applicable ("ContractorLicNum");

(d) In addition to the fields and field names provided in subsection (c), each record shall include the following fields and defined field names, if the county's system of record captures the underlying information, to support statewide measurement of permitting timelines and responsibility for any delays:

(1) The date the application was accepted for processing or deemed complete, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("AcceptedDate");

(2) The permitting agency or county department administering the permit, as stored by the county ("PermittingAgency");

(3) The final disposition of the application, limited to: approved, denied, withdrawn, expired, or voided ("FinalDisposition");

(4) The date of the final disposition, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("FinalDispositionDate"); and

(5) The date the permit was last placed on hold or otherwise paused, in YYYY-MM-DD format ("HoldDate").

(e) Each county shall cooperate with the other counties, the office of planning and sustainable development, and the chief data officer to ensure that the statewide permitting data standard established under subsection (f) uses common definitions, common field names, and common standardized values that allow for accurate cross-county comparison. Each county shall:

(1) Designate a permitting data liaison responsible for coordinating implementation of this section;

(2) Provide, upon request, the county's permitting data dictionary, code lists, and documentation needed to map county-specific values to standardized values; and

(3) Maintain and publish, alongside the dataset required by subsection (a), a crosswalk that maps each county‑specific coded value used in fields required by subsection (c) and (d) to the corresponding standardized value.

(f) The office of planning and sustainable development, in collaboration with the chief data officer, shall establish, publish, manage, and periodically update a statewide permitting data standard to implement this section. The statewide permitting data standard shall:

(1) Be designed for routine monthly publication and public use;

(2) Incorporate, at a minimum, the required and recommended fields described in the Building and Land Development Specification core permit dataset requirements;

(3) Define each field required by subsections (c) and (d), including data types, required formats, and allowable values;

(4) Establish standardized value sets for the fields ending in "Mapped", including status categories that distinguish, at a minimum, between delays attributable to an applicant and delays attributable to an agency;

(5) Specify how a county shall represent missing or inapplicable values; and

(6) Include implementation guidance intended to minimize the administrative burden on the counties.

(g) The statewide permitting data standard required by subsection (f) shall be published no later than July 1, 2026. Each county shall comply with the statewide permitting data standard beginning no later than January 1, 2027."

SECTION 3. No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2027, the office of planning and sustainable development, in collaboration with the chief data officer, shall submit a report to the legislature describing:

(1) The statewide permitting data standard published pursuant to this Act;

(2) The consultation process used to develop the standard, including participation by the counties;

(3) Any barriers to county implementation, including technology constraints, staffing, or legal barriers; and

(4) Any proposed legislation or administrative actions needed to improve statewide permitting data quality and comparability.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2673
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII