75
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  URGING THE COUNTIES TO INCORPORATE INTO THE COUNTY BUILDING
    CODES PROVISIONS FOR DISABILITY ACCESSIBILITY.


 1        WHEREAS, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
 2   requires that the design and construction of certain specific
 3   buildings and facilities be accessible and usable by people
 4   with disabilities; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, requirements for new construction and alteration
 7   apply under Title II of the ADA to state and local government
 8   projects and to private projects involving public
 9   accommodations and commercial facilities under Title III; and
10   
11        WHEREAS, the design requirements of the ADA are
12   supplemented by the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG),
13   36 C.F.R. Pt. 1191, to ensure compliance with the ADA as to
14   "accessibility and usability"; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, the federal Fair Housing Administration Act of
17   1988 (Public Law 100-430) requires certain multi-family
18   dwelling units to be accessible and usable by people with
19   disabilities; and
20   
21        WHEREAS, the design requirements of the Fair Housing
22   Amendments Act of 1988 were enacted to ensure compliance with
23   the federal Fair Housing Act (Public Law 90-284); and
24   
25        WHEREAS, model building code organization members,
26   including the Building Code Officials and Code Administrators
27   (National Building Code), International Conference of Building
28   Officials (Uniform Building Code), Southern Building Code
29   Congress International (Standard Building Code), and
30   International Code Council (International Building Code), are
31   working to include the ADAAG and the Fair Housing Amendments
32   Act Guidelines into jurisdictional building codes; and
33   
34        WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Justice has encouraged
35   state and local governments to incorporate the ADAAG into their
36   respective building codes, and has developed a process to
37   certify local codes that provide equivalent or greater
38   requirements than the ADA for design and construction; and

 
Page 2                                                     75
                                  H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        WHEREAS, section 103-50, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires
 2   that public buildings and facilities conform to the ADAAG;
 3   however there is no similar requirement for private buildings
 4   and facilities; and 
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, chapter 348F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating
 7   to the Disability and Communication Access Board, establishes
 8   guidelines and reviews plans and designs for public buildings
 9   and facilities for conformance to design guidelines that are
10   equal to or greater than the ADAAG; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu and the counties
13   of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui have adopted the Uniform Building
14   Code of the International Conference of Building Officials;
15   however, none of the amended codes include the ADAAG in its
16   entirety; and
17   
18        WHEREAS, the long-term goal of the State should be to have
19   a state building code incorporating all of the ADAAG and Fair
20   Housing Amendments Act Guidelines to benefit the design and
21   construction community so that it knows what is required and
22   can conform to the ADA and Fair Housing Act, thereby avoiding
23   access problems for persons with disabilities and costly
24   litigation for design professionals, building owners, and
25   managers; now, therefore,
26   
27        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
28   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
29   of 2000, the Senate concurring, that the counties are urged to
30   revise their respective building code provisions for
31   accessibility for persons with disabilities; and
32   
33        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that to assist the counties in
34   incorporating provisions of disability accessibility, the
35   American Institute of Architects Hawaii State Council, the
36   Chairperson of each County Council, and the Chairperson of the
37   Disability and Communication Access Board are urged to convene
38   a meeting within sixty days of the closing of the 2000 Session
39   to facilitate the dissemination and exchange of information;
40   and
41   
42        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each county is requested to
43   report to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2001 on
44   its status of incorporating provisions of disability
45   accessibility in their county building codes; and

 
 
Page 3                                                     75
                                  H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor of each
 3   county, the Chairpersons of each County Council, Chairperson of
 4   the Disability and Communication Access Board, State
 5   Comptroller, American Institute of Architects Hawaii State
 6   Council, Consulting Engineers Council of Hawaii, Building
 7   Industry Association, and the General Contractors Association.