Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1417 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits brought against design professionals by requiring the filing of:

The American Council of Engineering Companies, American Institute of Architects, Coalition of Hawaii Engineering and Architectural Professionals, American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineering Concepts, Inc., Fukunaga & Associates, Inc., Hawaii Pacific Engineers, Inc., Gray, Hong, Nojima & Associates, Inc., Lincolne Scott, Inc., MK Engineers, Ltd, Masa Fujioka & Associates, Miyasato Kuniyoshi Engineers LLC, Miyashiro and Associates, Inc., Pacific Geotechnical Engineers, Inc., Earth Tech, Inc., Finance Insurance, Ltd., Limtiaco Consulting Group, Sato & Associates, Inc., Shigemura, Lau, Sakanashi, Higuchi & Associates, Inc., Tanimura & Associates, Inc., Cedric D. O. Chong & Associates, Inc., Environet, Inc., and PLA Inc., submitted testimony in support of this bill. Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii opposed this bill.

Your Committees find that in 2004, the Right to Repair law was enacted to reduce litigation in the residential construction industry by providing an alternative dispute resolution procedure. When the law was enacted, it repealed the Design Conciliation Panel (DCP) law. As a result, design professionals lost the protection from unmerited lawsuits afforded by the requirement of an informal hearing before the DCP, and the execution of a certificate of consultation by a design professional. This bill would reinstate some of the protection that was lost.

Your Committees have amended this bill by changing its effective date to July 1, 2006. Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection & Commerce and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1417, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1417, H.D. 1.