STAND. COM. REP. NO 417

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1354

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1354 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII STATE BUILDING CODES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the governing body of each county to adopt the most recent internationally and nationally recognized codes and standards if the State Building Code Council has not adopted new model building codes and standards as required in section 107-24, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Fire Council, Honolulu Fire Department, and State Building Code Council.

     Your Committee finds that the State Building Code Council was created in 2007 to review and adopt current, nationally recognized building codes and standards for Hawaii.  The council is required to review and adopt, as appropriate, new model building codes within eighteen months of the official publication date of various codes and standards, including the International Building Code, which establishes minimum regulations for building systems and is promulgated every three years.  However, Hawaii, unlike at least twenty other states, has not adopted the current regulations established and promulgated in the 2012 International Building Code publication.  The failure to adopt current International Building Code regulations poses a serious safety issue for Hawaii's residents, due to the State's unique geographic location and vulnerability related to natural disasters.  Implementation of this measure will safeguard the health and safety of Hawaii's residents and visitors.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by authorizing the governing body of each county to review and adopt the more current, rather than most recent, codes and standards identified in section 107-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the State Building Code Council fails to update and adopt new model building codes and standards as required.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1354, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1354, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs,

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair