Hawaii Developing Energy Code Based on 2006 IECC
State officials hope to have a final draft of Hawaii's version of the 2006 IECC submitted to the Hawaii Building Code Council by their scheduled August 12 meeting. If the Council accepts the proposal, additional time will be necessary to formalize the code and adopt it. The counties of Hawaii are free to submit the draft to their County Councils for codification and adoption, though this has been deemed to be unlikely for the next several months.
This development follows Governor Linda Lingle's May 21, 2007 approval of SB795 SD2 HD1 CD1. This bill created a nine-member state building code council to establish a state building code based on the International Building Code, which replaced the Uniform Building Code several years ago, the Uniform Plumbing Code and the latest edition of the state fire code.
Hawaii is the only state that has not adopted the International Building Code and instead relies on the four counties to write and enforce their own codes. Architects, contractors and insurers have pushed for a uniform code to ensure that rules are updated and consistent, which hasn't been the case in Hawaii. The legislation would bring the four major counties, which have been operating under various versions of the UBC drafted in the 1990s, under an up-to-date unified code that county officials can amend.
For more details, view the Pacific Business News article on the legislation, or visit the Hawaii State Legislature website to view Hawaii Revised Statute 107-25.
For Hawaii code status information, please consult the BCAP Hawaii Code Status page.