CHANGES TO THE OWNER BUILDER LAW
Your Government Affairs Committee is pleased to announce that the Governor signed HB 1927 HD2 SD I which will be effective as Act 044 on July 1, 2010. In a 2009 surveyof HIBR members, the number one issue cited by you was the problem with compliance
to HRS Chapter 444-2, the Owner Builder portion of the Contractors Laws. Your Government Affairs Committee listened and last July organized a meeting between
Representative Robert Herkes, Chair of the House Consumer Affairs Committee, Warren Lee, Chief Engineer of Public Work and members of our Committee. At that meeting it
was decided we would write a Bill that cured those problems.
The biggest complaint was the difficulty of taking listings without being subject to the “Aiding and Abetting Law (HRS 436B-27)” when owners facing personal hardships needed to sell before the “one year from completion” as required in the current law. Act 044 cures this problem by allowing all owner builders facing personal hardships such as health issues, financial problems or marital changes to request an exemption in writing
from the Contractor’s Board to allow them to sell their home prior to one year from completion. This exemption process also applies to homes that were partially built, but not completed.
Another problem Realtors have been facing was trying to take a listing on a house that is in compliance with the OB law, but some minor improvement permitted under the Owner
Builder Exemption either isn’t completed or has been completed less than one year. Act 044 solves many of these cases by exempting all improvements with a Building Permit
Value of less than $10,000 from the Owner Builder Exemption.
Lastly, the current law does not define “completion”. Thus, aiding and abetting violations were cited against Realtors when RICO had no clear definition of when completion actually happened. Act 044 defmes completion as ” …. the date official
inspection approval by the county”.
Your Government Affairs Committee passed this law in one Legislative Session which Governor Linda Lingle found quite amazing. It just goes to show you that when you have
a determined Committee, a wonderfully helpful Representative, and a super supportive HAR GAC liaison like Myoung Ob, anything can be accomplished
