Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Plumbers, health officials urge caution as Senate considers manufactured‑home bill; committees defer
Loading...
Summary
Trades and public‑health witnesses told senators that the bill that would allow manufactured homes by right risks bypassing local building codes; plumbers and the Department of Health urged a pause to study modular alternatives and safety inspections.
Senators heard extended testimony March 19 on housing measures that would affect manufactured and modular housing standards, inspections and permitting.
Kika Bukowski of Plumbers & Fitters Local 675 told the committees the measure under consideration would allow manufactured homes built to HUD standards to enter Hawaii without conforming to local building and plumbing codes. "Manufactured homes by definition follows HUD requirements, which are federal requirements and do not follow local codes and standards," Bukowski said, urging the panel to preserve inspection and certificate‑of‑occupancy safeguards.
Bukowski and other trade witnesses contrasted manufactured homes with modular units built to local code. They argued modular, locally built units can support the state’s workforce and apprenticeship pipeline while meeting Hawaii’s building‑code standards; they asked the Legislature to defer the measure until the Speed Task Force recommendations and stakeholder input are incorporated.
The Department of Health noted practical limits to regulating homeowner‑level utilities and wastewater systems, explaining that regulatory responsibility for utilities typically rests with municipal systems and that the department enforces larger utility operators rather than individual homeowners. Health staff cautioned that placing utility compliance solely on homeowners could create public‑health gaps if inspection and operator standards are not clear.
Plumbers gave concrete examples of unsafe fixtures found in some imported manufactured units (S‑trap plumbing configurations that can allow sewer gases into living spaces), and recommended work to ensure units meet local safety expectations before any preemption of county authority. The panel’s chairs acknowledged these concerns and deferred the measure to allow further stakeholder engagement and to harmonize proposed language with other bills addressing modular construction.
Next steps: Committee staff and proponents were asked to coordinate with unions, the Speed Task Force and county building officials to craft language that preserves public‑health protections and supports locally built modular options where appropriate.
