Committee approves emergency 'basic shelter' standards after union raises safety concerns

The House committee voted to advance a resolution directing the State Building Code Council to develop a "basic shelter" appendix to enable low-cost, rapid-deployment housing for use during declared emergencies, but adopted amendments intended to limit the appendix to temporary occupancy and to set a clear conversion pathway to permanent habitability.

Plumbers and Pipe Fitters UA Local 675 representative Kip Kulekona told the committee he opposed the resolution as drafted, saying it risks creating units that would conflict with locally adopted mechanical, electrical and plumbing standards. "I really don't see how this resolution would accomplish that," Kulekona said, urging the matter be referred to an offsite-construction working group and for local code alignment.

Committee leadership offered a set of amendments to narrow the measure's scope. The chair proposed adding clauses that the basic-shelter appendix is intended solely for deployment "during or in direct response to a gubernatorial or county emergency proclamation under Chapter 127A HRS," that units constructed under the appendix are for temporary occupancy during such proclamations, and that authorization for occupancy would terminate when the proclamation expires unless a unit is formally converted. The amendments also direct the Building Code Council to develop a conversion pathway enabling units initially built under basic-shelter standards to be converted to permanent habitation provided they meet either the Hawaii state building code or the HUD code for manufactured housing.

Those amendments were framed as a direct response to problems after past disasters, where some rapidly deployed units remained occupied for years without clear permitting or conversion standards. One member noted Lahaina's experience and said the committee's intent was to codify minimum, temporary standards so post-disaster housing could be deployed and, where feasible, converted to safe permanent housing.

Supporters and opponents agreed on two points: the urgency of providing shelter quickly after disasters, and the importance of protecting public health, safety and welfare. Kulekona said the labor union was not opposed to rapid-deployment solutions per se, but urged that any temporary standard not undercut existing local minimum codes and that conversion rules be explicit.

The committee voted to pass the resolution with the proposed HD1 and the additional amendments clarifying emergency-only use and the conversion pathway. Representative Cochran announced she would vote with reservations.

The measure now advances with instructions to the Building Code Council to develop standards narrowly tailored to declared emergencies and to include a mechanism by which temporary units may be brought up to permanent-code standards before long-term occupancy.