A month after wildfires ravaged Maui in August 2023, Gov. Josh Green issued an emergency proclamation to postpone the adoption of any new building codes that might exacerbate a housing shortage that had just gotten worse.
The governor’s office is now moving to fast-track adoption of new codes and bring Hawaii into compliance with the latest national building standards as the state and counties have struggled to keep up with the pace of change.
The administration’s move comes as Hawaii contends with both the ever-present risk of devastating natural disasters, which vigorous building codes can mitigate, and a 50,000-unit housing shortage, which they can exacerbate due to a higher cost of complianc