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0 g STRUCTURAL EN ASSOCIATION OF HAWAII
HAWAII P.O. Box 3348, Honolulu, Hawaii 96801 I ,,, ,..; n I'
June 6, 2011
TO: Hawaii County Council
c/o County Clerk counciltestimony (co.hawaii.hi.us
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
SUBJECT: Bill 270 (Draft 2) Relating to adoption of the 2006 International Building Code with amendments
Repeals Chapter 5 of the Hawaii County Code 1983 to be replaced by a new Chapter 5, relating to
building
Public Works and Parks and Recreation Committee
Hearing Date: June 14, 2011 2:00 pm West Hawaii Civic Center
Honorable Members of the Public Works and Parks and Recreation Committee:
The Structural Engineers Association of Hawaii (SEAOH) is the local chapter of the National Council of Structural
Engineering Associations (NCSEA), and we have over 200 active members in Hawaii. SEAOH has a historic role
spanning several decades in assisting Hawaii with the development of the technical portions of the building codes,
especially as it relates to hurricane and seismic resistance of buildings. We would like to express our support of
Bill 270, Relating to adoption of the 2006 International Building Code, which would improve public safety and
construction efficiency by adopting a modern building code. This bill provides for a comprehensive building code
that implements the 2006 International Building Code.
The International Building Code 2006 was developed through a transparent three -year process of multiple reviews of
building officials nationwide who comprise the voting members of the International Code Council as well as an
independent review panel that balloted every single provision in the IBC. The IBC represents the national consensus
on building standards for use in design and construction. The UBC code that the County now uses was developed by
an organization that now longer exists and it was discontinued nationally in 2000.
The bill for the ordinance includes a number of amendments to make it applicable to the environmental and natural
hazards of Hawaii. These purely technical amendments were developed within the Hawaii State Building Code Council
as prescribed by State Law HRS 107 Part II. The technical amendments incorporated the recommendations of the
local design professions and agencies such as State Civil Defense, and SEAOH in particular, after thorough technical
study and review of the International Building Code for applicability to Hawaii. The consensus -based amendments
were then subject to evaluation by all four county building officials as well as the other representatives of industry and
the state that make up the 9- member State Building Code Council.
Moreover, the provisions related to wind and hurricane protection were given special attention per State Law. These
wind provisions account for topographic wind effects caused by mountainous terrain, and the research and
development of the Hawaii wind maps in this code was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement
in Hawaii by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The proposed code also incorporates a local option of achieving
hurricane protection by installation of a safe room in new home construction, which is estimated to save tens of
thousands of dollars per Hawaii home compared to the requirements of the IBC without this local amendment. This
basically allows a single room to be economically protected for life safety, rather than the more stringent national code's
requirement for hardening the full exterior wall and all windows of the entire home against hurricane debris.
Commensurate with its central importance to the design and construction industry as well as disaster preparedness, it
is important that this new building code be adopted at this time. We expect that improved public safety, consistency of
design, and efficiency in the construction industry would result. Thank you very much for an opportunity to express our
strong support for this bill.
Gary Chock, S.E.
;44:auk
SEAOH Representative to the State Building Code Council Caen). No. /6 $L
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