Hawaii County, HI Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 5-3-1 of the Hawai'i County Code bars anyone from starting construction, alteration, enlargement, relocation, or demolition of a building or structure, or comparable electrical, plumbing, fire-sprinkler, gas, or drainage work, without a permit from the Director of Public Works, who serves as the code's "authority having jurisdiction" under Section 5-2-1. Subsection (b) spells out specific triggers beyond the general rule: gas tank and piping work, handicap-accessible route construction, retaining walls four feet or taller (stepped walls within eight feet of each other count as one wall for that measurement), solar photovoltaic and solar water-heating systems, television or radio communication towers not regulated by the state PUC, water tanks or catchment systems used for potable water, household use, or fire protection regardless of size, and heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning installations.

50 per additional $1,000 between $2,001 and $25,000, up to $355 plus $3 per additional $1,000 above $50,000. Detached carports, garages, patios, and lanais are billed separately at $10 per 100 square feet. Once issued, a permit is good for six years under Section 5-5-4; work must stop the day it lapses, and finishing the project means filing a brand-new application, not renewing the old one. Starting work before the permit is in hand is expensive: Section 5-7-3(d) charges $1,000 flat plus the normal fee, or the ordinary fee doubled, whichever comes out higher, and paying that penalty does not excuse the work from every other requirement of the construction code.