Hawaii Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Direct answer

2018 Hawaii State Building Codes, adopted by the State Building Code Council between November 2020 and April 2021 in Hawaii. 2018 IBC, IRC, IECC and IEBC with Hawaii amendments, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code and NFPA 70, with the 2024 NFPA 1 as the State Fire Code. Since the Governor's emergency proclamation on affordable housing of 23 September 2025, the State Building Code Council's power to amend or update the state codes has been suspended, so the 2018-based codes remain the current state codes. The proclamation also suspends the two-year deadline by which counties must adopt the state codes; counties may still update their own codes. This was checked on 2026-10-01 against Hawaii State Building Code Council, Department of Accounting and General Services, which is the source that controls. The cross-state comparison further down this page comes from the ICC adoption chart dated January 2024, so where the two disagree the record above is the newer one.

Content and cited inputs reviewed by Harth team · Published 2026-09-07 · Updated 2026-10-01.

Which codes has Hawaii adopted now?

2018 Hawaii State Building Codes, adopted by the State Building Code Council between November 2020 and April 2021.

2018 IBC, IRC, IECC and IEBC with Hawaii amendments, the 2018 Uniform Plumbing Code and NFPA 70, with the 2024 NFPA 1 as the State Fire Code.

Transition: Since the Governor's emergency proclamation on affordable housing of 23 September 2025, the State Building Code Council's power to amend or update the state codes has been suspended, so the 2018-based codes remain the current state codes. The proclamation also suspends the two-year deadline by which counties must adopt the state codes; counties may still update their own codes.

Local adoption: Each county adopts the state codes with its own amendments and enforces them; state building projects must follow the state codes directly. All four counties enforce the 2018 IECC.

Checked 2026-10-01 against Hawaii State Building Code Council, Department of Accounting and General Services. Confirm the edition and effective date for the specific permit jurisdiction before relying on it.

The cross-state record

For comparison across states, every I-Code the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024) tracks, as it records Hawaii. Where this disagrees with the record above, the record above is newer:

Hawaii has a recorded edition year for 5 of the 17 codes: 2021 for the residential energy and commercial energy codes; 2018 for the building, residential and existing buildings codes. The plumbing code appears as adopted by individual state or local agencies rather than as a statewide standard, so whether it applies depends on the permit jurisdiction for the project address. No adoption at all is recorded for the fire, mechanical, private sewage, fuel gas, green construction, property maintenance, swimming pool and spa, performance, wildland-urban interface, zoning and green building standard codes.

Source: ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024).

How Hawaii compares with its neighbours

Statewide editions in force, checked 2026-10-01; “Local” means no state adoption, “(limited)” a state adoption for some buildings only, and * a state-titled code built on that edition.

California, Washington, Oregon and Nevada differ from Hawaii on the building code alone. A practice working across that border is working to two editions, whatever the office standard says.

Where Hawaii sits in the national record

Of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 3 enforce the 2018 IBC statewide, 27 a later edition, 4 an earlier one, and 17 have no statewide IBC edition in force. Hawaii is therefore behind most of the country on the building code, which matters for anyone carrying a detail or a code-analysis sheet in from a neighbouring state.

Across all 17 codes the January 2024 ICC chart tracks, Hawaii has a recorded edition for 5, which ranked it 36th of 51. A low count is not a gap in regulation — it usually means the state legislates through its own documents, or leaves the discipline to local adoption.

What the chart does and does not tell you

The chart's own legend matters more than the numbers:

• An edition year means one or more state or local agencies adopted that edition. It does not mean every building in the state is designed to it.
• “Some jurisdictions only” is the chart's X: the code is in use somewhere in the state but is not the standard for all buildings.
• “Not adopted” is a blank cell — no state or local jurisdiction reported adopting that code.
• “State-written code” means the state publishes its own document in place of the model edition, so the model text is a reference, not the law.

ICC states plainly that not every jurisdiction notifies it of an adoption, and this chart is dated January 2024. Treat it as the starting point for a search, never as the answer.

How to confirm the edition that governs a Hawaii project

1. Open Hawaii State Building Code Council, Department of Accounting and General Services and find the currently adopted code list with its effective date.
2. Check whether the permit authority for the project address is the state or a local programme with its own adoption.
3. Read the state amendments alongside the model edition — an amended table or definition changes the requirement even when the edition matches.
4. Record the permit application date. A code change usually applies from an effective date, and applications filed before it are normally reviewed under the previous edition.
5. Get the answer in writing from the authority having jurisdiction before it drives a design decision.

Hawaii code-basis worksheet

Fill this in once per project and keep it with the drawing set. Every row is a question a plan reviewer can ask, and the answer changes with the address and the application date, not with the state.

This worksheet records a determination; it does not make one. The authority having jurisdiction decides which edition and which amendments apply.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all code adoption guidance
• California Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Washington Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Oregon Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted
• Nevada Building Code: Which Editions Are Adopted

Sources and method

Adopted editions transcribed from the ICC Master I-Code Adoption Chart (January 2024), reproduced with the chart's own legend so an “X” is not mistaken for a statewide adoption. ICC notes that not all jurisdictions report their adoptions and publishes updates at iccsafe.org/adoptions. The current edition, its effective date and the state amendments are published by Hawaii State Building Code Council, Department of Accounting and General Services, which controls.

Source links

• iccsafe.org

• iccsafe.org

• ags.hawaii.gov