Click here to check out our article, Don’t Run From a Notice of Violation, published in the February 2024 issue of Building Management Hawaii magazine!

Don’t Run From a Notice of Violation
By: Douglas Buhr

Many building managers have experienced the distress of receiving a Notice of Violation (NOV) from the City and County of Honolulu. This can be a traumatic experience, but it need not be.

What is a Notice of Violation? The Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) issues NOVs to call attention to violations in various chapters of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu (ROH), aka, the building code. It is a little-known fact that these violations are misdemeanors. It is a criminal act to violate the building code, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 per day and/or a year in prison.

However, the likelihood of going to jail for a building code violation is remote, especially if you make an effort to comply with the instructions on the NOV. 

FIRE INSPECTION REPORTS
Another type of NOV is issued by the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) called a Fire Inspection Report. Different a DPP NOV, it may cover similar situations such as added locks to exit doors or inoperable fire alarm panels.

A Fire Inspection Report provides a list of things to correct ranging from something as simple as removing a door stop or a plug strip, to providing documentation on a standpipe or a fire panel.

This report is more like getting a bad report card than a DPP NOV. HFD cannot levy fines or have you arrested.  However, persistently ignoring the HFD report card can have serious consequences. We have seen HFD threaten to have a building’s residents evacuated and the building shut down for persistent non-compliance.

Fortunately, a letter from a licensed professional engineer detailing the steps taken toward compliance can stop this from happening.

NECESSARY FIXES
The NOV has specific instructions on how to correct the violation and the timeline in which you are expected to correct it (most likely 30 days). If unpermitted work is ongoing, DPP will issue a stop work order. Once issued, continuing work without the required permit can lead to criminal prosecution. The NOV will likely provide an additional 30 days to obtain a permit, so as long as there are steps being taken to correct the NOV, such as hiring an architect or engineer, and then following through with plans to correct the violation, there will likely be zero negative consequences.

MORE THAN ONE WAY TO VIOLATE
There are several ways to earn an NOV, such as getting caught building something without a permit or making alterations that change access to means of egress. A lesser-known way is to have an unpermitted alteration, no matter how old, come to the attention of a building inspector.

An AOAO client whose building was built in the 1960s received an NOV for removing a fire hose cabinet without a permit. But, the building never actually had a fire hose cabinet in that location. The original builder never installed it, but the 1960s plans showed it was there.

When an inspector came out on a referral from the fire department and wrote an NOV, the building was forced to get a new permit and install the “ghost” hose cabinet more than 50 years after the original permit was closed.

The moral of the story? Code violations never go away. Even if the offense was committed before you were born, the City has the right and ability to order a mandatory fix.

Here are a few more violations we have helped remedy over the years:
– Adding access panels with no permit
– Adding locks/fobs to exit doors
– Lack of exit/emergency lighting
– Lack of grease interceptor for commercial kitchens
– Storm drains discharging onto the street (even though original to building)
– Adding walls with no sprinklers or permit
– Removing parking spaces
– Replacing a fire alarm panel without permit
– Inoperable fire alarm system
– Complete fire alarm system installed without a permit
– Spall repairs without a permit

NOVs can be generated for a wide variety of situations. Some may have been told (incorrectly) that a permit is not needed for a job because there are no structural changes being made. Repair work over $1,000 (with the exception of painting, flooring and cabinetry, and work involving electrical and plumbing) requires a permit, with ROH Chapter 18 indicating when a permit is needed.

An NOV or an unsatisfactory Fire Inspection Report can be resolved by quickly reversing the unpermitted changes or by resolving the complaint by HFD. DPP and HFD inspectors love quick compliance.

But if the fix is just too big or complicated to easily solve, immediately contact a licensed professional engineer or architect to communicate with authorities and create a strategy to resolve the violation.

Don’t be an ostrich and expect these violations to just go away. They never will.


Douglas Buhr is the president of Douglas Engineering Pacific, Inc., a full-service engineering firm located in Honolulu. A licensed professional engineer designing and permitting building systems in Hawai’i and the Pacific Rim for over 35 years, he has successfully remediated countless notices of violation. dbuhr@douglasengineering.com or (808) 687-6870. douglasengineering.com