CITY TO COLLECT PHOTOVOLTAIC PERMIT FEES STARTING APRIL 6
News Release from City and County of Honolulu Thursday, March 28, 2013
The City will begin collecting fees on building permits issued for photovoltaic (PV) solar electric power systems effective April 6.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell on March 7 signed Bill 68 (Ordinance 13-1), which eliminates the waiver for PV permit fees. The waiver was implemented in October 2007 as an incentive to the PV industry and residents to install the energy saving systems.
With the number of PV systems nearly tripling each year since 2008, the industry is thriving and an incentive is no longer necessary. Repealing the fee waiver means PV contractors will be treated the same as other contractors who have been paying building permit fees all along.
The PV fees collected will be used to hire additional inspectors and plan checkers to improve service, and reduce the time needed to obtain other permits and to conduct inspections. Below is a table of PV permits and fees waived since 2008:
FISCAL YEAR PV PERMITS ISSUED PV FEES WAVED
|
2008-2009
|
698
|
$501,812
|
|
2009-2010
|
1,298
|
$690,150
|
|
2010-2011
|
3,231
|
$2,043,123
|
|
2011-2012
|
9,096
|
$6,175,857
|
|
2012-Feb. 28, 2013
|
13,321
|
$8,690,351
|
A typical residential PV system is valued at $40,000 and the permit fee is $740. For a table of current building permit fees, see http://www.honoluludpp.org/Portals/0/pdfs/construction/SCHEDPDF.
DPP is updating the online PV permit application system to allow contractors to pay the new fees electronically. More information will be available soon at www.honoluludpp.org.
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