Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 3 - DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND GENERAL SERVICES › Building Code Council › State Elevator Code › Subtitle 8 - DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH › Part 11 - ELEVATORS AND RELATED SYSTEMS › Chapter 229 - GENERAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND LEGAL PROVISIONS › Section 12-229-16.1 - Variances

Current through June, 2024
(a) In cases of practical difficulties, undue
						hardships, or new developments, an owner may apply for a variance from any
						elevator safety standard. The application must be in writing, clearly stating
						the standard from which a variance is sought, the conditions, means, practices,
						methods, operations, or processes proposed to be used, together with drawings,
						specifications, and other supporting data. The director may issue an order for
						a variance if what is proposed will provide a substantially equivalent level of
						safety to that provided by the standard.
(b) All variances granted pursuant to this
						chapter shall have only a future effect. The director may decline to entertain
						an application for variance on a subject or issue for which a discrepancy
						letter or citation has been issued to the owner or contractor involved and the
						discrepancy or violation has not yet been satisfactorily corrected or
						resolved.
(c) Before granting the
						variance, the director shall publish a notice in a paper of general circulation
						or post notice on the department's website notifying all potentially affected
						parties of the director's intent to grant the variance. The notice shall
						provide a period of thirty calendar days to object to the granting of the
						variance, after which time the variance shall become final if no objections are
						filed or a hearing is requested. The cost of the publication shall be borne by
						the petitioning party.
Every notice shall specify the alternative to the
						  safety standard being considered.
(d) Any party objecting to the granting of
						the variance must notify the director in writing within the thirty-day period,
						stating the reasons why the variance should not be granted and the resultant
						specific impact on public safety. The objecting party's reasons for objection
						may also be based on grounds other than impact on public safety such as
						feasibility of compliance or lack of undue hardship to the petitioner. The
						objecting party may also elect to provide the reasons for the objection at a
						hearing.
(e) The hearing requested
						by the objecting party shall be held no later than forty-five days after the
						thirty-day period stated in the public notice as follows:
(1) The objecting party or parties and the
						variance applicant shall be provided notice of the date, time, and place of the
						hearing at least fourteen calendar days before the scheduled hearing;
(2) Each party shall be prepared to provide
						evidence supporting the party's case, including a brief oral statement
						summarizing such evidence;
(3) The
						director shall provide a written determination to all parties;
(4) If the director determines that the
						evidence does not support denial of the variance request, no further notice is
						required; and
(5) If the director
						determines that the evidence supports a denial of the variance request, a
						notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation stating the
						reasons why the variance is not granted.