Hawaii HOA ADUs & Modifications

Section 1 — Overview

When it comes to solar panels and electric-vehicle chargers, Hawaii gives homeowners some of the strongest protection in the country — and it does it in an unusual way. Rather than fold those rights into a single common-interest code, the state builds them on its § 196 energy-resources chapter. Hawaii also runs three separate association statutes at once: HRS chapter 514B, the Condominium Property Act, for condominiums; HRS chapter 421J for planned community associations; and HRS chapter 421I for cooperative housing corporations.^1,2,3 The state never adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, so each chapter stands on its own. The solar and EV rules, though, reach across all three. HRS § 196-7 voids any covenant that would stop an owner from putting a solar energy device on a single-family dwelling or townhouse the owner owns, and HRS § 196-7.5 voids any ban on an electric-vehicle charging system at a multi-family dwelling or townhouse the owner owns — each one subject to reasonable placement rules and registration.^4,5 Accessory dwelling units are a different story: county land-use ordinances and the recorded declaration govern them, and inside an existing association the declaration still controls — though a 2024 statute, HRS § 205-20, now voids certain newly recorded covenants that limit ADUs on urban-district residentially zoned lots.⁶ Four federal rules bind every Hawaii association no matter what the state says: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, the FCC's OTARD rule for antennas and satellite dishes, the Fair Housing Act's reasonable-modification requirement, and ADA Title III for common-area facilities that count as public accommodations.^7,8,9 The sections that follow lay out the architectural-review framework under each chapter, the solar, EV, and clothesline rules, the ADU analysis, the compliance duties, and the recent moves in the legislature and the courts.

Section 2 — The legal framework

2A. Architectural review under the two statutes

In a Hawaii condominium, the power to approve or reject a building change comes from HRS chapter 514B and the recorded declaration. HRS § 514B-140 sets the ground rules for additions and alterations. A unit owner may not carry out work that, as the board reasonably determines, jeopardizes the soundness or safety of the property, reduces its value, or impairs an easement. Nonmaterial additions or alterations inside a unit or its limited common element need the board's approval — which the board may not unreasonably withhold — plus any owner vote the declaration calls for.¹⁰ The declaration can narrow what the board may approve or the conditions it may attach, but the board always keeps one power: it may disapprove work it reasonably determines could jeopardize soundness or safety, impair an easement, or strip a nonconsenting owner of the use or enjoyment of any part of the property.¹⁰ A planned community works differently. There, architectural authority runs from HRS chapter 421J and the declaration. Chapter 421J is the shorter statute, built around governance, documents, and dispute resolution, and it carries no § 514B-140-style alteration provision — so the recorded declaration and whatever architectural committee it creates supply most of the real standards.² Under either chapter, a court reads the declaration, bylaws, and rules the way it reads a contract: by the plain, ordinary, and accepted meaning of the words. And it treats an undefined or ambiguous term as a question that can defeat summary judgment.¹¹ A board that stays within its documented authority and follows a reasonable process usually earns the court's deference. A board that overreaches, or leans on ambiguous language, invites reversal.

2B. Solar, EV charging, and clotheslines

HRS § 196-7 states the rule plainly: no covenant, declaration, bylaw, restriction, deed, or similar agreement may stop a person from installing a solar energy device on a single-family residential dwelling or townhouse that person owns, and any provision to the contrary is void and unenforceable.⁴ Every private entity has to adopt rules for where those devices go, and the rules have a ceiling — they may not cut the device's efficiency by more than twenty-five per cent or push installation, maintenance, and removal costs up by more than fifteen per cent.⁴ An owner may install a device that follows those rules and register it with the private entity within thirty days, and the entity may not charge a placement fee.⁴ When a device sits on a common element or limited common element, the owner — and every owner after — takes on the cost of any damage and must carry insurance that names the private entity as an additional insured.⁴ For condominiums, HRS § 514B-140 adds a few points: unit owners may install solar devices with the board's written consent; solar is allowed on single-family dwellings and townhouses under § 196-7; and when the board itself puts solar or wind devices on the common elements, that does not count as a material alteration, so long as it does not directly affect a nonconsenting unit owner.¹⁰ The practical limit matters. The ban on prohibition protects installation on the structures an owner owns and controls, but a condominium unit owner cannot necessarily force solar onto a shared roof — the board governs common-element installation under § 514B-140.¹⁰

HRS § 196-7.5 takes the same approach to EV charging. It voids any agreement that would keep an owner from installing an electric-vehicle charging system on or near the parking stall of a multi-family residential dwelling or townhouse the owner owns.⁵ A private entity may write rules that reasonably limit where and how the system is used, as long as those rules do not ban charging systems outright, and the system has to be registered within thirty days.⁵ If the system goes on a common element or limited common element, the owner must first get the entity's consent — and the entity must give it once the owner agrees in writing to meet the design specifications, use a licensed contractor, and hand over a certificate of insurance.⁵ HRS § 196-8.5 covers clotheslines: no agreement may prevent a clothesline on a single-family dwelling or townhouse the owner owns, though a private entity may set reasonable placement rules that stop short of an outright ban.¹² Across all three provisions, the line holds the same way: the statute bars the outright prohibition, but it still leaves room for reasonable placement rules — and the common-element and shared-structure limits remain the real constraint.

2C. ADUs and federal overlays

Whether an owner can build an accessory dwelling unit in Hawaii is really two questions stacked on top of each other: what the county land-use ordinance allows, and what the recorded declaration allows. Hawaii's Act 39 of 2024 created HRS § 46-4.8, which tells every county to adopt or amend its ordinances to allow at least two ADUs on residentially zoned lots by December 31, 2026. The same act created HRS § 205-20, which says that no private covenant on a residentially zoned lot inside an urban district — recorded after May 28, 2024 — may push the number of allowed ADUs below what § 46-4.8 permits, or bar the long-term rental of residential units.^6,13 Two limits on § 205-20 are easy to miss and important to catch: it does not touch private covenants recorded before May 28, 2024, and it reaches only urban-district residentially zoned lots, leaving out rural, low-density, and open-space districts.¹³ The upshot is that in most existing associations, the pre-2024 declaration still governs ADUs, and county zoning does not override those covenants. That makes Hawaii's position narrower than states that broadly preempt HOA covenants on ADUs. In California, Civil Code § 4751 — added by AB 670 and effective January 1, 2020 — makes any governing-document provision that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts building or using an ADU or junior ADU on a single-family lot void and unenforceable.¹⁴ In Colorado, HB 24-1152 — codified at C.R.S. §§ 29-35-402 to 405, signed in May 2024, with the ADU provisions taking full effect June 30, 2025 — requires covered jurisdictions to allow at least one ADU and bars HOAs from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting ADU construction on single-family detached lots.¹⁵ Both of those states preempt no matter when the covenant was recorded, which is exactly where Hawaii's prospective-only rule parts ways with them. Four federal overlays bind every Hawaii association: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 stops an association from preventing display of the U.S. flag, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner rules; the FCC's OTARD rule at 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 protects antennas and satellite dishes in areas the owner owns or uses exclusively; the Fair Housing Act at 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3) requires associations to allow reasonable, resident-paid modifications for disability; and ADA Title III can reach common-area facilities that qualify as public accommodations.^7,8,9

Section 3 — Compliance obligations created by the framework

A. Architectural review process obligations

A condominium board has to actually run the § 514B-140 approval process. Nonmaterial alterations inside a unit or a limited common element require the board's approval, which it may not unreasonably withhold — along with any owner vote the declaration requires.¹⁰ The board also has to respect whatever limits the declaration places on its approval power, while holding onto the statutory right to say no to work that threatens the building's soundness or safety, impairs an easement, or takes away a nonconsenting owner's enjoyment of the property.¹⁰ A planned community association has a simpler map to follow: the architectural-review procedures and standards live in its declaration, because chapter 421J hands the association its governance rules but not a substantive alteration standard.²

B. Modifications the association must permit

Some modifications an association simply has to allow. Every association must permit solar energy devices on the single-family dwellings and townhouses an owner owns, must adopt placement rules that stay within the efficiency and cost limits, and may not charge a placement fee.⁴ A condominium board has to let unit owners install solar with written consent, and it cannot treat its own common-element solar or wind installation as a material alteration unless that work directly affects a nonconsenting owner.¹⁰ Every association must also permit EV charging systems at multi-family dwellings and townhouses, subject only to reasonable rules and registration, and must grant common-element consent once the owner meets the written conditions.⁵ No association may prohibit a clothesline on a covered structure.¹² And on top of the state rules, every association must permit U.S. flag display, OTARD-covered antennas in areas the owner controls, and reasonable, resident-paid disability modifications — all required by federal law.^7,8,9

C. ADU obligations and limits on HOA authority

With ADUs, county zoning and the declaration set what is allowed — there is no broad state override to lean on.¹³ An association does need to recognize one limit: a private covenant on an urban-district residentially zoned lot, recorded after May 28, 2024, cannot hold ADUs below the county-allowed number or bar long-term rental.⁶ But an association that relies on covenants recorded before May 28, 2024, keeps its ADU restrictions intact — and a board should not assume that a county's ADU allowance overrides an existing declaration.⁶

D. Enforcement, dispute resolution, and appeal obligations

When disputes come, each chapter routes them differently. In a condominium, a fight over how to interpret or enforce the declaration, the bylaws, or the house rules goes to mandatory mediation the moment someone asks for it in writing, under HRS § 514B-161; voluntary arbitration is available under § 514B-162, and trial de novo and appeal under § 514B-163.¹⁶ In a planned community association, a dispute over interpreting, applying, or enforcing the chapter or the association's documents has to go to mediation first, under HRS § 421J-13.¹⁷ Cooperative disputes run through mediation and arbitration under HRS § 421I-9.¹⁸ And an association that heads to court after brushing off a good-faith mediation request risks paying for it when the judge weighs attorneys' fees and costs.^16,17

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

4A. Recent bills and acts

Hawaii's recent legislative action clusters around one subject — accessory dwelling units — alongside a separate, still-unresolved push to build a homeowner-association ombudsman inside state government.

4B. Recent appellate rulings

Hawaii's appellate courts have been working the edges of association authority — how far a board may go to enter and alter a unit, and how tightly a house rule has to be written before it can be enforced.

4C. Active legislative debates

Two debates are still live. One is the continuing argument over the county ADU mandate, including the HB 516 effort to trade the mandate for subsidies.¹⁹ The other is the homeowner-association ombudsman's office — HB 837, carried over to the 2026 Regular Session — which would add a DCCA dispute-intervention process across chapters 514B, 421I, and 421J.²¹

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Among the states, Hawaii sits toward the strong end for protecting solar and EV modifications, and it does so by anchoring both rights in statute rather than in a uniform common-interest code. HRS § 196-7 voids covenants that block solar on owned single-family dwellings and townhouses, and HRS § 196-7.5 does the same for EV charging at multi-family dwellings and townhouses.^4,5 That puts Hawaii in the company of solar-access states like California, Arizona, and Florida — though its split framework, with the rights spread across the energy chapter and the condominium act, stands out. California's comparable solar statute, Civil Code § 714, voids restrictions that effectively prohibit a solar energy system and caps design conditions at a $1,000 cost increase or a 10 percent efficiency reduction — a tighter leash than Hawaii's 15 percent cost and 25 percent efficiency limits.²³ On ADUs, Hawaii is mostly declaration-governed inside existing associations, with only a narrow, forward-looking covenant-voiding rule under HRS § 205-20 for covenants newly recorded on urban-district lots. That is a very different posture from states that broadly preempt HOA covenants on ADUs, such as California under Civil Code § 4751 and Colorado under HB 24-1152.^14,15 For an operator working across several states, the practical takeaway is this: in Hawaii, solar and EV rights are statutory and split across the condominium and planned-community frameworks, while ADU permissibility stays a question of county zoning and the declaration — except for the limited § 205-20 override.

This page updates quarterly as the Hawaii Legislature and the courts act. The federal frameworks — the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, OTARD, the Fair Housing Act, and the ADA — apply to Hawaii associations no matter what the state framework says.

1. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 514B, Condominium Property Act; § 514B-1 (short title) (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
2. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 421J, Planned Community Associations (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
3. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 421I, Cooperative Housing Corporations (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
4. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 196-7, Placement of solar energy devices (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
5. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 196-7.5, Placement of electric vehicle charging systems (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
6. Act 39, 2024 Haw. Sess. Laws (S.B. 3202), Relating to Urban Development (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
7. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-243, 120 Stat. 572 (GovInfo) ↩
8. FCC Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (Federal Communications Commission) ↩
9. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3), reasonable modifications (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) ↩
10. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 514B-140, Additions to and alterations of condominium (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
11. Nomura v. Ass'n of Apartment Owners of Iolani Court Plaza (Haw. Ct. App. June 23, 2026) (FindLaw) ↩
12. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 196-8.5, Placement of clotheslines (2025) (Justia) ↩
13. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 205 (index listing § 205-20, Private covenants; residentially zoned lots; urban district) (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
14. Cal. Civ. Code § 4751 (California Legislative Information) ↩
15. Colo. H.B. 24-1152, Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 29-35-402 to 405, Accessory Dwelling Units (Colorado Division of Local Government) ↩
16. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 514B-161, Mediation; see also §§ 514B-162, 514B-163 (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
17. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 421J-13, Mediation of disputes (Hawaii State Legislature) ↩
18. Haw. Rev. Stat. § 421I-9, Mediation and arbitration of disputes (Justia) ↩
19. Haw. H.B. 516 (2025), Relating to Housing (status) (LegiScan) ↩
20. Haw. H.B. 2681 (2024), Relating to Homeowner Associations (text) (LegiScan) ↩
21. Haw. H.B. 837 (2026), Relating to Homeowner Associations, carried over to the 2026 Regular Session (LegiScan) ↩
22. Ass'n of Apartment Owners of Regency Park v. Harder, No. CAAP-20-0000373 (Haw. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2024) (Hawaii State Judiciary) ↩
23. Cal. Civ. Code § 714, solar energy systems (California Legislative Information) ↩