2026-09-10 · Hawaii · Compliance · Reported — unconfirmed

Elevator outages measured in weeks, not hours, hit more than ten Oahu residential buildings after the 2026 storm season — and the state agency that has to certify the repairs is running a backlog of 3,421 elevators. This is reporting, not an adjudicated finding, but the numbers come from named buildings and named officials.¹

What was reported

As of September 3, 2026, outages across the named buildings ranged from two to more than six weeks, with no firm restoration dates. Buildings identified in the reporting include 1628 Kalākaua Avenue in McCully, 2215 Aloha Drive and Waikīkī Cove on Kūhiō Avenue in Waikīkī, the 25-storey Makiki Plaza on Pensacola Avenue, and Honuakaha on Queen Street, a seven-storey building housing primarily seniors.¹

Concrete figures from that reporting: one Waikīkī repair quoted at $58,000; one Honuakaha elevator partly restored after three weeks; parts flown in from Tennessee. The state’s certification backlog stands at 3,421 of 8,924 elevators pending.

Earlier in the year, residents of Naniwa Gardens, a 14-storey condominium on Hawaii Kai Drive, lost power on Friday March 13, 2026 in a kona storm and went without elevator service or running water on upper floors until power was restored on the afternoon of Sunday, March 15.²

The legal frame: an elevator is a common element

Under HRS § 514B-137(a), “Except to the extent provided by the declaration or bylaws, the association is responsible for the operation of the property, and each unit owner is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the owner’s unit.” An elevator sits on the association’s side of that line in essentially every Hawaii declaration.

1. Honolulu Civil Beat, “Storms Shut Down Elevators Indefinitely For Hundreds In Honolulu,” September 3, 2026 ↩
2. Hawaii News Now, “Hawaii Kai condo residents frustrated by ongoing power, water outages,” March 15, 2026 ↩
3. HRS § 514B-137, Upkeep of condominium ↩