Last year I researched and wrote a paper on the Okada Trucking decision, first issued by the Hawaii Supreme Court in 2002. The decision dramatically affected the scope of a general engineering and building license in the state, altering and limiting work traditionally performed by general contractors, and making them little more than construction managers for the majority of work to be performed on their projects.
The entire paper is here: Download OkadaTruckingAnalysis
With a number of legislative bills pending that are either attempting to use the Okada Trucking decision to further decrease the scope of a general contractor's license, or else address Okada Trucking through elimination (or refinement) of the subcontractor listing requirements, it is appropriate to understand the case, what the law was before the case was decided, how Okada Trucking came to be, where the case puts us in terms of other states with licensing requirements similar to Hawaii, and the effect of the case on the construction industry.
