[§672B-6]  Certificate of consultation.  (a)
 Any claim filed with the design claim conciliation panel under this chapter
shall be accompanied by a certificate that declares one of the following:



(1)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney has
consulted with a design professional who is licensed to practice in this State
or any other state, who is knowledgeable and experienced in Hawaii building
codes and construction practices and the professional standard of care in
Hawaii, and who is knowledgeable and experienced in the same specialty as the
design professional against whom the primary claim is made, and that the
claimant or claimant's attorney has concluded on the basis of the consultation
that there is a reasonable and meritorious cause for filing the claim.  If the
claimant or the claimant's attorney is not able to consult with a design
professional in the same specialty as the design professional against whom the primary
claim is made, the claimant or claimant's attorney may consult with a design
professional who is licensed in this State or in any other state, who is
knowledgeable and experienced in Hawaii building codes and construction
practices and the professional standard of care in Hawaii, and who is
knowledgeable and experienced in a specialty that is as closely related as
practicable to the specialty of the design professional against whom the primary
claim is made.  The design professional consulted by the claimant or the
claimant's attorney may not be a party to the case, nor be compelled to testify
or otherwise participate in the hearing before the design claim conciliation
panel;



(2)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney was
unable to obtain the consultation required by paragraph (1) because a statute
of limitations would impair the action and that the certificate required by
paragraph (1) could not be obtained before the impairment of the action.  If a
certificate is executed pursuant to this paragraph, the certificate required by
paragraph (1) shall be filed by the claimant or the claimant's attorney within
ninety days after filing the claim; or



(3)  That the claimant or the claimant's attorney was
unable to obtain the consultation required by paragraph (1) after the claimant
or the claimant's attorney had made a good faith attempt to obtain the consultation
and the design professional contacted would not agree to such a consultation.  For
purposes of this paragraph, "good faith attempt" refers to the
responsibility of a claimant or claimant's attorney to make reasonable efforts
to contact a design professional for the purpose of reviewing the circumstances
upon which a claim is based.  The claimant or claimant's attorney may contact
design professionals by letter, telephone, facsimile, or other electronic means
of communication.  If the design professional does not respond within a
reasonable time, the claimant or claimant's attorney may submit its claim to
the design claim conciliation panel along with a certificate declaring the nonresponse
to claimant's good faith attempt.  A "good faith attempt" shall
ultimately be evaluated in light of the goal of having a qualified design
professional assist the claimant or claimant's attorney in understanding the
basis of the claim, and the determination shall depend upon the circumstances of
each individual case.



(b)  For the purposes of this section, the
claimant or the claimant's attorney shall not be required to disclose the names
of any design professional consulted to fulfill the requirements of subsection
(a) to any of the other parties to the claim.  The design claim conciliation
panel may require the claimant or the claimant's attorney to disclose the name
of any design professional consulted to fulfill the requirements of subsection
(a).  No disclosure of the name of any design professional consulted to fulfill
the requirements of subsection (a) shall be made to any of the other parties to
the claim; provided that the design claim conciliation panel may contact the design
professional to determine if the requirements of subsection (a) were met.



(c)  Unless a certificate is filed pursuant to
subsection (a), the claim shall not be received for filing by the design claim
conciliation panel. [L 2007, c 207, pt of §2]