Property owners seeking building permits for residential and commercial buildings 50 or more years old no longer have to submit archival-quality, black-and-white print photos to the state before permits are processed.

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday signed a bill repealing the 9-month-old law that had placed a financial burden on building owners and created delays in obtaining county building permits.

The repeal of Act 228 ends what some historic preservationists described as a well-intended but poorly executed effort to document Hawai'i's architectural history.

"While my administration recognizes the importance of protecting Hawai'i's historic structures and maintaining archival records of buildings, Act 228 placed a financial burden on owners of buildings and homes over 50 years old without considering the structures' condition or whether they possessed historic integrity," Lingle said in a statement. "Act 228 further impeded the issuance of building permits at a time when we should be doing all we can to facilitate construction activity in order to stimulate the economy and create jobs."

Under the old law, county permitting agencies were prohibited from issuing permits for demolition, construction or other alteration of 50-plus-year-old structures until after the building or homeowner submitted photos to the State Historic Preservation Division.

Contractors and property owners expressed frustration at the expense for producing the special photos and the added delays to what was already a slow permitting process.

Lingle had let the rules that passed become law without her signature last year. At the time, she said her administration would propose narrowing the scope of the law to cover structures with historic significance or architectural integrity for placement on the National or State Register of Historic Places.

Lingle's administration submitted a bill to amend the law this year, but lawmakers decided instead to repeal Act 228.