Can Can Builders Inc. · BC Lic# 29930
Custom Home Builder in Maui, Hawaii
Ground-Up Residential Construction Across Maui Since 1982
Custom Home Builder
Can Can Builders is a licensed custom home builder on Maui. Mike Zerkle has been building here since 1982, which means he has watched the rules for putting a new house on this island change several times over, and change again this year.
Building a custom home on Maui is not the same project it is on the mainland, and the differences are not cosmetic. Two of them decide whether your project happens at all, and both come up before anyone draws a floor plan.
The first is water. Maui County will not issue a building permit for a dwelling without an approved water source. Upcountry, that is genuinely the whole question. The Department of Water Supply stopped accepting new applications for the Upcountry service area on January 1, 2013, and the priority list still has over a thousand names on it. If you are looking at vacant land in Kula, Makawao, Pukalani, Haliimaile or Haiku, whether that parcel already has a meter is worth more than the view.
The second is that the county changed how it calculates water demand on January 1, 2026. Under Ordinance 5759, meter sizing no longer counts plumbing fixtures. It now uses an Equivalent Single Dwelling figure based on bedrooms and bathrooms, counting any room that could reasonably be used for sleeping as a bedroom. If you were quoted a meter size under the old method, that number may no longer hold.
We start every custom home the same way: before design, before engineering, before you commit to a lot. We look at water, zoning, access, soils and topography, and we tell you what the parcel will actually support. Sometimes that means telling you not to buy it.
We hold a Class B General Building Contractor license through the State of Hawaii, which is the classification that covers ground-up residential construction. You can verify it at the state licensing site any time.
Call (808) 250-1872 before you make an offer on land, not after.
Water First
Water Comes First on a Maui Custom Home
This is the part mainland buyers do not see coming, and it is the most common reason a custom home project dies before it starts.
The Upcountry Priority List
Maui County halted new applications for water service in the Upcountry system — Kula, Makawao, Pukalani, Haliimaile, the Maunaolu College area and Haiku — on January 1, 2013. Existing applications are processed in priority order, and the list dates back to the 1990s. The county publishes it by priority number and by tax map key.
What this means in practice: if the parcel does not already have a meter, you cannot assume you will get one on any timeline you can plan around. And when the county does offer a meter, the offer can come with required water system improvements that the property owner pays for.
The county is adding capacity — new wells, reservoirs and treatment plant filter upgrades are in progress — but none of that helps a buyer deciding this month.
The New ESD Method
Starting January 1, 2026, Maui County calculates domestic water demand using an Equivalent Single Dwelling unit rather than the old fixture-count method. Demand is now estimated from bedrooms and bathrooms, and the county counts any room that could reasonably be used for sleeping as a bedroom — so a den or an office with a closet may count against you.
Additional fixture units are no longer available for purchase under the new rules. If your plan was to buy your way to more capacity, that option closed.
We size this correctly at the design stage. A house designed without regard to how the county now counts bedrooms is a house that gets redesigned.
Alternatives Where There Is No Meter
On some parcels, rainwater catchment or a private well is a legitimate path rather than a fallback, particularly upcountry and in Haiku where rainfall supports it. Both bring their own permitting, engineering and storage requirements. We will tell you honestly whether it is realistic for your property or whether you are better off looking at a different lot.
What We Build
Custom Homes We Build on Maui
New Single-Family Homes
Ground-up construction on your lot, from site work and foundation through final inspection. We work with your architect, or bring one in if you do not have one yet. Rebuilding on a lot that already held a home is a different and usually shorter project — the utilities, the meter and often the foundation footprint already exist, which helps both the permit path and the schedule.
Upcountry and Ag-Land Homes
Building in Kula, Makawao and Haiku means elevation, rain, wind, and frequently agricultural rather than residential zoning. On ag land the dwelling falls under a different chapter of the county code with its own requirements. We verify zoning before design, every time.
Homes With an Ohana Unit
Maui County adopted new accessory dwelling rules in July 2026. Qualifying residentially zoned lots may now be eligible for up to two accessory dwellings alongside the main house. If a second unit is anywhere in your plans, design it into the main house project rather than bolting it on later — the water demand calculation, septic sizing and site layout all change. See our ADU and ohana unit guide for the detail.
Maui Different
What Building a Custom Home on Maui Actually Involves
Solar Water Heating Is Required by State Law
Hawaii does not issue a building permit for a new single-family dwelling without a solar water heater system, under HRS 196-6.5. This has been law since January 1, 2010 and it applies to accessory dwellings as well.
Variances exist but are narrow, and only a Hawaii-licensed architect or mechanical engineer can submit one — a homeowner or builder cannot. The grounds are limited to things like poor solar resource at the site or a substituted renewable system. We plan for the requirement rather than around it.
Wind and Seismic Engineering
Maui homes are engineered for wind loads and seismic requirements that mainland plan sets do not account for. A set of drawings that passed in Oregon does not pass here. If you are bringing plans from off-island, budget for a structural engineer to rework them.
Materials, Climate and Wastewater
Everything arrives by barge, which shapes the schedule more than any other single factor. We order long-lead items before ground is broken — a substitution decided in week one saves six weeks; the same substitution in month six is a change order.
Subterranean termites are a fact of life here, and the treatment and detailing decisions get made at the foundation, not after. Coastal parcels need hardware and fasteners specified for salt air, and UV exposure at this latitude is hard on anything left out in it.
Much of upcountry Maui and rural Haiku runs on septic rather than county sewer. Wastewater capacity is a design input, not a detail, and it interacts directly with how many bedrooms the county says your home has.
Cost
What Does It Cost to Build a Custom Home on Maui?
Maui construction costs run well above mainland figures, and the gap is not closing. Materials ship across an ocean, the skilled trade labor pool is tight, and site work on sloped or rocky parcels is common rather than exceptional.
Cost on a custom home is driven less by square footage than by the things people do not budget for: site access and grading, how far utilities have to run, water source, foundation type on your particular soils, and finish level. Two houses of identical size on two parcels a mile apart can differ substantially.
Anyone quoting you a per-square-foot number over the phone has not seen your property. We walk the parcel, then give you a real number.
Worth budgeting separately from construction: architectural and engineering fees, county permit and plan review fees, water meter costs and any required system improvements, and the solar water heating system.
Process
How We Build a Custom Home on Maui
Land and Feasibility Review
Before anything else, and ideally before you buy. Water source and meter status, zoning classification, setbacks, access, soils, topography and drainage. You get a straight answer on what the parcel supports. This is the conversation that saves people the most money, and we would rather have it early.
Design and Engineering
We work with your architect or bring one in. Plans are developed against Maui County's current requirements, including the ESD water demand method and the state solar water heating requirement. Structural engineering covers wind and seismic.
Permitting
We prepare and submit to Maui County. Residential permit review commonly runs several months, applications are processed first come, first served, and some projects need review from outside agencies such as the State Historic Preservation Division or the Department of Health, which adds time. Complete packages avoid revision cycles, and a returned application goes back into the queue.
Construction Through Final Inspection
Clearing, grading, excavation, utility trenching and foundation first. On sloped upcountry parcels that phase is the most unpredictable on the job, and it is where honest early assessment pays off.
Then framing, roofing, envelope, mechanical, electrical and plumbing rough-in, interior finish, and county inspections through to certificate of occupancy. Mike is on site. You are not handed to a project manager who has never walked the property.
By Town
Custom Home Building Across Maui
What a parcel will support changes as you move around this island. Zoning, water system, soils and exposure all shift, sometimes within a mile.
- Kula — Elevation, larger parcels, frequent ag zoning, and the water meter question in its sharpest form. Verify the meter before anything else.
- Makawao — Ranch and pasture land, mixed ag and residential zoning, same Upcountry water constraints.
- Haiku — Rural, heavy rainfall, mostly septic, largely ag-zoned. Rainwater catchment is more often viable here than elsewhere.
- Paia and the North Shore — Tight lots, older neighborhoods, wind exposure that has to be engineered for.
- Wailuku — Residential zoning, county water and sewer in most neighborhoods, a mix of older lots and infill parcels.
- Kahului and Central Maui — Flatter sites, county sewer, the most predictable utility picture on the island.
- Kihei and South Maui — Residential zoning, hot and dry, salt air driving material and hardware choices.
- Wailea — Larger properties, higher finish expectations, often with subdivision design review attached.
- Lahaina and West Maui — Rebuilding is the context for most work here now. Replacement construction on an existing lot follows a different path than raw land, and existing utilities usually help.
FAQ
Common Questions About Building a Custom Home on Maui
Can I build on Maui land that has no water meter?
Generally not without an approved water source, because Maui County will not issue a building permit without one. In the Upcountry service area — Kula, Makawao, Pukalani, Haliimaile and Haiku — the county stopped accepting new water service applications on January 1, 2013, and the priority list still holds over a thousand applicants. Rainwater catchment or a private well is a legitimate path on some parcels. Before you buy land, have someone check the meter status. We will look at a parcel for you before you make an offer.
How much does it cost to build a custom home on Maui?
More than the mainland, and the driver is usually the site rather than the square footage. Materials ship across an ocean, the trade labor pool is tight, and grading, utility runs, foundation type and water source vary enormously between parcels. Budget separately for architecture and engineering, county permit fees, water meter costs and any required system improvements, and the state-required solar water heater. We give a real number after walking the property, not over the phone.
How long does it take to build a custom home on Maui?
Plan in years rather than months for a ground-up home. Design and engineering run several months, county permit review commonly runs several months more and is processed first come first served, and construction depends on size, site and material lead times. Anyone promising a fast timeline on a Maui custom home is telling you what you want to hear.
Do I really need a solar water heater?
Yes, in almost all cases. Under HRS 196-6.5, Hawaii does not issue a building permit for a new single-family dwelling without a solar water heater system, and that has been the law since January 1, 2010. It applies to accessory dwellings too. Variances exist on narrow grounds and can only be submitted by a Hawaii-licensed architect or mechanical engineer — not by the homeowner or the builder.
Can I use house plans from the mainland?
Not without rework. Maui homes require engineering for wind loads and seismic conditions that mainland plan sets do not address, and the plans also have to account for the solar water heating requirement and Maui County's water demand calculation. We have seen plenty of off-island drawings come through. They can usually be adapted — just budget for a structural engineer.
Are you licensed to build a whole house, not just remodel it?
Yes. Can Can Builders holds a Class B General Building Contractor license through the State of Hawaii, the classification covering construction of structures requiring multiple building trades — which is what a house is. You can verify it at the state licensing search any time, and we would encourage you to verify any contractor you are considering.
Related Services
Talk to Us Before You Buy the Land
The most useful conversation we have with people building a custom home on Maui happens before they own the lot. Water, zoning and access decide what is possible, and all three are cheaper to check than to fix.
Bring us an address and we will tell you what we see.
Talk to us before you buy the land — water, zoning and access decide what is possible.