The state is relaxing rules on its hurricane retrofit reimbursement program after rejecting a few applications and receiving complaints from homeowners who said they couldn't qualify under new, more stringent standards for wind-resistant devices such as hurricane clips.

Insurance commissioner J.P. Schmidt said the state now will offer reimbursements to people who can prove they strengthened their homes using older guidelines drawn up for the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund.

The state put the new standards into effect last month as part of the reimbursement program that provides qualifying homeowners up to $2,100, or 35 percent of the cost of hurricane retrofits. The money is available to people who did the work in the past four years as well as those who are now retrofitting using clips and other equipment. The state hired an engineer and sought input on the new standards, which one contractor said increase strength by about 20 percent compared to those used by the industry over the past several years.

The state originally was going to provide reimbursements only to homeowners whose improvements meet the new standards. But in recent weeks many people applying for the reimbursements discovered that their contractors couldn't certify that the work meets those standards. That's because most of the older work was done to lower specifications that insurance companies use to determine if homes qualify for hurricane insurance discounts. For example, the new standard may call for a 1.25-inch nail for certain hurricane clips but a 1-inch nail was used.

"My contractor told me he would have a problem signing off (on the application) because they had changed the specifications," said Richard McMahon, a North Shore resident who said he was hoping to get about $1,000 back on the $3,086 he paid to have 154 clips, about 20 connector plates and ties installed two years ago.

In Manoa, homeowner Trudy Maeda received similar news from her contractor. She had been hoping to receive about $780 on the $2,233 she spent. She received a discount on her hurricane insurance because of the windstorm reinforcements but also wanted to get the state grant, which had been debated by the Legislature for several years before finally becoming law.

Her contractor, Gerry Peters, said he'd been asked, but couldn't give certifications to 42 customers who'd had the work done in prior years. He said the state relaxing rules for work previously done is good news for the industry, which had probably reinforced more than 200 homes in the past four years. Nonetheless, Peters said he supports the new standards and was looking into devices meeting them.

Peters and Jay Morgan of Hawaii Defense Systems said it may be some time before all the bugs are worked out of the program because hurricane clips for some single-wall homes haven't been been through engineering tests yet to see if they meet the new standards. Morgan said there are also questions about devices that can be used on upstairs windows and that he could only take people's names and numbers when they inquired about such installations.

Schmidt said homeowners who retrofitted homes after the new standards were announced must meet them or won't be eligible for the money. Anyone who previously filed an application for reimbursement but was rejected could refile it.

"The guidelines from the hurricane relief fund program are less than the engineered guidelines we have, but may provide sufficient protection for the homeowner," said Schmidt in an interview last week.

The reimbursements are part of a legislative effort to improve the state's emergency preparedness and lessen the impact of natural disasters. Money from the relief fund is being used to pay for the reimbursements.

About $4 million is available this year for work done from 2002. Another $2 million will be available next year for the grants, which are paid on a first-come, first-served basis.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.