North Carolina HB 876: Development Application Review Time Lines.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 876

Short Title: Development Application Review Time Lines. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Gillespie, Zenger, Brody, and Winslow (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Housing and Development, if favorable, State and Local Government, if
favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 10, 2025
*H876-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REQUIRE REVIEW OF CERTAIN DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS AND 2
BUILDING INSPECTIONS BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITHIN TWO BUSINESS 3
DAYS OF REQUEST. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1. Article 4 of Chapter 160D of the General Statutes is amended by 6
adding a new section to read: 7
"§ 160D-402.1. Administrative review of applications for development approvals. 8
(a) Within two business days of a local government's receipt of an application for 9
development approval, the local government shall complete an administrative review of the 10
application and any supporting documents and make an administrative decision that does one of 11
the following: 12
(1) Notifies the developer in writing that the application is complete and no 13
further information is required for the local government to make a 14
development approval determination. 15
(2) Notifies the developer in writing that the application is deficient and provides 16
the developer with a deficiency list, in writing, that identifies all of the 17
following: 18
a. Each deficiency. 19
b. The specific law, ordinance, policy, or procedure used as the basis for 20
each deficiency. 21
c. A description of the action the local government would deem 22
corrective for each deficiency identified. 23
(b) The notice under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section may include local 24
government recommendations pertaining to the development project but any recommendations 25
must be clearly designated as recommended or advisory only and shall not be required as a 26
condition for a development approval determination. 27
(c) Upon a developer's receipt of a notice of a deficient application and a deficiency list 28
under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, the developer may do any of the following: 29
(1) Correct the deficient application and resubmit a corrected application to the 30
local government. 31
(2) Submit a written explanation for each deficiency and request another 32
administrative review under this section that shall be completed by the local 33

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 876-First Edition
government within two business days and takes into consideration the written 1
explanation. 2
(3) Appeal the administrative decision as provided in G.S. 160D-405. 3
(d) Within two business days of a local government's receipt of a corrected application 4
under subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section, the local government shall notify the 5
developer in writing whether the application (i) is complete and no further information is required 6
for the local government to make a development approval determination or (ii) does not correct 7
all of the deficiencies identified in accordance with subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this 8
section. If the developer amended or altered the application with respect to matters that are 9
unrelated to the deficiencies identified in accordance with subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of 10
this section, the local government shall consider the corrected application a new application to 11
be processed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. 12
(e) A local government may utilize and contract with the Department of Insurance and 13
its marketplace pool of qualified Code-enforcement officials or contract with a licensed 14
professional engineer or licensed architect certified under G.S. 143-151.13(f) to perform 15
independent third-party plan reviews under this section, provided that the review time does not 16
exceed time frames prescribed by this section. 17
(f) If the local government does not issue applicable application decisions or determines 18
it is unable to complete application reviews within the time frames prescribed by this section, the 19
permit applicant may elect to utilize and contract with the Department of Insurance and its 20
marketplace pool of qualified Code-enforcement officials or elect to contract with a licensed 21
professional engineer or licensed architect certified under G.S. 143-151.13(f) to perform 22
independent third-party plan reviews and certify submitted plans as required by subsection (g) of 23
this section. Upon acceptance of a completed plan review with certification required by 24
subsection (g) of this section, the local government shall issue applicable permits for the project 25
within two business days and will refund or waive all applicable plan review and permit fees for 26
the project upon issuance of the