HB 812: Buildings and housing; revise process by which a local governing body may propose amendments to state minimum standard codes

Currently, Georgians applying for building permits or erosion and sediment control permits often have limited visibility into where their application stands, and county and city building departments have wide discretion over what counts as a complete or acceptable application. This bill changes that in several ways. It requires local governments that issued more than 250 building permits in the previous year to run a public, searchable website showing real-time status of every open permit application, starting January 1, 2027. It also lets applicants hire private professional providers (licensed engineers, architects, or qualified inspectors) to review plans and inspections instead of waiting on local staff, expands where those providers can work (including erosion and sediment control), and makes their approved inspection reports automatically accepted unless the local government flags problems within five business days. The bill also tightens rules on permit denials. Local building officials and erosion control issuing authorities must give written, specific reasons for any denial or incomplete determination, tied to a published list of required materials, and must do so within set time limits.

• Requires counties and cities that issued more than 250 building permits in the prior year to maintain a public website with real-time status updates on permit applications, starting January 1, 2027.
• Lets applicants hire private licensed engineers, architects, or qualified inspectors to review plans and inspections for a 50 percent reduction in local regulatory fees, regardless of whether local staff could meet review deadlines.
• Makes a private professional provider's approved inspection report automatically accepted by law unless the local government identifies specific deficiencies in writing within five business days.
• Requires local building officials to give applicants a written list of specific regulatory requirements not met whenever an application is denied or found incomplete.
• Requires local erosion and sediment control issuing authorities to publish an objective list of required application materials and limits denials to failures to meet that published list or other law.
• Extends the private professional provider review and inspection process to erosion and sediment control permits under Chapter 7 of Title 12.

The bill affects county and municipal building departments and erosion control issuing authorities, private engineers, architects, and qualified inspectors who review permits, and anyone applying for a building permit or land-disturbance permit in Georgia, especially in larger, higher-volume jurisdictions.

Permit applicants in larger jurisdictions would gain online tracking of their applications and a faster path to using private reviewers instead of waiting on local staff, while local governments would face new website, disclosure, and response-time obligations. Denials would have to come with specific, documented reasons rather than general explanations.

• Section 1 requires the Department of Community Affairs to publish local building code amendment determinations on its website in real time, replacing the old public-records-request system.
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 8-2-25.1 requiring local governments with more than 250 annual permits to run a real-time, searchable public permit-status website by January 1, 2027, or link to a compliant third-party system.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 8-2-26 to expand private professional providers' review authority to erosion and sediment control plans, require written, specific reasons for permit denials or incomplete findings, and make approved private inspection reports automatically accepted unless the local government objects within five business days.
• Section 4 removes the erosion control exemption from qualified inspector rules under O.C.G.A. § 8-2-26.1.
• Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 12-7-9 to require local issuing authorities to publish required application materials, sets a 5-day completeness determination deadline (or the application is deemed accepted), and limits grounds for denying or rejecting applications to that published list.
• Section 6 revises O.C.G.A. § 12-7-11 to require local issuing authorities to give applicants a written, specific list of reasons for any permit denial or nonacceptance, tied to published requirements.

1. 2026-03-06House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2026-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-03-27House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-03-25House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-03-21House Hopper (House)

• Mike Cheokas (R, HD-151)Primary sponsor
• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)
• Will Wade (R, HD-009)

• building permits
• construction regulation
• local government transparency
• erosion and sediment control
• private inspectors