Section 1

Amends Article 9, concerning the Building Code Council and Building Code, in GS Chapter 143, as follows.

Repeals GS 143-136(c), which created a Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings Committee within the Building Code Council and set out the Committee’s duties.

Enacts new GS 143-136.1 creating the 13-member Residential Code Council, consisting of the specified members appointed by the NCGA, upon recommendation of the Speaker of the House or President Pro Tempore, and Governor. Requires the Residential Code Council to review and consider any proposal for revision or amendment to the North Carolina Residential Code, including applicable provisions from other specified codes applicable to residential construction. Requires the Residential Code Council to also consider any appeal or interpretation arising under GS 143-141 (now concerning appeals to the Building Code Council and Residential Code Council) pertaining to the North Carolina Residential Code and make disposition of the appeal or issue an interpretation. Sets out staggered membership terms, with appointments for six terms following the specified initial appointments. Sets out provisions governing the filling of vacancies and member compensation.

Enacts new GS 143-137.1 setting out requirements for meetings of the Residential Code Council, for the adoption of rules at its first meeting, committees, staffing, and fiscal affairs. Sets out requirements for a quorum and prohibits voting by proxy.

Amends GS 143-136 by setting the scope of the Building Code Committee of the Building Code Council as all structures except for those subject to the North Carolina Residential Building Code (was, except those subject to the North Carolina State Building Code: Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings). Makes additional clarifying changes. Replaces references to the "North Carolina State Building Code: Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings" with "North Carolina Residential Building Code" throughout the Article.

Amends GS 143-138 to also give the Residential Code Council, in addition to the Building Code Council, authority to prepare and adopt a North Carolina State Building Code. Makes conforming changes throughout the statute and Article to give the Residential Code Council authority parallel to that given to the Building Code Council. Requires at least one public hearing before the adoption of any volume of the Code (was, before the adoption of the Code), or any part of the Code. Makes the adoption of any volume or any part of the North Carolina State Building Code a rule that must be adopted under Article 2A (Rules) of GS Chapter 150B (Administrative Procedure Act). Specifies that for Article 9, “North Carolina State Building Code” or “Code” refers to all Code volumes prepared and adopted by the Building Code Council or Residential Code Council, including the 10 specified Code volumes, including the North Carolina Building Code, North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, and North Carolina Residential Code. Makes changes throughout the statute and Article to specify which duties lie with the Building Code Council or Residential Code Council. Requires the Residential Code Council to revise or amend the North Carolina Residential Code, including provisions applicable to dwellings covered by the North Carolina Residential Code, from the North Carolina Energy Conservation Code, North Carolina Electrical Code, North Carolina Fuel Gas Code, North Carolina Plumbing Code, and North Carolina Mechanical Code every six years; requires the first six-year revision to be effective January 1, 2031. Refers to the "North Carolina Fire Code" instead of the "NC State Building Code (Fire Prevention) or "North Carolina Fire Prevention Code." Refers to the "Energy Conservation Code" instead of the "Energy Code" or "Energy Efficiency Code." Makes additional clarifying and technical changes.

Amends GS 143-139 by also giving the Residential Code Council power to adopt procedural requirements in the North Carolina State Building Code.

Amends GS 143-140.1 by requiring the Residential Code Council by January 1, 2026, to promulgate rules, procedures, and policies for the approval of alternative designs and construction that follow the North Carolina State Building Code.

Amends GS 143-142 to require the responsible Code Council to not only make a thorough, but also continuing, study of the State’s building laws. Clarifies that the Councils are to, from time to time, recommend statutory changes to the NCGA.

Amends GS 143-138.1, GS 143-139.1, GS 143-139.2, GS 143-140, GS 143-141, and GS 143-143.3 by making conforming changes to account for including of the Residential Code Council. Makes additional clarifying changes. Makes a clarifying change to GS 143-143.2. Makes conforming changes to GS 160D-702, GS 160D-804, GS 160D-1104, GS 160D-1106, GS 160D-1109, and GS 160D-1110 by removing or updating references to the North Carolina Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.

Effective January 1, 2025.

Section 2

Amends GS 143-138(b5) (permit exclusions for certain minor activities in residential buildings under the State Building Code [Code]), GS 143-183(b21) (same exclusions pertaining to commercial buildings), and GS 160D-1110(c) (pertaining to building code enforcement by local governments) to raise the value of the project performed under the Code from $20,000 to $40,000 before a permit is required. Makes conforming changes to refer to the "North Carolina Fire Code" instead of the "North Carolina Fire Prevention Code." Amends GS 160D-1110(d) to enact new subsubsection preventing local governments from requiring more than one building permit for simultaneous projects at the time of the application located at the same address and subject to the State Residential Code (Residential Code). Effective October 1, 2023, and applies to permit applications for construction, installation, repair, replacement, remodeling, renovation, or alteration projects submitted on or after that date.

Section 3

Enacts new GS 160D-804, subsection (j), pertaining to local government regulations of private roadway pavement design standards for subdivisions. Specifies that GS 160D-804(j) only applies to construction of new privately owned roads, driveways, parking lots, and driving areas associated with parking lots, or streets within a new development or subdivision that the developer designates as private and that are intended to remain privately owned after construction. Prohibits local governments from adopting roadway pavement design standards for new roadway construction that are more stringent than the minimum roadway pavement design standards adopted by the State Department of Transportation (DOT). Requires local governments to accept engineered pavement design standards that do not meet minimum standards required by DOT if the proposed design standard is signed and sealed by a professional engineer duly licensed under GS Chapter 89C and meets vehicular traffic and fire apparatus access requirements. If a roadway is constructed to pavement design standards that do not meet minimum standards required by a regulation adopted by the local government, the developer must include disclosures to prospective buyers as outlined in GS 136-102.6(f) (pertaining to subdivision street disclosures) before entering into any agreement or any conveyance with any prospective buyer. Shields local government from liability (both statutory and common law) from any claim arising out of, or attributed to, the plan review or acceptance of signed and sealed pavement design standards submitted pursuant to GS 160D-804(j). Clarifies that the new subsection should not be interpreted to limit the authority of local governments or DOT to regulate private roads, driveways, or street connections  to a public system, or to regulate transportation and utilities, pursuant to GS 160D-804(c), or as otherwise authorized by law. Applies to permit applications submitted on or after October 1, 2023.

Section 4

Amends GS 143-138 (Code) and GS 160D-1104 (Code enforcement by local governments) to prevent a local government from adopting or enforcing a local ordinance, resolution, or any other policy that requires or the Code from requiring routine exterior sheathing inspections for structures or dwellings covered by the Code or Residential Code. 

Section 5

Defines Appendix B as the Appendix B Building Code Summary for All Commercial Projects (Except 1 and 2-Family Dwellings and Townhouses) within the North Carolina State Building Code: Administrative Code and Policies. For purposes of this section, "Council" means the Building Code Council. On or after January 1, 2025, "Council" means the Residential Code Council. Sets forth other definitions. Prohibits a local government from requiring a permit applicant to complete Appendix B with a set of plans submitted for review, notwithstanding the current Appendix B rules. Requires the Council to adopt rules to amend the current Appendix B rules and to have Appendix B be consistent with the act. Specifies that the rules adopted by the Council must be substantively identical to the language barring local governments from requiring an applicant to complete Appendix B, set forth above. Exempts the Council’s rules under the act from review by the Rules Review Commission set forth under the Administrative Procedures Act. Specifies that the rules will become effective on the earlier of the thirty-first legislative day or the day of adjournment of the next regular session of the General Assembly that begins at least 25 days after the date the Commission approves the rules. Specifies that this section sunsets once the Council’s rules become effective. 

Section 6

Defines R402 Rules as provisions and tables within Section 402, Building Thermal Envelope, North Carolina – Residential Provisions, of the North Carolina Energy Conversation Code. For purposes of this section, "Council" means the Building Code Council. On or after January 1, 2025, "Council" means the Residential Code Council. Sets forth other definitions. Requires the Council to amend the R402 Rules to include, as an optional alternative to residential ceiling insulation minimums, minimum insulation requirements for the use of air-impermeable insulation in unvented attic and unvented enclosed rafter assemblies. Sets forth requirements related to air-impermeable alternatives to R-38 insulation in the ceilings. Specifies that this section sunsets once the Council’s rules become effective.

Section 7

For purposes of this section, "Council" is defined as the Building Code Council. Prohibits the Council from adopting rules to amend the following parts of the Code’s Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings: Part V (Mechanical) and Part VI (Fuel Gas). Effective when the section becomes law and applies retroactively to March 1, 2023. Sunsets this section on the effective date of the 2024 version of the Code’s Residential Code for One- and Two-Family dwellings, as adopted by the Council and approved by the Rules Review Commission.

Section 8

Adopts the following definitions to be used in the section. "Council" means the Building Code Council. On or after January 1, 2025, "Council" means the Residential Code Council. "Code" means the current North Carolina State Building Code collection and amendments to the Code, as adopted by the Council.

Notwithstanding the Code, prevents the Council from: (1) adopting rules to amend the Code’s Residential Code for One- and Two-Family dwellings’ Part IV – Energy Conservation (Chapter 11) or (2) preparing and adopting a new code provision, or any part of the Code, that relates to energy conservation or efficiency of buildings, dwellings, and structures to which the North Carolina State Residential Code applies. Effective when the section becomes law and applies retroactively to March 1, 2023. Sunsets this section on January 1, 2031.

Section 9

Adopts the following definitions to be used in the section. "Council" means the Building Code Council. On or after January 1, 2025, "Council" means the Residential Code Council. "Code" means the current North Carolina State Building Code collection and amendments to the Code, as adopted by the Council. Requires the Council to adopt rules to amend the North Carolina Residential Code to include three-family (triplex) and four-family (quadplex) dwellings within its scope by modifying, transitioning, and establishing minimum prescriptive requirements to address the design and construction of those dwellings and make conforming changes to the Code in accordance with the act. Specifies that in amending rules pursuant to this subsection, the Council cannot require greater than a 2-hour fire resistance rating for triplex and quadplex wall, floor, and ceiling separation assemblies or require automatic fire sprinkler systems within the North Carolina Residential Code. Sunsets when the permanent rules adopted by the Council become effective.

Section 10

Amends GS 113A-60(a) (pertaining to local erosion and sedimentation control programs) as follows. Allows the applicant to choose between paying a fee that is either (1) calculated on the basis of the number of acres disturbed or (2) a fee limit of no more than $100 per lot developed on a lot that is less than one acre, including a lot that is part of a common plan of development, if applicable. (Currently, the fee is calculated on the basis of either the number of acres disturbed or in the case of a single-family lot in a residential development or common plan of development that is less than one acre, set at no more than $100 per lot developed, with no mention of applicant choice.)

Section 11

Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to develop a plan, by September 1, 2023, for submission to US EPA that eliminates any program redundancies between the State's Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 (Act), and its implementation of requirements for stormwater discharges from construction activities set forth under the 2022 Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater discharges from construction activities (Construction Permit), 87 Federal Register 3522, through NPDES General Permit NCG010000 (NCG01). Requires the plan to include measures to streamline permitting requirements to ensure persons conducting land-disturbing activity are required to apply for one permit addressing all federal, State, and local requirements, and, if applicable, that permit may be issued by a local government with delegated authority to operate a local program in order to eliminate (1) unnecessary costs to, and duplication of efforts by, persons initiating land-disturbing activities; (2) unnecessary delays in project development; and (3) inefficient use of DEQ personnel and staff of local governments that administer delegated erosion and sedimentation control programs. Requires DEQ to report to the Environmental Review Commission on the status of its activities pursuant to this section quarterly, beginning August 1, 2024, until such time as the NCGA repeals the reporting requirement.

Section 12

Amends GS 153A-284 to limit a county’s power to require a developed property to connect to its sewer line to when when the county has adequate capacity to transport and treat the proposed new wastewater from the premises at the time of connection.

Section 13

Amends GS 160D-925 (pertaining to stormwater management) by deleting local government authorization to adopt a resolution that requires financial arrangements to ensure adequate funds are available for the maintenance and replacement costs of stormwater control projects. Instead, enacts GS 160D-925 (d1), which prevents a local government from adopting any regulation that requires an owner of a privately owned and maintained stormwater control project to make payments to the local government for the purpose of ensuring assets are available for maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction costs of (1) the owner's stormwater control project or (2) other stormwater control projects within the local government's jurisdiction. Allows a local government to require an owner of a privately owned and maintained stormwater control project to establish and retain funds for maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction costs for the owner's stormwater control project, which may not exceed 10% of the stormwater control project's original cost of construction and must be retained by the owner of the system.   

If, prior to the effective date of GS 160-925(d1), a local government has required an owner of a privately owned and maintained stormwater control project to make payments to the local government for the purpose of ensuring assets are available for maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction costs of the owner's stormwater control project or other stormwater control projects within the local government's jurisdiction, once the act becomes effective, requires the local government to make such funds accessible to the owner to cover necessary maintenance, repair, replacement, and reconstruction costs for the owner's stormwater control project. For stormwater control projects in residential communities, in the event maintenance, repair, replacement, or reconstruction of a project is needed, specifies that such funds must be exhausted before the local government may assess costs of the necessary work on individual homeowners within the community, or any applicable owner's association.

Section 14

Contains a severability clause.