HB 812 Georgia House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

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

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 2 of Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state building, plumbing, and electrical codes, so as to revise the process by which a local governing body may propose amendments to state minimum standard codes; to require the approval of the Department of Community Affairs for amendments to such codes; to amend Chapter 7 of Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to control of soil erosion and sedimentation, so as to revise provisions regarding denial or nonacceptance of permits; to require local issuing authorities to provide rejected permit applicants with a written list of reasons for denial within specified time frames; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 21, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC 59 0157/a → LC 47 4125S/hs · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was substantially rewritten to modernize Georgia's building permit process by requiring larger local governments to maintain publicly accessible websites showing real-time status updates on building permit applications. The original version focused on local governments proposing amendments to state building codes, while the new version shifts focus to transparency and efficiency in permit processing.

Scope change

The bill now applies to local governments that issued more than 250 building permits in the preceding calendar year, with requirements beginning January 1, 2027. The original version had no such threshold and applied to all local governments regardless of permit volume.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for local governments to maintain publicly accessible websites displaying real-time status updates for building permit applications, including permit numbers, dates, property addresses, current status, and denial reasons.

Removed the original process for local governments to propose amendments to state building codes, which required department review and specific voting procedures before adoption.

DEFINITION

Created new Code section 8-2-25.1 with specific definitions for 'building permit', 'local government', 'real-time', and 'status' to clarify the new transparency requirements.

TECHNICAL

Added provision allowing local governments to satisfy website requirements by linking to third-party records management systems that meet the same standards.

TIMELINE

Changed effective date from immediate implementation to January 1, 2027, giving local governments time to develop compliance systems.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2026

Committee

House Withdrawn, Recommitted

lower

Feb 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute

lower

Mar 21, 2025

Introduced

House Hopper

lower

6 primary · 0 co-sponsors