A new law in Tennessee allows developers to hire their own building inspectors to check for environmental, safety, and construction violations.
The law is intended to streamline the building process, particularly in rapidly growing communities. Privatizing inspections allows developers to bypass city codes departments and Tennessee’s Fire Marshal’s Office. The new law also allows builders to hire their own wetlands consultants to conduct reviews of permits if delays by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation exceed 30 days.
Critics charge that privatization has the potential to overlook key safety and building standards. Paid by the builder, the third-party inspector has incentive to ignore code violations, they say.
The new law requires city or state officials to review permits and inspections submitted by private contractors, but how those paper reviews will take place has not been determined. A conflict-of-interest provision prohibits anyone with a business or familial relationship with a contractor to perform the reviews.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2023
GSA releases draft of federal low embodied carbon material standards
The General Services Administration recently released a document that outlines standards for low embodied carbon materials and products to be used on federal construction projects.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 3, 2023
HUD unveils report to help multifamily housing developers overcome barriers to offsite construction
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences and MOD X, has released the Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap, a strategic report that presents the key knowledge gaps and research needs to overcome the barriers and challenges to offsite construction.
Codes and Standards | Feb 1, 2023
New Jersey to allow private firms to conduct construction inspections
New Jersey recently passed a law that will allow towns to supplement construction code enforcement with help from the private sector. The legislation, which received bipartisan support, also allows municipalities to enter into shared service agreements with neighboring towns for construction inspections.
Standards | Jan 31, 2023
Standard establishes best practices for rainwater and stormwater harvesting system
The market is seeing an increasing number of residential, commercial, and industrial rainwater and stormwater systems being installed.
Green | Jan 26, 2023
Corporations fall short on climate pledges by failing to embed net-zero actions into operations
Many corporations are failing to implement simple, practical steps needed for them to hit their stated decarbonization goals, according to a survey of more than 300 operations managers across key industrial sectors including construction, energy, and chemicals in the U.S., U.K., and Germany.
K-12 Schools | Jan 25, 2023
As gun incidents grow, schools have beefed up security significantly in recent years
Recently released federal data shows that U.S. schools have significantly raised security measures in recent years. About two-thirds of public schools now control access to school grounds—not just the building—up from about half in the 2017-18 school year.
Concrete | Jan 24, 2023
Researchers investigate ancient Roman concrete to make durable, lower carbon mortar
Researchers have turned to an ancient Roman concrete recipe to develop more durable concrete that lasts for centuries and can potentially reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.
Government Buildings | Jan 9, 2023
Blackstone, Starwood among real estate giants urging President Biden to repurpose unused federal office space for housing
The Real Estate Roundtable, a group including major real estate firms such as Brookfield Properties, Blackstone, Empire State Realty Trust, Starwood Capital, as well as multiple major banks and CRE professional organizations, recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden on the implications of remote work within the federal government.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 9, 2023
New York City advances plan to build 500,000 new housing units
After New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a “Moonshot” plan to build 500,000 new housing units over the next 10 years in early December, he moved quickly to jumpstart the process.
Sustainability | Jan 9, 2023
Innovative solutions emerge to address New York’s new greenhouse gas law
New York City’s Local Law 97, an ambitious climate plan that includes fines for owners of large buildings that don’t significantly reduce carbon emissions, has spawned innovations to address the law’s provisions.
