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Georgia Governor Passes Order Altering Inspection Regulations for Construction of Hospitals and Other Projects During COVID-19 Emergency

4/8/20

By: Tom Ward

On March 30, 2020, Governor Brian Kemp issued an executive order that applies to the plan review and inspection requirements for the construction of hospitals, ambulatory health care centers, nursing homes, jails, penal institutions, airports, buildings or structures that impact national or state homeland security, or any building defined as a high-rise building in the State Minimum Standards Code. Under this executive order, the builders of such projects are allowed to immediately use private professional providers to review plans or inspect projects under O.C.G.A. 8-2-26(g)(4)-(5).

The March 30 executive order actually amends the provisions of an earlier executive order, and the texts of both orders can be accessed by this link (https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders/2020-executive-orders).

Special fees apply to private plan review and inspection. Those fees are set by the local permitting authority.

Moreover, only the local permitting authority can issue the certificate of occupancy, so it is imperative to hire only qualified and experienced private inspectors who will pay special attention to the documentation required by the local building official for issuance of the certificate of occupancy.

Free public access to the full text of O.C.G.A. 8-2-26(g) can be accessed via LexisNexis using the following link: http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp  

Additional Information:

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You can also contact your FMG relationship partner or email the team with any questions at coronavirustaskforce@fmglaw.com.

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