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Committee approves bill allowing third-party plan review and inspections despite warnings from Little Rock officials
Summary
The committee passed Senate Bill 322 to allow licensed third parties to conduct plan review and site inspections where local governments cannot meet review timelines; Little Rock planning staff warned the bill could slow local reviews and create conflicts and liability issues.
Senate Bill 322, which authorizes third-party licensed professionals to perform building-plan reviews and inspections in certain circumstances, passed the City, County & Local Affairs Committee.
Representative Aaron Pilkington (District 45) presented the bill and said it would allow a licensed professional — such as a registered architect, professional engineer, or an individual the applicant agency authorizes — to perform plan review or inspection services where the local government cannot meet statutory timelines. James Walden, president of the Arkansas chapter of the American Planning Association, testified in support, saying the approach can help rural areas that lack staffed plan-review capacity.
Curtis Ritchie, head of Little Rock Planning and Development, strongly opposed the bill and warned of practical problems. Ritchie said the proposal would add notification steps that could lengthen reviews and that there is not an existing market of firms that can provide comprehensive third-party plan reviews. "There is no one who can do a third party review... they do not exist," Ritchie said, and argued the city would still retain final responsibility for code compliance and would need to re-review submissions.
The sponsor said the option would be used selectively where local governments cannot meet review timelines and that applicants (or, in some cases, the local government) would bear the cost of third-party reviews. After debate, Representative Pilkington moved passage; the committee voted to pass the bill by voice vote.
The transcript records concerns from municipal staff about conflicts of interest, insurance and liability, the capacity of private firms to perform comprehensive reviews, and the risk that the process could slow rather than speed permit issuance in some jurisdictions.
