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Ohio Senate advances bill to speed building-inspection appeals, impose daily fee for expedited review
Summary
Senate Bill 6 would create an expedited state-level appeals process for disputed building-inspection decisions, require appeals to be filed quickly and heard within five days, and charge a daily fee capped at $1,000 to cover expedited proceedings.
Senator Roegner pressed for passage of Senate Bill 6 on the Ohio Senate floor Tuesday, saying the measure creates an expedited appeals process for disputes between contractors and local building inspectors and would reduce project delays.
The bill would require an appeal to be commenced within one day of seeking expedited review and require a hearing to be held within five days. Senator Roegner said the expedited option would allow virtual hearings and impose a $500 per-day fee for the expedited review, capped at $1,000 total.
Proponents, Roegner told colleagues, expect the change to limit ripple effects from multiweek stoppages — delays that increase costs for contractors, their workers and project owners. He described the current process as one that can take up to 30 days at the local appeals board and another up to 30 days at the state board, producing as much as two months of delay.
The senator outlined the current state-board composition that hears appeals: five members including an attorney, an architect, a professional engineer, a fire prevention officer and either a plumber or pipefitter. He said the expedited pathway aims to resolve impasses more quickly while preserving the ordinary appeals route.
Roegner noted this is the fifth general assembly in which substantially the same legislation has been introduced; prior versions cleared one chamber in earlier sessions but did not complete conference. He said the bill had no opponents at the committee hearing and thanked the Government Oversight and Reform Committee for advancing it.
On a roll call, the Senate recorded 32 yeas and 0 nays and passed the bill in title.
Clarifying details recorded during the floor remarks include the one-day filing requirement for an expedited appeal, a five-day hearing deadline, a $500-per-day expedited fee capped at $1,000, allowance for electronic (virtual) hearings, and the state appeal board composition (attorney, architect, professional engineer, fire prevention officer, plumber/pipefitter). The Senate did not record a named mover or seconder for final passage on the transcript.
The bill revises sections of the Ohio Revised Code that govern building inspections and appeals; the transcript did not specify exact section numbers. The Senate vote was unanimous on the floor roll call recorded in this meeting.
