AN ACT TO streamline the construction plan review process for certain public buildings, as requested by the house select committee on public school construction.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 58‑31‑40(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	No agency or other person authorized or directed by law to select a plan and erect a building for the use of the State or any State institution shall receive and approve of the plan until it is submitted to and approved by the Commissioner as to the safety of the proposed building from fire, including the property's occupants or contents. No agency or person authorized or directed by law to select a plan or erect a building comprising 20,000 square feet or more for the use of any county, city, or school district shall receive and approve of the plan until it is submitted to and approved by the Commissioner as to the safety of the proposed building from fire, including the property's occupants or contents."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2007, and applies to plans submitted to the Commissioner for approval on or after that date as to the safety of any proposed county, city, or school district building comprising 20,000 square feet or more from fire including the property's occupants or contents.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 18th day of July, 2007.

	_____________________________________
		 Marc Basnight
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	_____________________________________
		 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	_____________________________________
		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2007