Provides property owners to hire licensed third-party to review development documents and performs building inspections.

Plain-English Summary: Rhode Island Development Review Efficiency Act

This bill would give property owners in Rhode Island the option to hire their own licensed, third-party professionals to review development documents and conduct building inspections, rather than waiting exclusively for their local town or city government to do so. In other words, if a property owner wants to build, renovate, or develop their property, they could bring in a qualified outside inspector or reviewer to handle parts of the approval process instead of relying solely on the municipal building department.

The goal of the bill appears to be speeding up the development and permitting process. Property owners — including homeowners, developers, and businesses — who feel that local government review timelines are too slow could use this option to move their projects forward more quickly by paying for a private, licensed professional to do the work. The third-party reviewers would still need to be properly licensed, meaning they would have to meet certain professional qualifications.

This bill would affect property owners seeking building permits or development approvals, local town and city governments and their building departments, and licensed inspection and review professionals who could potentially take on this new type of work. Municipal governments may see changes in their workload and fee structures as a result.

It is worth noting that the bill has been postponed several times at the sponsor's request and is currently being held for further study by the legislative committee, meaning it has not yet advanced and may still be undergoing revisions or gathering feedback before moving forward.