South Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session Status: In Committee

S 4 — Local Government Planning

Last action — Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced December 11, 2024. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 14% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 6-39-10 SO AS TO REDUCE CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE AND PERMITTING COSTS AND BARRIERS TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING WHILE MAINTAINING SAFETY, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND THE GENERAL WELFARE WITH RESPECT TO CONSTRUCTION AND OCCUPANCY; BY AMENDING SECTION 5-25-120, RELATING TO INSPECTORS OF BUILDINGS, SO AS TO ALLOW A BUILDER TO HIRE A CERTIFIED THIRD-PARTY INSPECTOR TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THE LOCAL INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS AS THEY RELATE TO THAT BUILDER; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 40-3-290, RELATING TO EXCEPTIONS FROM COVERAGE OF THE CHAPTER, SO AS TO REVISE AN EXEMPTION FOR PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN DWELLINGS.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

88 added · 8 removed

88 line(s) added, 8 removed.

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2025-2026 Bill 4 Text of Previous Version (Dec.
11, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online South Carolina General Assembly126th Session, 2025-2026Bill 4Indicates Matter StrickenIndicates New Matter(Text matches printed bills.
Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)                 A bill   TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 6-39-10 SO AS TO REDUCE CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE AND PERMITTING COSTS AND BARRIERS TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING WHILE MAINTAINING SAFETY, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND THE GENERAL WELFARE WITH RESPECT TO CONSTRUCTION AND OCCUPANCY;
BY AMENDING SECTION 5-25-120, RELATING TO INSPECTORS OF BUILDINGS, SO AS TO ALLOW A BUILDER TO HIRE A CERTIFIED THIRD-PARTY INSPECTOR TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THE LOCAL INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS AS THEY RELATE TO THAT BUILDER;
AND BY AMENDING SECTION 40-3-290, RELATING TO EXCEPTIONS FROM COVERAGE OF THE CHAPTER, SO AS TO REVISE AN EXEMPTION FOR PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN DWELLINGS.
  Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
  SECTION 1.  Title 6 of the S.C.
Code is amended by adding:
  CHAPTER 39   South Carolina Home Attainability Act       Section 6-39-10.
(A) By adopting this act, it is the General Assembly's intent to reduce, to the extent practicable, administrative and permitting costs and barriers to the construction of housing while maintaining safety, public health, and the general welfare with respect to construction and occupancy.
    (B) When adopting regulations or amending a comprehensive plan, a local government shall study ways to increase the affordability of housing by considering ordinances and policies that include but are not limited to:
       (1) waiving or deferring system development charges;
and        (2) adopting or amending criteria for property tax exemptions or property tax freezes.
      Section 6-39-20.
(A) The municipal authority responsible for approving plats shall approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove a plan or plat within fifteen days after the date the plan or plat is filed.
A plan or plat is approved by the municipal authority unless it is disapproved within that period.
    (B) If an ordinance requires that a plan or plat be approved by the governing body of the municipality in addition to the planning commission, then the governing body shall approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the plan or plat within thirty days after the date the plan or plat is approved by the planning commission or is approved by the inaction of the commission.
A plan or plat is approved by the governing body unless it is disapproved within that period.
    (C) Notwithstanding subsections (A) or (B), the parties may extend the thirty-day period described by those subsections for a period not to exceed thirty days if:
       (1) the applicant requests the extension in writing to the municipal authority responsible for approving plats or the governing body of the municipality, as applicable;
and        (2) the municipal authority or governing body, as applicable, approves the extension request.
      Section 6-39-30.
The combination of all taxes and fees charged to a builder or developer by a city, county, or political subdivision, or all on the construction of a home or group of homes shall not exceed ten percent of the sales price of said home or group of homes.
  SECTION 2.  Section 5-25-120 of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      Section 5-25-120.  (A) The chief of a fire department shall also be the local inspector of buildings for the city or town for which he is appointed and shall perform the duties required herein and make all reports required by the State law, by city or town ordinances or by the State Fire Marshal.  He shall make all inspections and perform such duties as may be required by the State Fire Marshal.  But any city or town may appoint and reasonably remunerate a local inspector of buildings, in which case the chief of the fire department shall be relieved of the duties herein imposed.
    (B) A city, town, or county shall allow a builder to hire a certified third-party inspector to perform the duties of the local inspector of buildings as they relate to that builder.
  SECTION 3.  Section 40-3-290(C)(3) of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
      (C)(3) an attached or detached one-family and two-family dwellings, including townhouses, in compliance with the prescriptive requirements of the South Carolina Residential Code.  All other buildings and structures classified for residential occupancies or uses in the South Carolina Building Code that are beyond the scope of the South Carolina Residential Code are not exempt from the provisions of this chapter;
  SECTION 4.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
----XX---- This web page was last updated on December 11, 2024 at 04:12 PM
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Action History

  1. Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

  2. Introduced and read first time

  3. Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

  4. Prefiled

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 169 not signed on

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (169)

169 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 169 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 4 do?
A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 6-39-10 SO AS TO REDUCE CERTAIN ADMINISTRATIVE AND PERMITTING COSTS AND BARRIERS TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING WHILE MAINTAINING SAFETY, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND THE GENERAL WELFARE WITH RESPECT TO CONSTRUCTION AND OCCUPANCY; BY AMENDING SECTION 5-25-120, RELATING TO INSPECTORS OF BUILDINGS, SO AS TO ALLOW A BUILDER TO HIRE A CERTIFIED THIRD-PARTY INSPECTOR TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF THE LOCAL INSPECTOR OF BUILDINGS AS THEY RELATE TO THAT BUILDER; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 40-3-290, RELATING TO EXCEPTIONS FROM COVERAGE OF THE CHAPTER, SO AS TO REVISE AN EXEMPTION FOR PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN DWELLINGS.
Who sponsors S 4?
S 4 is sponsored by Senator Darrell Jackson.
What is the current status of S 4?
This bill is in committee in the Senate. Introduced December 11, 2024. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track S 4?
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