AN ACT to Promote local sawmills by allowing the use of ungraded lumber in certain circumstances.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Definition. – For purposes of this act, dimension lumber means lumber that has not been grade‑stamped under the authority of a lumber grading bureau.

SECTION 1.(b)  The North Carolina Building Code Council shall amend the North Carolina Residential Code for One‑ and Two‑Family Dwellings in order to permit dimension lumber that has not been grade‑stamped under the authority of a lumber grading bureau to be used in the construction of one‑ and two‑family dwellings, when that use meets all of the following requirements:

(1)        The lumber is sold directly by the owner or employee of the sawmill that milled the lumber to the owner of the dwelling to be constructed or that person's authorized representative.

(2)        The dimension lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of the North Carolina Residential Code for One‑ and Two‑Family Dwellings other than the requirements that only grade‑stamped lumber be used in residential construction.

(3)        An inspector certified by an accredited independent third‑party entity of the American Lumber Standard Committee certifies that the lumber conforms with product and inspection standards under American Softwood Lumber Standard PS20 and marks the lumber with (i) the mill number, name, or abbreviation, (ii) the accrediting agency symbol, (iii) the species or combination of species of the lumber, (iv) whether the lumber was dry or green when manufactured as required by American Softwood Lumber Standard PS20, and (v) whether the lumber conforms with PS20 standards.

(4)        The appropriate code enforcement official reviews the framing of the dwelling to ensure that it meets the requirements of the North Carolina Residential Code for One‑ and Two‑Family Dwellings in all respects other than the requirements that only grade‑stamped lumber be used in residential construction. The code enforcement official shall not be liable for any structural failure that occurs as a result of the use of dimension lumber rather than grade‑stamped lumber.

SECTION 1.(c)  The Building Code Council shall issue temporary rules to implement the requirements of this act.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and expires when the Building Code Council has issued permanent rules substantially similar to Section 1(b) of this act and notifies the Codifier of Statutes that it has done so.