Substitute House Bill No. 5376 amends Section 8-30g of the general statutes by adding a new subsection (n), which allows local land use commissions to deny or return as incomplete any affordable housing application that employs nonstandard, prefabricated, or proprietary construction assemblies if the applicant fails to submit a preliminary life safety report. This report must be prepared by a licensed professional engineer or fire protection engineer and must certify that the proposed design complies with the State Building Code and State Fire Safety Code without requiring modifications. Additionally, the bill permits the commission to require a third-party peer review of the report at the applicant's expense.

The bill modifies the existing criteria under which commissions can reject affordable housing applications by introducing this new requirement for a life safety report. It clarifies that, regardless of the previous standards, a commission can now reject or deem an application incomplete if the applicant does not provide the necessary report or agree to the peer review. The effective date for this amendment is set for October 1, 2026. Overall, the bill aims to enhance safety standards for affordable housing developments while providing local commissions with additional grounds to defend their decisions.