House Bill 542 amends Tennessee Code Annotated to establish a new process for the review of development plans related to water, electric, and natural gas infrastructure. The bill defines a "third-party plans examiner" as an engineer with relevant expertise and includes county-owned or municipal-owned water utilities under the definition of "utility." It mandates that utilities complete their review of submitted plans within thirty days. If the review is not completed in that timeframe, the applicant may hire a third-party examiner to assess compliance with applicable codes. The applicant must then submit the examiner's findings and relevant documentation to the utility.

Additionally, the bill stipulates that utilities must take action within ten business days of receiving the third-party review documents, either approving the plans, reporting deficiencies, or requesting more information. If the utility fails to act within this period, any fees collected for the plan review must be refunded, and the plans will be considered approved. The utility is also required to conduct inspections of the infrastructure after third-party approval and may charge a fee for these inspections, capped at two percent of the total development cost. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, and applies to plans submitted on or after that date.