When a plan of development is submitted to a utility, including a county-owned or municipal-owned water utility, on or after July 1, 2025, for review of the plan's compliance with applicable codes for water, electricity, or natural gas infrastructure, this bill requires the utility to complete the review within 30 days of the plan being submitted. If the utility does not complete the review within 30 days, then the person who submitted the plan may hire a third-party plans examiner to review the plan for compliance with all applicable codes. THIRD-PARTY PLANS EXAMINER If a person engages a third-party plans examiner in lieu of review by the utility, then this bill requires the person to submit the appropriate fee and a stamped and sealed copy of all plans that were examined to the utility and provide (i) the building name, intended address, and local jurisdiction of the planned development; (ii) the third-party plans examiner's name; (iii) a sworn statement under penalty of perjury by the third-party plans examiner, declaring that the plans comply with the applicable codes and that no deficiencies remain; (iv) a statement of the applicable codes of the local jurisdiction and the codes used to perform the plans examination; (v) the occupancy classification of the structure; and (vi) other information as the utility may reasonably require. APPROVAL OF PLANS No later than 10 business days after submission of the documents described above, this bill requires the utility to (i) approve the plans, if the plans comply with adopted codes; (ii) provide to the person, or the person's designee, a report of deficiencies; or (iii) request additional information necessary to ensure compliance with applicable codes. If 10 business days pass and the utility fails to take such action, then the utility must refund any associated plan review fees that were collected and the plans are deemed approved. INSPECTIONS – FEE If a plan of development is approved after review by a third-party plans examiner, then this bill requires the utility to perform inspections of the installation and construction of the water, electric, and natural gas infrastructure of the development. The utility may charge a fee for such inspections. However, the fee must not exceed 2% of the total cost of the development. SCHEDULE REQUIRED This bill requires a utility to provide persons with a schedule of all approved materials for water, electric, and natural gas infrastructure with specifications for such materials. ON APRIL 21, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 542, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, make the following revisions to present law: INSTALLATION OF UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE BY PRIVATE CONTRACTORS  Requires a utility in this state to allow a customer of the utility or person submitting a plan of development to the utility the option to use an approved contractor or approved contractors of the customer's choosing for the installation of such utility infrastructure. Utilities must produce a publicly available list of approved contractors and the process for becoming an approved contractor.  Provides that if a customer or customer representative engages an approved contractor, then, prior to the commencement of work, the customer or customer representative must provide (i) the name, intended address, and local jurisdiction of the planned development; (ii) the approved contractor's name; (iii) evidence of the contractor's eligibility to operate as an approved contractor; and (iv) other information as the utility may reasonably require.  Requires, no later than 10 business days after submission of the documents, the utility to do any of the following:  Confirm the contractor's status as an approved contractor and allow the contractor to proceed as an approved contractor in accordance with the requirements for an approved contractor under this amendment, if the customer or customer representative complies with the requirements of this amendment.  Provide to the customer, or the customer's representative, a report of deficiencies.  Request additional information necessary to determine the eligibility of the contractor's status as an approved contractor.  Authorizes, if 10 business days pass and the utility fails to take an action as required by above, the contractor to proceed as an approved contractor and requires compliance with the requirements for an approved contractor under this amendment.  Requires the utility to perform inspections of the installation and construction of the utility infrastructure installed by the approved contractor in the development, and authorizes the utility to also inspect materials and test the utility infrastructure as part of such inspections. The approved contractor is responsible for correcting any deficiencies associated with its installation or construction, and the utility is not required to accept or commission the utility infrastructure until it determines that the installation and construction complies with all applicable requirements under this amendment. The utility may charge a reasonable fee for such inspections and testing in accordance with a schedule of fees or charges adopted by the utility and made publicly available.  Authorizes a utility to require the direct installation or construction of specific utility infrastructure by the utility or by an approved contractor under the direct supervision of the utility where the requirement is necessary to ensure public safety or service reliability of the utility. UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIFICATIONS  Authorizes a utility to provide reasonable construction and manufacturer's specifications for utility infrastructure to ensure that the infrastructure is constructed properly and with appropriate materials. A utility that chooses to provide such specifications must provide persons with a schedule of all approved materials for utility infrastructure with specifications for such materials.  Prohibits a utility from requiring that materials or services for the construction of the utility infrastructure be provided by a specific vendor or manufacturer unless using the materials or services by a specific vendor or manufacturer is deemed necessary by the utility for the quality and integrity of the utility's system. UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE PLANS AND DESIGNS  Requires, where a utility does not customarily prepare plans and designs for utility infrastructure within a plan of development and requires a customer or customer representative to prepare and submit such plans and designs, the utility to (i) not charge a fee of more than the fee established in a schedule of fees and charges adopted by the utility for review of the plans and designs; and (ii) complete the review of the plans and designs within 60 business days of the date the plans and designs are submitted to the utility and are determined by the utility to be complete. The sixty-business-day review time frame does not include the time spent by a state or federal regulatory body to provide any approvals that are required under applicable state or federal regulatory requirements.  Provides that if the utility does not complete the review, then the customer or customer representative who submitted the plan or design may hire a third-party plans examiner to review the plans and designs for compliance with all applicable state and federal regulatory requirements, codes, and local requirements.  Provides that if a customer or customer representative engages a third-party plans examiner in lieu of review by the utility, then the customer or customer representative must submit the appropriate fee, if such fee was not already submitted, and a stamped and sealed copy of all plans that were examined to the utility and provide certain documents described in this amendment.  Requires, no later than 10 business days after submission of the documents, the utility to (i) approve the plans, if the plans comply with state and federal regulatory requirements, local standards, and applicable codes; (ii) provide to the customer or customer representative a report of deficiencies; or (iii) request additional information necessary to ensure compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements, local standards, and applicable codes.  Requires, if 10 business days pass and the utility fails to take an action as required above, the utility to refund any associated plan review fees that were collected, and the plans are deemed approved by the utility.  Provides that if the plan of development is approved after review by a third-party plans examiner and the customer engages an approved contractor to install or construct utility infrastructure, the utility must perform inspections of the installation and construction of the utility infrastructure in the development. The utility may also inspect materials and test the utility infrastructure as part of such inspections. The customer or its approved contractor is responsible for the costs of correcting any deficiencies in the installation and construction, and the utility is not required to accept or commission the utility infrastructure until the utility determines that the installation and construction complies with all applicable requirements under this part. The utility may charge a reasonable fee for such inspections and testing in accordance with a schedule of fees or charges adopted by the utility and made publicly available.  Clarifies that the provisions in this heading do not apply to the types of plans and designs of utility infrastructure that are customarily prepared by the utility for the customer in accordance with a standard practice that is in effect at the utility as of July 1, 2025, or a policy that is subsequently adopted by the utility. REGULATORY COMPLIANCE  Clarifies that in the event that an obligation under this amendment conflicts with an applicable state or federal regulatory requirement, the applicable state or federal regulatory requirement controls and supersedes any obligation of the utility under this amendment to the extent necessary to resolve the conflict. EXCUSED DELAY  Clarifies that in the event that an act of God, fire, flood, storm, accident, or similar event constituting force majeure causes a utility to require more time to meet the review requirements of this amendment, then the timelines set forth in this amendment must be suspended for so long as the utility's operations are impacted by one or more such events. APPLICABILITY  Clarifies that this amendment applies to plans of development submitted on or after July 1, 2025.