Promote NC Sawmills.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 95

Short Title: Promote NC Sawmills. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Hanig and Moffitt (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
February 17, 2025
*S95-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROMOTE LOCAL SAWMILLS BY ALLOWING THE USE OF UNGRADED 2
LUMBER IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1.(a) Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions 5
apply: 6
(1) Dimension lumber. – Lumber that has not been grade -stamped under the 7
authority of a lumber grading bureau. 8
(2) Small mill. – A sawmill that mills less than 1,000,000 board feet of lumber 9
per year. 10
SECTION 1.(b) The North Carolina Residential Code Council shall amend the 11
North Carolina Residential Code in order to permit dimension lumber that has not been 12
grade-stamped under the authority of a lumber grading bureau to be use d in the construction of 13
one- and two-family dwellings, when that use meets all of the following requirements: 14
(1) The lumber is sold directly by the owner or employee of the sawmill that 15
milled the lumber to the owner of the dwelling to be constructed or that 16
person's authorized representative. 17
(2) The dimension lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of the North 18
Carolina Residential Code other than the requirements that only 19
grade-stamped lumber be used in residential construction. 20
(3) The operator of t he sawmill has a certificate from a state -approved lumber 21
grading training program, certifies that the lumber conforms with product and 22
inspection standards under American Softwood Lumber Standard PS20, and 23
marks the lumber with (i) the mill number, name, or abbreviation, (ii) the 24
species or combination of species of the lumber, (iii) whether the lumber was 25
dry or green when manufactured as required by American Softwood Lumber 26
Standard PS20, and (iv) whether the lumber conforms with PS20 standards. 27
(4) The appropriate code enforcement official reviews the framing of the dwelling 28
to ensure that it meets the requirements of the North Carolina Residential 29
Code in all respects other than the requirements that only grade -stamped 30
lumber be used in residential construction. The code enforcement official shall 31
not be liable for any structural failure that occurs as a result of the use of 32
dimension lumber rather than grade-stamped lumber. 33
(5) The sawmill provides to the purchaser a certificate containing all of the 34
following information: 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 95-First Edition
a. A statement of the species of wood, quantity milled, and address where 1
the lumber will be used. 2
b. The name of the sawmill operator certified pursuant to G.S. 143-138.2 3
who milled the lumber. 4
c. A certification that the lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of 5
the North Carolina Residential Code with the exception that it has not 6
been grade-stamped by an accredited lumber grading bureau. 7
d. The date of sale of the lumber. 8
SECTION 1.(c) The North Carolina Residential Code Council shall amend the North 9
Carolina Residential Code and the North Carolina Building Code Council shall amend the North 10
Carolina Building Code in order to permit dimension lumber that has not been grade -stamped 11
under the authority of a lumber grading bureau to be used in the construction of one - and 12
two-family dwellings and structures classified as Residential Group R -2 or R-3, when that use 13
meets all of the following requirements: 14
(1) The lumber is sold directly by the owner or employee of a small mill or a 15
mobile sawmill that milled the lumber to the owner of the structure to be 16
constructed or that person's authorized representative. 17
(2) The dimension lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of the North 18
Carolina Residential Code or the North Carolina Building Code, as applicable, 19
other than the requirements that only grade -stamped lumber be used in 20
residential construction. 21
(3) The operator of the small mill or mobile sawmill has a certificate from a 22
state-approved lumber grading training program, certifies tha t the lumber 23
conforms with product and inspection standards under American Softwood 24
Lumber Standard PS20, and marks the lumber with (i) the mill number, name, 25
or abbreviation, (ii) the species or combination of species of the lumber, (iii) 26
whether the lumb er was dry or green when manufactured as required by 27
American Softwood Lumber Standard PS20, and (iv) whether the lumber 28
conforms with PS20 standards. 29
(4) The appropriate code enforcement official reviews the framing of the structure 30
to ensure that it meet s the requirements of the North Carolina Residential 31
Code or the North Carolina Building Code, as applicable, in all respects other 32
than the requirements that only grade -stamped lumber be used in residential 33
construction. The code enforcement official shal l not be liable for any 34
structural failure that occurs as a result of the use of dimension lumber rather 35
than grade-stamped lumber. 36
(5) The small mill or mobile sawmill provides to the purchaser a certificate 37
containing all of the following: 38
a. A statement of the species of wood, quantity milled, and address where 39
the lumber will be used. 40
b. The name of the sawmill operator certified pursuant to G.S. 143-138.2 41
who milled the lumber. 42
c. A certification that the lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of 43
the North Carolina State Building Code with the exception that it has 44
not been grade-stamped by an accredited lumber grading bureau. 45
d. The date of sale of the lumber. 46
SECTION 1.(d) The Residential Code Council and Building Code Council shall 47
adopt temporary rules to implement the requirements of this section no later than 180 days after 48
the effective date of this section. The Residential Code Council and Building Code Council shall 49
also adopt permanent rules to replace the temporary rules. 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 95-First Edition Page 3
SECTION 2.(a) Article 9 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is amended by 1
adding a new section to read: 2
"§ 143-138.2. Lumber grading training program. 3
(a) The North Carolina Cooperative Exten sion Service shall establish a basic lumber 4
grading training program for individuals and establish the general requirements for successfully 5
completing the training program, including requirements for initial certification and for 6
recertification. The Nort h Carolina Cooperative Extension Service shall offer the training 7
program at least annually. The Extension Forestry staff, in cooperation with the staff of the North 8
Carolina Forest Service, shall develop and establish the content of the training program, 9
determine the certification requirements for instructors teaching the training program, and 10
determine the criteria for determining successful completion of the training program. Instructors 11
shall be approved by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. 12
(b) The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service may, in its discretion, authorize 13
one or more private lumber grading training programs, provided that the content of the private 14
programs and certification requirements for instructors and criteria for successful completion of 15
the training program are at least as stringent as the program offered by the North Carolina 16
Cooperative Extension Service. An authorized private training program may issue initial 17
certifications and recertifications. 18
(c) An ind ividual holding an initial certification from the program established by 19
subsection (a) of this section, from a private program authorized under subsection (b) of this 20
section, or from a state -approved lumber grading program in another state who mills lumb er in 21
the State shall be recertified under the training program every five years. 22
(d) An individual who holds an initial certification from the program established by 23
subsection (a) of this section, from a private program authorized under subsection (b) of this 24
section, or from a state-approved lumber grading program in another state shall register with the 25
North Carolina Forest Service before selling lumber that has not been grade -stamped under the 26
authority of a lumber grading bureau directly to the owner of a structure for use in construction 27
of the structure." 28
SECTION 2.(b) The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service shall establish 29
the basic lumber grading training program no later than 180 days after the effective date of this 30
section. 31
SECTION 3. G.S. 160D-1110 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 32
"(b1) For a structure constructed with lumber that has not been grade -stamped under the 33
authority of a lumber grading bureau, a building permit applicant shall submit with the building 34
permit application all of the following: 35
(1) A statement of the species of wood, quantity, and address where the lumber 36
will be used. 37
(2) The name of the sawmill operator certified pursuant to G.S. 143-138.2 who 38
milled the lumber. 39
(3) A certification that the lumber meets or exceeds the requirements of the North 40
Carolina State Building Code with the exception that it has not been 41
grade-stamped by an accredited lumber grading bureau. 42
(4) The date of sale of the lumber." 43
SECTION 4. Section 1 of this act is effective when it becomes law and expires when 44
the Residential Code Council and Building Code Council have issued permanent rules 45
substantially similar to Sections 1(b) and 1(c) of this act and notifies the Codifier of Statutes that 46
it has done so. Section 3 of this act becomes effective on the date that the temporary rules required 47
to be adopted by the Residential Code Council and Building Code Council by Section 1 of this 48
act become effective. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law. 49