Benton County, AR Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Sec. " Work covered by that code, including new wiring, service upgrades and equipment installations on land outside Bentonville, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Bella Vista, Centerton and the county's other incorporated cities, must follow the 2014 NEC as adopted. The ordinance places enforcement authority with "the county judge, or such code enforcement officers as the county judge shall appoint," and it directs that any reference inside the National Electrical Code itself to the officials who administer it be read, for unincorporated Benton County, as a reference to the county judge.

The ordinance caps that grant of authority: it states nothing "is intended or shall be construed to extend the authority of the county judge or persons the county judge designates as code enforcement officers beyond code enforcement," so an inspector working under Sec. 14-27 cannot exercise powers outside the electrical code itself. The county also built in automatic updating: subsection (d) provides that if the state later adopts an amendment to the 2014 NEC, "that amendment shall apply and be enforced in the unincorporated areas of the county without the need for such to be formally adopted by ordinance," so property owners and electricians should confirm with the county which state amendments currently apply before assuming the 2014 base text controls.

§ 14-14-909, cited directly in the ordinance. The same Article II of Chapter 14 adopts five companion technical codes the same way: the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code at Sec. 14-26, the 2014 Arkansas Energy Code at Sec. 14-28, the 2006 Arkansas Fuel Gas Code at Sec. 14-29, the 2010 Arkansas Mechanical Code at Sec. 14-30 and the 2006 Arkansas Plumbing Code at Sec. 14-31.