Forsyth County, GA Building Safety: Green Building Code (2026)

" Forsyth County never drafted its own energy or green building standard: § 18-31(a) ties the county automatically to whatever edition the state Department of Community Affairs has adopted at the time, so the applicable energy requirements change whenever the state updates them, without a separate county vote. Section 18-31(b) also adopts each code's appendices by reference, including the "Georgia State Energy Code appendices," and § 18-31(d) provides that where an adopted code conflicts with an existing county ordinance, the county ordinance controls. Section 18-32 requires any registered professional engineer who wants to perform code inspections in the county to be prequalified first, under standards obtained from the planning and community development department, before doing energy or other construction inspections.

Section 18-34 shields the county and its building officials from liability for defects in a structure covered by this article, and from liability tied to an inspection or a certificate of occupancy it issues. Fees for enforcing the energy code and the rest of article II run through the county's general construction fee schedule, on file with the clerk of the board of commissioners under § 18-35.