Maryland HB 1104: The Solar Remote Inspection Bill That Died, and the Law That Replaced It

If you are searching for Maryland HB 1104 because someone told you it requires remote solar inspections, here is the short version.

HB 1104 did not pass. Most of what it contained did.

Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo introduced HB 1104 in February 2026 as a standalone rewrite of Maryland's residential solar permitting rules. It died in committee. Its provisions were folded into HB 1532, the Utility RELIEF Act, which the Governor signed as Chapter 353, effective on enactment.

The requirements changed on the way through. If you are planning against the HB 1104 text, you are planning against the wrong document.

What HB 1104 would have required

The introduced bill was direct about remote inspections. By August 1, 2027, every county and municipality would have had to authorize any inspection required for a project permitted by solar permitting software to be conducted remotely through recorded video or photographs.

It also capped the cost of a remote inspection at $100, required it to be completed in the same timeframe as an in person inspection, and barred agencies from requiring more than one remote inspection unless the first one failed.

MACo opposed it, arguing the mandate would undermine local flexibility, strain budgets, and compromise safety safeguards.

What actually became law

Chapter 353 kept the direction and dropped the method. The words "remote inspection" as a standalone mandate are gone. What replaced them is arguably harder to meet.

Solar permitting software by August 1, 2027. Counties and municipalities must implement software that automates plan review against the Maryland Building Performance Standards, the National Electrical Code including local amendments, and locally adopted building codes, produces code compliant approvals, issues permits immediately on receipt of online fee payment, and handles a majority of residential solar applications. This extends the August 1, 2025 deadline set by the Brighter Tomorrow Act of 2024.

An average five business day inspection. The operative language reads: a county or municipality shall complete a remote or in person inspection required for a project permitted by solar permitting software within an average of 5 business days after receiving a properly completed request for inspection.

Published performance data. Agencies must make annual data publicly available for the average inspection time on projects permitted by solar permitting software.

A $500 permit fee cap. Beginning August 1, 2027, for residential rooftop solar under 20 kilowatts AC. Third party payment processing may be charged separately.

Manual review inside five business days where a manual review of a software approved permit is performed.

Coverage is broad. The requirements apply to counties and municipalities that issue residential solar permits, with narrow exceptions.

The provision that changes the operating model

Read the two versions side by side and the shift is easy to miss.

HB 1104 told you how to inspect. Chapter 353 tells you how fast, and then makes your number public.

The five business day average is the real constraint. It applies from a properly completed inspection request, it is an average rather than a ceiling, and the annual publication requirement means your performance against it is visible to every solar installer and every resident in your jurisdiction.

Remote inspection is now optional in name. For most departments it is the only realistic way to hold a five day average on a rooftop solar queue without adding truck routes and headcount, and the statute explicitly contemplates it by naming remote inspection as an equal alternative to in person.

What this looks like when it works

Departments that already run remote inspection programs give a sense of the operating numbers.

City of Berkeley, Building & Safety Division. Berkeley moved routine inspections to app free mobile video. Property owners get an SMS link and share their camera with no download. The division reported a 50% reduction in scheduling wait times, a 24 minute average virtual inspection, and 2x daily inspection capacity without adding staff.

"Blitzz is easy to work with and use. It is a great tool to have for inspections. A good Wifi or Internet connection and the virtual Blitzz app can be used in any part of the house for an inspection."
Keith T., Building Inspector, City of Berkeley

Read the full City of Berkeley case study.

Aoka Engineering. Aoka delivers contract inspection services to municipalities, including jurisdictions hours from the nearest inspector. Remote video inspection moved them from days of waiting to same day inspections, often within an hour, with timestamped video and annotated photos on every job.

"Contractors click a link, our certified inspector sees exactly what they see, and the project keeps moving."
Aoka Engineering Virtual Inspections Team

Read the full Aoka Engineering case study.

Note what Berkeley's number means against a five day average. Cutting scheduling wait times in half is the difference between meeting the standard and publishing a figure you would rather not publish.

A working timeline to August 2027

Roughly 11 months of runway, and the software procurement is running in parallel with the inspection work.

• Now through Q4 2026: pull your residential solar, storage, and panel upgrade permit volumes, and measure your current average days from inspection request to completion. That baseline is what you will be publishing against
• Q1 2027: solar permitting software procurement, which is the larger of the two projects
• Q1 to Q2 2027: define the remote inspection protocol. Address verification, required captures for a rooftop solar inspection, when an inspector converts to in person
• Q2 2027: pilot remote inspection on residential rooftop solar and train inspectors
• By August 1, 2027: software live, $500 fee cap in effect, five business day average being tracked
• Annually thereafter: publish average inspection time

What to look for in a remote inspection platform

The statute is technology neutral, which puts the burden of proving an inspection was legitimate on your records.

No app download. Adoption dies at the app store. Installers and homeowners should be able to join from a text message link in whatever browser their phone already has.

Both live and recorded modes. Rooftop work and low signal properties do not always cooperate with a scheduled live session. Recorded submission handles those cases.

Location verification built in. Geotagged, timestamped capture that starts at the street removes any question that the media shows the permitted address.

A retained record. Timestamped video, still capture, inspector notes, and a standardized inspection report that matches your records retention schedule.

Reporting you can publish. Chapter 353 requires annual average inspection time. Pick a platform that produces that number without a manual data pull.

Permitting system integration. Results that do not write back to Accela, Tyler, or CentralSquare become a data entry problem, which is exactly what a five day average cannot absorb. Check the vendor's integration list before the pilot, not after.

General purpose video conferencing tools clear none of these bars. They produce no structured record, no location proof, and no reportable metrics.

Where Blitzz fits

Blitzz Inspect is a remote video inspection platform built for this workflow. Inspectors send a link, the installer or homeowner joins from a phone browser with no app download, and the session is recorded, timestamped, and geotagged. Inspectors annotate live, capture stills, and pull high resolution images. Everything lands in a searchable record with reporting that produces the inspection time figures Chapter 353 asks you to publish.

Start before August 2027 forces you to

This article summarizes HB 1104 as introduced in the 2026 session and Chapter 353 (HB 1532) as enacted. It is not legal advice. Confirm the current statutory text and consult your agency counsel before adopting a compliance plan.