§ 20-183.5. When a vehicle that fails an emissions inspection may obtain a waiver from the inspection requirement.
(a) Requirements. – The Division may issue a waiver for a vehicle, excluding a vehicle owned or being held for retail sale by a motor vehicle dealer, that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Fails an emissions inspection because it passes the visual inspection but fails the analysis of data provided by the on-board diagnostic (OBD) equipment.
(2) Has documented repairs costing at least the waiver amount made to the vehicle to correct the cause of the failure. The waiver amount is two hundred dollars ($200.00).
(3) Is reinspected and again fails the inspection because it passes the visual inspection but fails the analysis of data provided by the on-board diagnostic (OBD) equipment.
(4) Meets any other waiver criteria required by 40 C.F.R. § 51.360, or as designated by the Division.
(b) Procedure. – To obtain a waiver, a person must contact a local enforcement office of the Division. Before issuing a waiver, an employee of the Division must review the inspection receipts issued for the inspections of the vehicle, review the documents establishing what repairs were made to the vehicle and at what cost, review any statement denying warranty coverage of the repairs made, and do a visual inspection of the vehicle, if appropriate, to determine if the documented repairs were made. The Division must issue a waiver if it determines that the vehicle qualifies for a waiver. A person to whom a waiver is issued must present the waiver to the self-inspector or inspection station performing the inspection to obtain an electronic inspection authorization.
(c) Repairs. – The following repairs and their costs cannot be considered in determining whether the cost of repairs made to a vehicle equals or exceeds the waiver amount:
(1) Repairs covered by a warranty that applies to the vehicle.
(2) Repairs needed as a result of tampering with an emission control device of the vehicle.
(3) Repairs made by an individual who is not professionally engaged in the business of repairing vehicles.
(4) OBD diagnostics without corresponding repairs.
(d) Electronic Inspection Authorization. – An electronic inspection authorization issued to a vehicle after the vehicle receives a waiver from the requirement of passing the emissions inspection expires at the same time it would if the vehicle had passed the emissions inspection.
(1965, c. 734, s. 1; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 754, s. 1; 2000-134, ss. 16, 17; 2007-503, s. 7.)
Official text of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-183.5 as published by the North Carolina General Assembly (Chapter 20 PDF, retrieved November 10, 2026). Verify the current version on ncleg.gov ↗.