Section 10510 - Release from improvement bond(a) When the developer has completed all of the necessary and appropriate improvements, the developer shall notify the municipal governing body, in writing, by certified or registered mail, of the completion of the aforesaid improvements and shall send a copy thereof to the municipal engineer. The municipal governing body shall, within ten days after receipt of such notice, direct and authorize the municipal engineer to inspect all of the aforesaid improvements. The municipal engineer shall, thereupon, file a report, in writing, with the municipal governing body, and shall promptly mail a copy of the same to the developer by certified or registered mail. The report shall be made and mailed within 30 days after receipt by the municipal engineer of the aforesaid authorization from the governing body; said report shall be detailed and shall indicate approval or rejection of said improvements, either in whole or in part, and if said improvements, or any portion thereof, shall not be approved or shall be rejected by the municipal engineer, said report shall contain a statement of reasons for such nonapproval or rejection.(b) The municipal governing body shall notify the developer, within 15 days of receipt of the engineer's report, in writing by certified or registered mail of the action of said municipal governing body with relation thereto.(c) If the municipal governing body or the municipal engineer fails to comply with the time limitation provisions contained herein, all improvements will be deemed to have been approved and the developer shall be released from all liability, pursuant to its performance guaranty bond or other security agreement.(d) If any portion of the said improvements shall not be approved or shall be rejected by the municipal governing body, the developer shall proceed to complete the same and, upon completion, the same procedure of notification, as outlined herein, shall be followed.(e) Nothing herein, however, shall be construed in limitation of the developer's right to contest or question by legal proceedings or otherwise, any determination of the municipal governing body or the municipal engineer.(f) Where herein reference is made to the municipal engineer, he shall be as a consultant thereto.(g) The municipality may prescribe that the applicant shall reimburse the municipality for the reasonable and necessary expense incurred in connection with the inspection of improvements. The applicant shall not be required to reimburse the governing body for any inspection which is duplicative of inspections conducted by other governmental agencies or public utilities. The burden of proving that any inspection is duplicative shall be upon the objecting applicant. Such reimbursement shall be based upon a schedule established by ordinance or resolution. Such expense shall be reasonable and in accordance with the ordinary and customary fees charged by the municipality's professional consultant for work performed for similar services in the community, but in no event shall the fees exceed the rate or cost charged by the professional consultant to the municipality for comparable services when fees are not reimbursed or otherwise imposed on applicants.(1) The governing body shall submit to the applicant an itemized bill showing the work performed in connection with the inspection of improvements performed, identifying the person performing the services and the time and date spent for each task. In the event the applicant disputes the amount of any such expense in connection with the inspection of improvements, the applicant shall, no later than 100 days after the date of transmittal of a bill for inspection services, notify the municipality and the municipality's professional consultant that such inspection expenses are disputed as unreasonable or unnecessary and shall explain the basis of their objections to the fees charged, in which case the municipality shall not delay or disapprove a request for release of financial security, a subdivision or land development application or any approval or permit related to development due to the applicant's dispute of inspection expenses. Failure of the applicant to dispute a bill within 100 days shall be a waiver of the applicant's right to arbitration of that bill under this section.(1.1) Subsequent to the final release of financial security for completion of improvements for a subdivision or land development or any phase thereof, the professional consultant shall submit to the governing body a bill for inspection services, specifically designated as a final bill, which the governing body shall submit to the applicant. The final bill shall include inspection fees incurred through the release of financial security.(2) If the professional consultant and the applicant cannot agree on the amount of expenses which are reasonable and necessary, then the applicant shall have the right, within 100 days of the transmittal of the final bill or supplement to the final bill to the applicant, to request the appointment of another professional consultant to serve as an arbitrator. The applicant and professional consultant whose fees are being challenged shall, by mutual agreement, appoint another professional consultant to review any bills the applicant has disputed and which remain unresolved and make a determination as to the amount thereof which is reasonable and necessary. The arbitrator shall be of the same profession as the professional consultant whose fees are being challenged.(3) The arbitrator so appointed shall hear such evidence and review such documentation as the arbitrator in his or her sole opinion deems necessary and shall render a decision no later than 50 days after the date of appointment. Based on the decision of the arbitrator, the applicant or the professional consultant whose fees were challenged shall be required to pay any amounts necessary to implement the decision within 60 days. In the event the municipality has paid the professional consultant an amount in excess of the amount determined to be reasonable and necessary, the professional consultant shall within 60 days reimburse the excess payment.(4) In the event that the municipality's professional consultant and applicant cannot agree upon the arbitrator to be appointed within 20 days of the request for appointment of an arbitrator, then, upon application of either party, the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the judicial district in which the municipality is located (or if at the time there be no President Judge, then the senior active judge then sitting) shall appoint such arbitrator, who, in that case, shall be neither the municipality's professional consultant nor any professional consultant who has been retained by, or performed services for, the municipality or the applicant within the preceding five years.(5) The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid by the applicant if the disputed fee is upheld by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid by the charging party if the disputed fee is $2,500 or greater than the payment decided by the arbitrator. The fee of the arbitrator shall be paid in an equal amount by the applicant and the charging party if the disputed fee is less than $2,500 of the payment decided by the arbitrator.(6) In the event that the disputed fees have been paid and the arbitrator finds that the disputed fees are unreasonable or excessive by more than $10,000, the arbitrator shall: (i) award the amount of the fees found to be unreasonable or excessive to the party that paid the disputed fee; and(ii) impose a surcharge of 4% of the amount found as unreasonable or excessive to be paid to the party that paid the disputed fee.(7) A municipality or an applicant shall have 100 days after paying a fee to dispute any fee charged as being unreasonable or excessive.1968, July 31, P.L. 805, No. 247, art. V, § 510. Amended 1972, June 1, P.L. 333, No. 93, § 4, effective in 60 days. Reenacted and amended 1988, Dec. 21, P.L. 1329, No. 170, § 38, effective in 60 days. Amended 2004, Nov. 30, P.L. 1613, No. 206, § 3, effective in 60 days [Jan. 31, 2005]; 2012, Oct. 24, P.L. 1258, No. 154, § 3, effective in 60 days [Dec. 24, 2012].