Tennessee Code Title 7. Consolidated Governments and Local Governmental Functions and Entities § 7-51-2702

(a) A utility in this state shall allow a customer of the utility or person submitting a plan of development to the utility the option to use an approved contractor or approved contractors of the customer's choosing for the installation of such utility infrastructure.  Utilities shall produce a publicly available list of approved contractors and the process for becoming an approved contractor.

(b) If a customer or customer representative engages an approved contractor pursuant to subsection (a), then, prior to the commencement of work, the customer or customer representative shall provide:

(c) No later than ten (10) business days after submission of the documents required under subsection (b), the utility shall:

(d) If ten (10) business days pass and the utility fails to take an action as required by subsection (c), then the contractor may proceed as an approved contractor and shall comply with the requirements for an approved contractor under this part.

(e) The utility shall perform inspections of the installation and construction of the utility infrastructure installed by the approved contractor in the development, and the utility may also inspect materials and test the utility infrastructure as part of such inspections.  The approved contractor is responsible for correcting any deficiencies associated with its installation or construction, and the utility is not required to accept or commission the utility infrastructure until it determines that the installation and construction complies with all applicable requirements under this part.  The utility may charge a reasonable fee for such inspections and testing in accordance with a schedule of fees or charges adopted by the utility and made publicly available.

(f) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a utility may require the direct installation or construction of specific utility infrastructure by the utility or by an approved contractor under the direct supervision of the utility where the requirement is necessary to ensure public safety or service reliability of the utility.