New Hampshire Shoreland Rules Require a 50 Foot Setback

New Hampshire updated its site assessment rules in 2024, shifting responsibility from seller to buyer for waterfront properties with septic systems, and most study materials haven't reflected that change.

If your study materials were written before these changes took effect, you may be preparing with information that no longer reflects what the PSI exam actually tests. This article focuses on three areas where New Hampshire law has specific requirements that differ from what most national prep courses teach.

The OPLC administers real estate licensing in New Hampshire. The PSI exam includes 40 state specific questions and 80 national questions, with a passing threshold of 70%. These are the sections that deserve your closest attention before test day.

Shoreland Water Quality

New Hampshire's Shoreland Act creates nested setback zones within a 250-foot regulated area, and the exam tests all three distances. Candidates who memorize only the outer boundary miss the questions built around the inner setback rules. Let's look at what the law actually requires.

The Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act restricts development within 250 feet of public waters, with a 50-foot building setback and 20-foot accessory structure setback, students who memorize only the 250-foot zone miss nested setback distances.

Know the three setback distances: the 250-foot regulated area, the 50-foot primary structure setback, and the 20-foot accessory structure setback. Also know what development is prohibited or requires a permit in each zone. I don't want you guessing on this one. Know it cold.

Site Assessment for Septic

New Hampshire's 2024 site assessment rule shift, moving evaluation responsibility from seller to buyer for waterfront properties, is a detail that candidates using pre-2024 study materials will get backwards. Actually, the statute says something more specific: it is now the buyer, not the seller, who must commission the professional evaluation before closing.

Buyers of waterfront property with septic systems must obtain a professional evaluation before closing, the responsibility shifted from seller to buyer in 2024, generating exam questions that catch students using outdated materials.

Septic system requirements before a property sale vary significantly in New England. Vermont regulates septic through its Act 250 permitting process for subdivisions, and Rhode Island mandates cesspool identification under the 2007 Cesspool Act. New Hampshire's site assessment requirement applies a different standard than either neighbor.

Know which party is now responsible for the evaluation, when in the transaction it must occur, and how that changed from the prior rule. The OPLC tests the current requirement, and outdated study materials will send you in the wrong direction.

The 2024 responsibility shift is a New Hampshire-specific rule update that the exam reflects, and candidates who skip this section because septic "isn't on the national exam" are the ones who get it wrong.

Dual Agency Consent

New Hampshire's dual agency consent rule has a specific deadline tied to offer preparation, and a separate consent requirement when the same licensee is designated for both sides. Candidates who treat it as a simple "written consent before closing" rule miss both distinctions. This is the kind of detail the exam loves, and most prep courses skip it.

Written consent is required no later than preparation of a written offer, and if a designated seller's agent is also the designated buyer's agent, a separate dual agency consent is needed, students confuse designated agency exemptions.

Know the "no later than offer preparation" deadline, when a separate designated agency consent is required versus when standard dual agency consent is sufficient, and what the consequences are if timing is missed.

New Hampshire's dual agency consent rules have a timing trigger that the OPLC builds exam questions around. Candidates who know the general consent framework but not the specific deadline will answer incorrectly when the question turns on when consent must be obtained.