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Codes exist to benefit the homeowner. Nobody should have the right to force you to tear down your newly built home because they think it's not up to an arbitrar

Codes exist to benefit the homeowner. Nobody should have the right to force you to tear down your newly built home because they think it's not up to an arbitrary standard. There's also nothing in the article to suggest that it's not up to code. I'm sure the electricians did their usual standard of work...

ubernostrum 17y ago
Nobody should have the right to force you to tear down your newly built home because they think it's not up to an arbitrary standard. If you built that home illegally, then someone most certainly should have the right to take action. Also, building codes aren't exactly "arbitrary", ya know? I'm sure the electricians did their usual standard of work But you don't know. You can't know. Nobody knows and nobody can know, because -- by hiding the construction -- this guy almost certainly also hid it from the routine checks which would have provided that sort of information. Most work done by most contractors most of the time is probably fine, but inspections and other checks are there for the cases where the work isn't fine, because we've decided, as a society, that it's worth that overhead to avoid the nasty consequences.
- scotty79 17y ago
  I wonder to what building codes are shanty towns built or trailer parks. I wonder why government won't go bother them.
  - ubernostrum 17y ago
    There's a tent city/shantytown here in my home town which is in a perpetual cycle of being torn down and rebuilt. Every so often someone dies or is seriously injured, and the police clear everybody out and tear it down. Then people come back and start rebuilding it for a while. Then someone dies or is seriously injured, the police clear everybody out...
    - scotty79 17y ago
      That kinda illustrates what I mean. You can effectively perform legal action against single guy who was smart and rich enough built huge castle for his family (and probably did it smart way), but you can't do anything effective to protect people inhabiting most dangerous buildings because you don't have tools to enforce building code on them. Periodical tearing it down doesn't do anything good.
- holygoat 17y ago
  You're one step down the "should" chain. You're saying it's illegal, so he should face the consequences. I'm saying it shouldn't be illegal to build one's house however one wishes. As one example: most building codes dictate the building materials you can use. Want to build a Compressed Earth Block or rammed earth home? Better hope it's in your state's building code, or that there is precedent for you to use to sway the inspector. I think that's wrong. Sure, impose building codes on buildings built for others (e.g., hotels, multi-family dwellings). Don't impose them on personal dwellings. If you want to be able to sell, you have an incentive to build it to code, but you shouldn't be obliged to do so. (Rammed earth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth)
Zak 17y ago
I'm aware of some jurisdictions where building codes are only enforced when a building is sold. If you build it yourself and never sell it, there's effectively no building code. I think that's a happy medium between this sort of absurdity and a complete lack of regulation.

ubernostrum 17y ago

Nobody should have the right to force you to tear down your newly built home because they think it's not up to an arbitrary standard. If you built that home illegally, then someone most certainly should have the right to take action. Also, building codes aren't exactly "arbitrary", ya know? I'm sure the electricians did their usual standard of work But you don't know. You can't know. Nobody knows and nobody can know, because -- by hiding the construction -- this guy almost certainly also hid it from the routine checks which would have provided that sort of information. Most work done by most contractors most of the time is probably fine, but inspections and other checks are there for the cases where the work isn't fine, because we've decided, as a society, that it's worth that overhead to avoid the nasty consequences.

scotty79 17y ago
I wonder to what building codes are shanty towns built or trailer parks. I wonder why government won't go bother them.
- ubernostrum 17y ago
  There's a tent city/shantytown here in my home town which is in a perpetual cycle of being torn down and rebuilt. Every so often someone dies or is seriously injured, and the police clear everybody out and tear it down. Then people come back and start rebuilding it for a while. Then someone dies or is seriously injured, the police clear everybody out...
  - scotty79 17y ago
    That kinda illustrates what I mean. You can effectively perform legal action against single guy who was smart and rich enough built huge castle for his family (and probably did it smart way), but you can't do anything effective to protect people inhabiting most dangerous buildings because you don't have tools to enforce building code on them. Periodical tearing it down doesn't do anything good.
holygoat 17y ago
You're one step down the "should" chain. You're saying it's illegal, so he should face the consequences. I'm saying it shouldn't be illegal to build one's house however one wishes. As one example: most building codes dictate the building materials you can use. Want to build a Compressed Earth Block or rammed earth home? Better hope it's in your state's building code, or that there is precedent for you to use to sway the inspector. I think that's wrong. Sure, impose building codes on buildings built for others (e.g., hotels, multi-family dwellings). Don't impose them on personal dwellings. If you want to be able to sell, you have an incentive to build it to code, but you shouldn't be obliged to do so. (Rammed earth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammed_earth)

Zak 17y ago

I'm aware of some jurisdictions where building codes are only enforced when a building is sold. If you build it yourself and never sell it, there's effectively no building code. I think that's a happy medium between this sort of absurdity and a complete lack of regulation.