Not just useful, necessary, when it comes to things like structural safety. You need a building code that get's updated to address issues civil engineers face.

Not just useful, necessary, when it comes to things like structural safety. You need a building code that get's updated to address issues civil engineers face. These laws are the api for building things. It's unjust to make the law you have to follow something you have to pay to see, especially when ignorance of the law is not an excuse for not following it. Not just because it flies in the face of American legal principles to have private secret laws, but because laws you have to pay 10k to access and which have DRM that prevent sharing create a barrier to entry for new companies, and increase costs to consumers. It's not like the organizations that develop building codes can't make money from things like testing, education, professional development etc.