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The punishment for building code violations is death. The building code enforcement is a lot more lenient in comparison.
by wbl 5y ago
The punishment for building code violations is death. The building code enforcement is a lot more lenient in comparison.
- jholman 5y agoHelp me to understand who dies when the rooflines overlap?
- jefftk 5y agoThat's a pretty big overstatement. For example, using insufficient insulation is a code violation, but it is not going to kill you.
- labster 5y agoUnless there’s an electrical outage during a big snowstorm or heat wave, and then lack of insulation can kill you. Maybe. Or the old people you sell your house to later. But sometimes you are correct. Like in writing where it’s best to know the rules of grammar before you start breaking them, it’s best to know why the building codes exist before you break them as a DIYer.
- kelnos 5y agoPoster seemed most upset specifically about the electrical issues. Those kind of things absolutely can kill you (or the next homeowner), or start a fire that can kill you, or your neighbors.
- hamburglar 5y agoAlso, the punishment isn’t necessarily meted out on the actual perpetrator.
- R0b0t1 5y agoMost building codes are not a life or death matter. Most of them are windowsill clearance, door clearance, minutia about the spacing of steps. In some locations you have really stupid proscriptions about load bearing structure types (so e.g. you can't use a metal frame for your house simply because they specify you must use wood).
- kelnos 5y agoMost electrical building codes are indeed a life and death matter, and that seems to be the focus of the original comment, or at least the part that got the poster so upset.
- sixstringtheory 5y agoAll the people replying to this minimizing the concerns of the original comment need to go back and reread it. The point that really raised their hackles was the electrical issue, not insulation or overlapping rooflines. Electricity can instantly kill you or start a fire, which could kill you and your neighbors. Look at what just happened in Boulder. Fire is dangerous, especially when combined with high winds. I personally saw that play out twice while living in Boston, one of which was determined to have been caused by sparks from unpermitted welding, the other by improper disposal of smoldering construction debris. Both small starts whipped up by winds, both times multiple people died. The phrase I’ve heard is “regulations are written in blood.”