>...also due to government related staffing issues and bureaucracy. Most people are describing more complex building codes, so I'll add something new. The two

>...also due to government related staffing issues and bureaucracy. Most people are describing more complex building codes, so I'll add something new. The two are interrelated. There'd be a lot less opportunity for error if building codes were cut in half. For example where I live there is a fair bit oil heating & therefore underground oil tanks. Building code requires that upon switching to something else, like natural gas, the submitted plans must include information about the planned removal or decommissioning of the tank. This wasn't always a requirement, but now that it is that means someone has to check the plans to make sure that requirement is met. So, bureaucracy and building codes go hand in hand. Of course in the case of residential oil tanks remaining in the ground, or not being properly decommissioned, there it can cause a variety of problems. Water contamination for example, a major concern for abandoned tanks in any area where residential well water is common. (and for other reasons) I'm not arguing that bureaucracy as it exists is at all a model of efficiency, but you can't examine or solve that problem without understanding how we got there.