Why is the Gov't Telling Americans How We Can (and Can't) Build Our Homes?

[Londoner]

My friend worked for a research project in central Africa. The building he was working in burnt down because they lack minimal electrical codes. The investors pulled out because this area lacked the minimal regulatory codes for business. Part of why advanced nations thrive is because they turn accumulated wisdom into regulations that minimize avoidable hazards. This in turn supplies the confidence needed to invest in homes and commerce. Any social order that didn't keep moronic people from building structures in flood planes or burning the rest of us to the ground would spend an awful lot of precious time and resources cleaning up after the morons.

My smart conservative friends get this. They don't oppose all regulations, only the ones that needlessly obstruct market efficiencies.

 

[Iceweasel]

My friend worked for a research project in central Africa. The building he was working in burnt down because they lack minimal electrical codes. The investors pulled out because this area lacked the minimal regulatory codes for business. Part of why advanced nations thrive is because they turn accumulated wisdom into regulations that minimize avoidable hazards. This in turn supplies the confidence needed to invest in homes and commerce.

My smart conservative friends get this. They don't oppose all regulations, only the ones that needlessly obstruct market efficiencies. G

You have conservative friends that oppose all regulations? Newsflash, those are called anarchists.

 

[Mustang]

My friend worked for a research project in central Africa. The building he was working in burnt down because they lack minimal electrical codes. The investors pulled out because this area lacked the minimal regulatory codes for business. Part of why advanced nations thrive is because they turn accumulated wisdom into regulations that minimize avoidable hazards. This in turn supplies the confidence needed to invest in homes and commerce. Any social order that didn't keep moronic people from building structures in flood planes or burning the rest of us to the ground would spend an awful lot of precious time and resources cleaning up after the morons.

My smart conservative friends get this. They don't oppose all regulations, only the ones that needlessly obstruct market efficiencies.

It's quite possible that hundreds of thousands of Americans are alive today that would otherwise be dead if it wasn't for minimum standard building codes and inspections at various stages of construction before proceeding on to the next stage of building. That's particularly true on the west coast which is prone to earthquakes.

 

[depotoo]

Hey! Even with regulations, the city inspectors can be bought off by site superintendents, and share in the cost saving measures.

I had my dream home built about ten years ago. If there weren't standards, the builders could have had a field day with providing me with substandard work but charging me premium prices.

Regulations are fine for they protect the consumer from shoddy work. Codes are there to check that the work meets specifications that are continually being updated for our safety.

And I am thankful for those codes.

 

[depotoo]

By the way, I don't know of anyone that wants to do away with all regulations-just excessive ones, and there are millions out there.

 

[Mustang]

By the way, I don't know of anyone that wants to do away with all regulations-just excessive ones, and there are millions out there.

Millions? Name 10 examples of excessive regulation and why it's excessive.

 

[depotoo]

The Institute for Justice
Niang and Stigers v. Carroll et al.
Learn more at braidingfreedom.com

Background on this case: Untangling Entrepreneurs from Missouri’s Cosmetology Laws

If you want to braid hair for a living in Missouri, you must spend thousands of dollars on at least 1,500 hours of cosmetology training that teaches you nothing about African-style hair braiding. That’s far more time and money than it takes to become a licensed EMT in the state.

Joba Niang and Tameka Stigers have been braiding hair for much of their lives and each woman owns a successful hair braiding business. African hair braiding is a centuries-old natural hair care technique that uses no dyes or chemicals; it is safe for the braider to perform and does not hurt the person getting their hair braided. But Missouri wants to turn the two women into criminals.
.....
The Institute for Justice
Kelly vs. Whitmore
Arizona Animal Massage

Can the government take away someone’s job for no good reason?

That is the question to be answered by a major constitutional lawsuit filed by three animal massage therapists and the Institute for Justice in Arizona. The lawsuit challenges the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board’s (Vet Board) irrational and anti-competitive requirement that animal massage therapists become licensed veterinarians.

Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli and Stacey Kollman are three Arizona entrepreneurs who decided to turn their love of animals into successful businesses. Each spent hundreds of hours learning about animal anatomy and developing massage techniques to obtain private certifications in animal massage.

But they stand to lose everything. According to the Vet Board, Celeste, Grace and Stacey are criminals for practicing their craft without a veterinary license, even though their craft is just a massage. The consequences of failing to comply are severe—animal massage therapists face up to six months in jail and fines of $3,500 per violation.

Massage therapists do not need a medical degree to massage humans, but entrepreneurs who want to massage animals in Arizona must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend four years of veterinary school where they are not even required to learn massage.

The Vet Board’s actions demonstrate the outrageous extremes to which state licensing boards will go to protect their own financial interests. That is why the Institute for Justice filed suit on behalf of Celeste, Grace and Stacey, challenging Arizona’s animal massage regulation as an unconstitutional violation of animal massage entrepreneurs’ right to earn an honest living.


I will post the others separately for you.

By the way, I don't know of anyone that wants to do away with all regulations-just excessive ones, and there are millions out there.

Millions? Name 10 examples of excessive regulation and why it's excessive.

 

[depotoo]

EPA regulations suffocating U.S. agriculture Government content from Western Farm Press
In his testimony, Shaffer said that "EPA is literally piling regulation on top of regulation, and guidance on top of guidance, to the point of erecting barriers to economic growth," said Shaffer.

Philip Nelson, president of Illinois Farm Bureau, also testified at today's hearing, on behalf of farmers and ranchers in his state. Nelson raises corn, soybeans, alfalfa, cattle and hogs. He testified to the subcommittee regarding a new regulation, the Pesticide General Permit, that went into effect Nov. 1.

"This new permit is a needless duplication of existing law. We do not need this entirely new permit program," Nelson said, noting that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act has covered pesticide labeling and application very effectively since 1947.

Further, the pesticide permit "doesn't improve food safety, doesn't add any additional environmental protection or benefit for society, and does nothing to improve my bottom line," Nelson said.

 

[depotoo]

Kendall, NY you can 't camp out for more than 72 hours on your own property in a month.

In Los Angeles county, CA, you can only throw a frisbee with the life guards permission, at the beach.

Pennsylvania only the state can sell wine and spirits for off oremise consumption. at its own stores.

 

[depotoo]

Bensalem PA you cannot advertise prizes that can be won
for bingo games

The City of West Palm Beach, Florida currently restricts all Mobile Food Vendors from operating in a zone they have designated as Downtown (from Palm Beach Lakes Blvd to Okeechobee Blvd and Flagler Dr to Australian Ave).

The City of West Palm Beach also restricts Mobile Food Vendors from operating closer than one block in proximity to each other, without a special event permit. The current cost for a special event permit is, $50 non-refundable application fee and a minimum of $500 per occasion.

Federal regulation prohibits the sell of pet turtles-the red eared slider we bought as kids, unless it is albino, or pastel in color. Then you can sell and purchase it.

 

[depotoo]

A Few Noisy Roosters Could Kill Local Farms in Palm Beach County New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Local farming activist Patricia Curry and Jojo Milano of Goodness Gracious Acres got wind recently of a proposed law that could make farming locally all but go away. Both women sprang into action. Milano blasted her concerns over the web. Curry contacted Palm Beach County's zoning department and got a copy of the proposed ordinance.


The proposals, they learned, include new regulations that would restrict the placement of farm-related structures, ban the breeding or selling livestock, and require new licensing for farm animals.


Monica Cantor, the planning department's senior site planner, explained that the new regulations were proposed due to complaints about noisy roosters at Jupiter Farms. "I asked her if there were a lot of complaints or just a few, and she said just a few," Cantor says. "So they went from a few complaints about roosters to drafting this horrible ordinance covering all livestock."


The regulations could have devastating effects on small farms. Milano says she turned to dairying, which started as a hobby, after her design business was hit hard from the decline in the economy. At the moment, she is just avoiding foreclosure and might not survive the new rules. "If they adopt any of this, I'm screwed," she says. "I can't make milk without breeding. Selling kids

is a byproduct of it. I can't imagine Animal Care and Control monitoring my actions. What do they know about livestock?"


Milano is not alone in her current struggle to stay afloat. Many families in rural Palm Beach County supplement or live off the income earned from farming. When she bought the property, Milano's shed and barn were already placed 15 feet from the property line. The new ordinance would force her to move them both another ten feet. Furthermore, these structures would be allowed only behind the house. No front or side yards. Milano asks, "What really does another ten feet achieve? And nothing on the front and side of the property? Depending on where the house sits, the side might be the only place to put a barn or shed. These are small acreages."

 

[rdean]

I believe that Republicans should be allowed to build their homes without regulations as long as the property boarders only on the property of other Republicans. By all means, build your home without regulations and move your family into that house.

 

[Moonglow]

If you let a man build you a home with no regs, you better camp out there and watch their every move.....

 

[depotoo]

If you have followed my other postings on Tiny Houses, you will find that the International Residential Code has a lot of influence on the design. In some cases, it can be so influential as to be completely prohibitive of the tiny house in its entirety...thanks to the code's mandatory 120sf minimum area.

The basic tenant of the IRC is to provide minimum standards for life safety, welfare and sanitation. The code's requirement for at least one habitable room to have 120sf must be traceable to one of those characteristics. However, I can find no archival anecdotal data that supports that. It has been in the code for eons so therefore there must have a legitimate reason for its inclusion. Or maybe not.

During the past couple of months, I have queried my building inspector and architect students as to their thoughts on how 120sf as a minimum would ensure a safety, welfare, or sanitation benefit. I usually get a lot of blank stares. They have no idea either. This tells me that it is time to re-debate the requirement.

So...I am going to submit a code change to the International Residential Code to delete the 120sf minimum. This will elicit a lot of discussion, a lot of it will be negative. To be successful in having the requirement deleted, I need to have a valid reason statement with good supporting evidence. That is where I need your help, especially if you live in a small home or apartment.

The IRC contains provisions that require a minimum 7 foot high ceiling. I know for fact that it was carried over from earlier building codes because there is a "psychological benefit". I am not sure what the benefit is, but that will likely be a valid reason for the 120sf area inclusion. This fits under "welfare". In order to counter this argument, I need some real world facts on how you all feel about your tiny living environment.

....
this guy works for the govt. and is a buildi g code regulator.
Sustainable Building Codes
I am a building code regulator, active in the revision of modern building codes (boring). I am concerned about the effect regulation has on the production of affordable and sustainable residential construction in the US (not quite so boring). I am the building official for the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon from 2005 to date.

 

[Moonglow]

THe builders were sure pissed when they made them put in the commercial handicap regulated bathrooms.

 

[depotoo]

Does that satisfy you, Mustang?

 

[depotoo]

Top 10 Problems with the Food and Drug Administration’s Proposed Food Safety Regulations for Farmers and Local Food Businesses

Top 10 Reasons for Farmers Consumers and Organizations to Weigh in on Proposed Food Safety Rules National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

 

[occupied]

A badly built home is a hazard to the community, a bad risk to insurers, an unknown quantity to subsequent buyers and the people who live there. Even with the codes we have now substandard houses are still a major problem.

 

[BluesLegend]

Ah, the left again tries to frame the choice as between some wild extreme scenario invented by a mentally ill person or big government. Isn't this like the 10,000th time they did this? Tune in next week when the choice will be between big government and aliens invading from another galaxy.

 

[Rikurzhen]

Vancouver recently outlawed doorknobs in new homes. If you are building a home and put doorknobs, instead of levers, on any doors, the city will withhold an occupancy permit. The City knows better than you what is good for you.

Window installers regularly remove double-paned windows from houses going through a remodeling. It's illegal to take these perfectly functioning, energy efficient FREE windows and put them into a new home that you are constructing for yourself, instead you must use vinyl windows instead of aluminum windows because those double-paned aluminum windows can conduct heat to the outside.

If you wish to have a sculptor carve your a sink out of soapstone, that sink won't pass inspection because it is lacking an Underwriters Laboratory inspection mark. You can submit your sink and $10,000 for testing or go and buy a kitchen sink with the UL mark.

In many locations now your roof must be designed to carry a solar panel load even if you have no intention of putting solar panels on your roof.

Liberals always know what is best for you in your own home.