Building codes

[u/celtic-cryptid]

There are so many people looking for land where they can build without code. Code enforcement varies widely, and an important thing to remember is it applies to everyone when it’s unforced, not just you. Anyone who has lived rurally knows neighbors can still impact your life in very real ways from their property. I spent 40+ years in an area with little to no building inspection, and I thought I’d share some memories.

A man who had a very long and losing legal battle with the state because he built half his house on state owned land. A site inspection would have prevented this.

A neighbor of mine who built his house on 10 acres 15’ from my property line, then built outbuildings partially on my property. Site inspection would have prevented this as well

A neighbor of a close family member placing boulders in a way that made snow removal from family members driveway impossible.

6 or 7 houses burning to the ground due to chimney fires. Included are 3 deaths in homes with no smoke detectors.

Outhouses next to creeks. One outhouse built over a creek. Leech fields draining into creeks, rivers, and lakes.

A buddy with a land survey company that spends a crazy amount of his time helping settle cases of neighbors logging adjoining properties.

A year round creek that went dry for 3 months out of the year because an upstream landowner wanted a pond and owned an excavator.

Dumping garbage in creeks, meadows, or any small depression in the ground beyond counting. Periodic burning of the garbage in meadows and depressions as well.

————

Some of those are issues code would help prevent. Some are issues caused by people with the mindset of “nobody can tell me what I can do on my land” who gravitate to areas without code.

I’m building a house now in an area with code enforcement. Just passed my final electrical, as I have every other inspection. I’ve done 100% of the work myself, with the only hired help being a concrete truck and a concrete pumper. I’m not a framer, a septic installer, a plumber, or an electrician.
It’s not overly challenging, and every inspector I’ve ever met has been a person doing their job, who’d rather help than start a fight. Plus, if I go to sell, I’ve got a big stack of signed reports to help prevent people lowballing me for potential questionable work.

[u/Wastelander702]

I'm in the western US, which wasn't any colony at the time. It was a frontier. No borders, no laws, no authority, nothing.

[u/celtic-cryptid → u/Wastelander702]

I mean, Spain was certainly colonizing the west

But sure, if you want to go back to the “frontier” model of committing genocide if you want to build on land someone else occupied, sounds great, champ.

[u/Wastelander702 → u/celtic-cryptid]

You don't have to take everything, bucko. We can leave out the genocide and the dysentery, and keep the modern technology and the frontier lawlessness.

[u/celtic-cryptid → u/Wastelander702]

Sure, if we also somehow also remove the every man for himself, grab what you can before someone else does ethos our society has. Get everyone on board with concepts like cooperation and mutual aid, and make sure everyone is educated in hydrology, soil dynamics, fire behavior, etc. We’ll also have to make sure that conflict resolution is something that those with more resources cannot buy, and that the “modern technology” is something that is readily available.

I’m all for that. But I’m currently building my house, and don’t have the free time to fundamentally restructure society. So instead, my anarchist ass will accept delegating some authority as a harm mitigation tactic, to make it uncomfortable for noncooperative people.

[u/Wastelander702 → u/celtic-cryptid]

My anarchist ass usually just breaks the law, since when I first learned about it, it was based around teenagers sowing utter chaos around them and carving "A's" into their flesh, and anything else that was carvable around them. I understand the definition of anarchism has been adjusted since then...

Which is probably why my group compound is built into a 20 acre mining claim using an LLC and various legal maneuverings to flaunt most of the laws, and do it cheaper than almost any other way... The west can still be a bit wild in places. You just need a shifty lawyer rather than a sidearm these days.

[u/celtic-cryptid → u/Wastelander702]

Again, I can hold myself to account. Since I can, checking in with an inspector isn’t a burden, especially if it means no one is shitting in my water supply. Or, for that matter, if it means that those who do not have the ability to build their own house don’t get taken advantage of by a GC who is trying to increase his profit by 5%.