Building Codes

The foundation of all construction within city, county and state limits are building codes. Building codes are designed to protect you from bad construction, and ensure a minimum level of safety for construction, both structural, fire codes , and plumbing, both supply and waste for health.  
The problem with most cities, counties and states, is how much they hide this information, from homeowners, and how resistant they are to help folks who want to remodel.

Different parts of the country have different codes, such as Florida, for structural fasteners so the hurricanes do not blow your house away. California has codes for structure so that the earthquakes do not bury you and so on.

Until very recently, the only way you could get a copy of your building code was to go the bookstore and get something close, which does not have the additions and changes that every city seems to have to add to make them special.

For Folks in California is this website which has the California Building Codes.

Now if we can get the rest of the country to do the same, remodeling will be much better for all of us.

Comments

[Todd]

My experience is that if you go to your local building officials they will let you look through their copy of the building code. However, they will not try and help you interpret the code. The reason is quite simple, if they try and give you "advice" or interpret the code because then they become very liable. I know this kinda stinks, but it's really the way things are. Make friends with your local code officials, they will actually help you as best they can.

[alan herrell - the head lemur]

Todd.
Thanks for stopping by and reinforcing my argument. Building Codes are a Floor in terms of structure and safety. Neither they nor us can legally go below that line.

The liability issue is a dog that won't hunt. Two real good illustrations are the aluminum wire mess, and Polybutylene plastic pipes.
In both cases, lawsuits flew, against the builders, manufactures, and others, yet no city building department has been found liable for damages or paid any settlement, that I can find.

As a note to the above, both the aluminum wire and PPP were created by private companies and were approved by building code officials and became part of building codes. In both of these cases the major failure points were the installation, not using anti oxidant goo on the al/cu connections, and PPP fitting installations. Yes there were other problems but those are the highlights and the ones most important to the DIY folks.

That building departments and inspectors could be more proactive is is everybody's best interest, from repair, replacement, remodeling and additions.