zlacker

The national electrical code is a private standard. Many local laws directly reference it, but it's not created nor maintained by the government in any way. These standards often come about by simply recognizing the most popular solution and then codifying it.

The government is not better at this than the market.

>>akira2+(OP)
It’s not the market that is enforcing those codes, and without enforcement - rules are just suggestions.

>>germin+S1
Of course it is. Try buying insurance on a house that didn't get a building permit. Try reselling it. And how, exactly, does the government "enforce" the code? Are you put in jail for not following it?

>>akira2+T3
I don’t know about the US but in many countries if a building can’t be brought up to code it will be condemned.

>>akira2+T3
The government - that supplies that building permit - does also literally send an inspector to my property to enforce the code, yes.

>>akira2+T3
You can be, quite easily - see Title 8, 3321b2 (a PA law that lets PA municipalities punish building ordinance violations via criminal process) - most states have some version of this.

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?...

>>mr_toa+w5
In the US, it can definitely reach the point where they will tear it down and send you the bill for the demolition. And if you don’t pay that bill, they’ll then auction off your land to get paid.

>>germin+M5
And the same government makes sure that the code, in addition to including things that are actually necessary for your safety, also includes a lot of other things that aren't, but that are beneficial for the friends and relatives of government officials who run construction companies and don't want to have to innovate. As Robert Heinlein once said, "We have never seen a modern house."

>>akira2+T3
I’ve never had trouble selling a house with unpermitted work (not mine, but previous owners’)

>>mlucie+07
This isn't always a state level issue. It's often established county by county. There are lots of counties in the US where there is no zoning law. The only state business you need to do there is report any improvements to the appraiser for tax purposes.

Some of these districts _do_ have inspectors anyways, and they will issue permits, but the county itself does not require you to do this. As I said though, you will certainly be unable to insure anything you've built without a permit in these places. Aside from that, you can build what you want however you want.