Building Codes

As Congress limps through its lame duck session and a new group of Congressfolk get ready to take their place in the Nation's capital, we hear much brave talk about getting "the dead hand of government" off the backs and out of the pockets of Americans.  I have no doubt that, in general, government could benefit from a South Beach diet.  Yet the problem has always been, and remains, where to downsize without undue risk.  We tend to forget that we are the government, and our governmental activity is directed at those tasks which are more effectively or efficiently done in common, rather than individually.  National defense is a classic example.

We also look to government in a crisis.  For example, when BP's well failed in the Gulf of Mexico, I think many Americans were genuinely surprised to learn that we have no National Office of Deep Water Oil Drilling Accident Fast Fixes (NODWODAFF), with hundreds of skimming ships and thousands of federal workers standing ready to lurch into action at a moment's notice.  It was startling, not to mention frustrating, to watch government make up a response on the fly.  But clearly someone with a higher pay grade than mine decided that we should let oil drillers handle this, on the assumption that enlightened self-interest is a better policeman-on-the-beat than government regulation.  Alas, not all self-interest is enlightened, and not all equipment performs as intended.  Sometimes government regulation is the better, cheaper alternative.

I mention this because government regulation intrudes even on my building project.  In the next few days we will ask the County Building Inspector to visit the site and sign off on the plumbing, electrical, and heating work done so far.  The Inspector's job is to enforce the Building Code, and he has the power to stop the project in its tracks.  Is this not a prime example of "the dead hand of government" flopping down on my home?  No, not really.  I think the Inspector's job is to ensure that my house is well and properly built, thereby protecting my interest (and the bank's) against avoidable disaster.  It also protects the interest of the contractor and those who work with him.

Hammurabi, Sixth King of
Babylon, and winner of the
National Cool Beard Contest
in 1758 BCE.

Building codes have been around a long time.  In the Code of Hammurabi, dating to about 1760 BCE, we read: "If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he builds falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death."  And: "If it kills the son of the owner, the son of the builder shall be put to death."  (Talk about "the dead hand of government"!)  A few centuries later the Law of Moses provided for a parapet, or low wall, around the roof of a new house, so that people using the roof would be less likely to fall off (Deut. 22:8).  Failure to do so could bring bloodguilt upon the householder — and you can imagine what that meant!

In our day building codes carry less drastic sanctions, but they are also more elaborate.  In Michigan we have a building and dwelling code, structural code, plumbing code, mechanical code, electrical code, and fire code, as well as codes for accessibility, energy, elevators, gas, boilers, and assorted other things.  These are all determined by the Bureau of Construction Codes in Lansing.  Local units of government must adopt either the state code or some other nationally recognized code.  Enforcement falls to the various inspectors.  So, couldn't we just do away with these codes and inspectors and permits and fees?  Wouldn't that shrink the size and cost of government?  It would indeed.  But ask yourself: Do you really want to ride to the 35th floor in an elevator which is not built and maintained to code? •••