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I remember the squawk that was raised w/ Fred B. and his committee. It was alleged that required public hearings were not held prior to his committee approving this International Uniform Building Code. Pasted below are the two sections that gave me a cold chill.
Section 5-14...(ENFORCEMENT AGENCY)
"Upon presentation of proper credentials, the administrative authority or such person’s assistants may enter at reasonable times any building or premises in the County to perform any duty imposed by this code,........."
(2012, Ord. No. 12-27, sec. 2)
) In accordance with the prescribed procedures and with the approval of the administrative authority, the building official shall have the authority to appoint technical officers, inspectors, plan examiners and other personnel necessary to support this code enforcement agency. The building official may deputize such inspectors or employees as may be necessary to carry out the functions of this code enforcement agency.(2012, Ord. No. 12-27, sec. 2)
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quote:
Originally posted by VancouverIslander
Actually an awful lot of the code is pushed by the insurance companies who would rather have us pay hundreds of billions in extra building costs so they can save a few billion in claims costs. But I bet those hundreds of billions that go to the building industry probably fund more than their fair share of lobbyists.
Not really true. The insurance industry only evaluates the codes to determine if they do not comply with their standards. The real problem is that the ICC code development process is overwhelmingly controlled by industry who try to get their "state of the art" products to be used and write the codes accordingly.
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quote:
The current system does not regulate itself, it's regulated by the corporate manufacturing heads who sit on the board of the IBC, IEC, etc (The ICC).
This sounds vaguely familiar to the way movies are rated by the MPAA -- they happen to be a private for-profit corporation answerable to nobody, but if your movie doesn't suit them, it'll never play in the big theaters.
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From Graham Ellis, in an open letter to the Big Island Chronicle;
"The Dept of Public Works estimate there are more than 7,000 unpermited but occupied homes on the island.
Many thousands of our residents are affected by this, living as ‘outlaws’ with a fear that ‘someone’ could ‘at some time’ turn them into the County authorities and cause big trouble. Enforcement staff in the Planning Dept. and the Dept. of Public Works state that many complaints are frivolous, fraudulent and even blatantly vindictive. Because reports are confidential they breed suspicion amongst neighbors and even close friends. This can destroy relationships and is the complete antithesis of a system promoting community connectedness and trust. In many cases county codes and staff are used as a weapon to harm otherwise law abiding resident homeowners.
Duane Kanuha, recognizes this and recently suggested to Russell Ruderman this could be resolved with a new category of dwellings titled “Recorded, not permitted”, with the homeowner signing a waiver to indemnify the County against any claims"
The whole letter can be seen
HERE
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Highlight from above:
In October 2010 ... a resolution which was unanimously passed by the County Council ... resolved that “the Dept of Public Works shall establish an Alternative Building Code.â€
How similar to the various "Community" "Development" "Plans" ...
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The idea of singing away the right to sue will not work. because everyone else that did not sign it would still have the right to sue, you cannot sign away someone else’s rights.
Most of the structural provisions of the code are not that hard to meet. The two things that drive up the price here are the Energy section of the code and requiring licensed contractors for plumbing and electric” It should all be inspected the same “.
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