PERMITS: Built to last
Jim Hollingsworth’s letter to do away with building inspections is so ridiculous I don’t know where to begin.
I have been in the building industry for more than three decades. Licensed general contractor for more than two and half decades. I’ve seen both extremes. L.A. city that has their own codes and product standards to no regulations whatsoever up here. It goes like this, Jim:
1. More people, more rules.
2. Closer the neighbors, the more their house matters.
3. As long as both idiots and geniuses procreate we need to plan for either one’s children living in any home.
Kootenai County compared to Bonner County? Like comparing a Clydesdale to a Shetland pony. Look for yourself at city-data.com and type in either county.
Bonner County is 41, 84 and 72 percent rural.
Kootenai County is 147,326 people and 76 percent urban. Big difference.
Did Jim or Marc the commish miss the two recent horrible no-smoke-detector house fires where children were either burned horribly or perished in Spokane County? Both those tragedies occurred in dwellings that predate smoke detectors and the laws requiring them. Maybe we should inspect rental properties annually to prevent such tragedies like many college towns do. Does Kootenai County really want to be the deep pocketed defendant in wrongful death lawsuits?
Aren’t building codes the law of every county? Each county or city usually adopts the latest revisions to the international building code (ibc) every three years with many codes geographically specific. (i.e. seismic stds., snow loads etc.)
A retired crane operator bought 28 acres where no building codes are enforced in Lincoln County east of Bonners. He began building his retirement dream home with glee, realizing he wouldn’t have to call for any inspections like he did in SoCal. He hired a Tri-Cities, Wash., fellow to build it for less money than the local reputable contractor. Half a year later he stopped construction for defects and sued his builder who missed the foundation. Fortunately he prevailed in court but those two years of heartache could have been avoided.
Another Lincoln County new home on acreage became bargain priced because it was built in the county right of way and had to be moved.
More often than not, owner builders and contractors with no one to hold their feet to the fire reinvent the wheel by making do with less and end up burning innocent others. And if you live 10 feet away from an unmarketable eyesore of a deathtrap no bank would lend on, then what? Your house drops in value with the neighborhood’s. That’s what.
If you want to see what a congested city with few rules looks like then visit Tijuana. Or Manila. Or most any third world city. But if you still want to eliminate building code enforcement then only allow rural 20-acre minimums with 500 feet between homes. That way when the cobbled up mess the neighbors live in explodes because of no gas line pressure test, you might escape harm.
Like it or not, building codes save lives.
So be pro-life. Keep the building inspections!
MIKE RENO
Post Falls