As someone who has been close to almost-tragedies caused by fires, can you give me examples where fire codes are over-zealous? I've had family almost getting killed, even though they did follow the fire codes - the didn't even get a fine or a case against them. If you ask me, the fire codes were not strict enough in that instance.
There's a small movement to eradicate the requirement for midrise buildings to have 2 stairways. Advocates point to European regulations and claim that a single stairway is just as safe as 2.
Double stairways, they say, makes construction more expensive and results in awkward, undesirable apartment layouts.
https://slate.com/business/2021/12/staircases-floor-plan-twi...
'In NY "Fire-Proof" buildings can be built like that', when they're built out of materials that do not burn and in ways where the fire cannot spread. Effectively the safer place in a fire, in theory, would be to shelter in place as it cannot spread.
I'm all for using as many non-burning materials as possible in building construction.
Are you proposing to get rid of the second stairway alone, or are you going to bring all the other regulations too?
(Legal cases, inquests etc continue.)
The regulations existed and were illegally broken.
It may not be as ideal as stairs, but if it's a backup option you'd think that'd be much less costly while still allowing at least a majority of people to escape.
I don't know enough about fire code to know whether it applies here.
Spooked me enough to make me not get permits for the next renos. Too many arbitrary rules that can make projects spiral without any real safety improvement.
Now, when you sell your house, is the next person gonna be a bit miffed that there are no outlets in the kitchen anywhere near the sink? What about when they go to install a smart outlet and there's no neutral, and 1cm of hot wire to work with? That's gonna suck too, but you didn't permit anything and went off your gut so... fuck them I guess?
> Spooked me enough to make me not get permits for the next renos.
I have no idea what you're going to decide is up to your own personal code going forward.
There's no less than three breaker panels in the house itself and it's never immediately clear which panel goes to which outlet/fixture/appliance.
I gave up installing a faucet in the kitchen and called a plumber. He cut the PVC monstrosity out from the cabinet and took it back to the shop to show his buddies.
You know that little drain line that comes from the AC to handle condensation? It is not a good idea to have the other end of it in the crawl space.
I don’t doubt there are great reasons for most of the rules, and the best way to get compliance is to explain why they’re there. And some may be overzealous indeed and then they would hopefully be adjusted.
From a top-level comment: Everyone - everyone - is certain that the codes are all overzealous and their little thing needs an exception.
You built something that wasn't to code and now you're sad that they told you that you did it wrong, but allowed it to stand because in their judgement it wasn't critical enough to have you rework it? The IRC is freely available, just read the code and follow it! It's dead simple. They even have pictures: https://cdn-codes-pdf.iccsafe.org/bundles/document/new_docum...
Things worked out for you when you followed the rules, and because they worked out, you're not going to follow the rules in the future?
I agree that you could argue a garage should get an exemption if it's under X height and surface area. But otherwise, it seems like a sensible request.
Too bad, I was hoping solar garages and solar car ports would take over the world... Maybe if you build the roof out of structural solar panels.
Which means you do nothing and have no sprinklers.
It's only overzealous to people trying to cut corners. It's never overzealous to the people who are killed or hurt.
It's ridiculous to advocate arbitrary, putative, safety enhancing measures without an argument about why that way of spending resources is better than many of the other alternatives.
If it wasn't, we would have a much easier time persecuting people that breaks it, and much more public sympathy for large culprits that actually have much fewer (relatively to their capacity) strings over then than any random person. The same applies to fire codes.