Subj: It Meets Code
Date: 05/13/2001 11:15:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time
It Meets Code
How many times have you as a Real Estate Professional heard these three words? "IT MEETS CODE." Maybe you heard a derivative. "IT MET CODE WHEN IT WAS BUILT." Have you ever used those words, or heard them from a builder? Today I am going to climb a high Oak tree, crawl out on a limb and saw it off behind me. Come along with me. It will hurt a little, but you will be the better for the journey.
Home Inspectors do not do code inspections. Have you ever wondered why? After today you will clearly understand. Recently I overheard and ultimately was part of a conversation involving two builders and a subcontractor. The mason on the home under construction had used 100 bags of mortar more than the builder had estimated should be required. They were attempting to determine why. Can you answer the following questions?
How many shovels of sand do you mix with a bag of mortar?
What type shovel should you use? Flat, square, round
What size shovel should you use?
How may buckets of water should be used?
What size bucket?
The key question is can your favorite builder answer these questions correctly? Builders and masons will stand and argue about these issues. The very fact that such occurs is proof of the point I will attempt to deal with today. The point is this. It is most likely that no house constructed today or that has ever been constructed meets or has met the code under which it was built. Now we are out on that limb with saw in hand and the dust is flying.
We better look in our codebook and find where these questions are answered. You do have one don't you? Look all you want; you will not find the answers. Why? None of the questions asked above have anything to do with the mixing of mortar and all code requirements are not in the book. To meet code, mortar must be mixed to the manufactures specifications. The manufactures specifications calls for three cubic feet of dry sand per bag of mortar. In all of my years in construction attempting to find a better method, there remains only one legitimate method of measuring sand. That method requires the use of a cubic foot box, and cardboard wont work. Go out to the nearest development and count the cubic foot boxes on site. Unless it is very unusual or they are using a white mortar, you will find none. Taking this a step further, check to see how many of the sand piles are covered. Remember, the sand must be dry. If the sand is wet, the water displaces the sand in the box and you can't attain a proper mix.
Do those homes under construction meet code? No, they do not. Will the code enforcement official question or check the mixing of the mortar? Not likely. Will the code enforcement official pass them and give the builder a certificate of occupancy? Yes, he will. Are we going to rip all of the brick off of all of the houses constructed to date and replace them with properly mixed mortar? I don't think so. What about the foundations? Wouldn't that be fun?
The truth is that there are many misconceptions about codes and code enforcement officials. I want to attempt today to shatter some of those conceptions.
Last week I was told the following after reporting a yard that was graded improperly on a new house. "This house meets code. It has been approved by the city building inspector." I will let you figure out who made that statement. Was that person wrong? You can believe they were and that I quoted chapter and verse. After today, I hope it will never be you.
The general conception is that code enforcement officials know what is in the building code and are here to assure that builders meet all of the requirements of the code.
Nothing could be farther from the truth, although some code inspectors would like you to think that they know the code. Go to a library, and if you can assure me that you have all of the knowledge contained on those bookshelves, including the ones that will be delivered tomorrow, I might consider that some inspector somewhere knows the code. The truth is that no person, not even one who writes codes knows the totality of what is contained in them. If you think builders, myself included, know the code then you need to go back to bed and try getting up again. In code are contained requirements to meet thousands of standards, which are not written in the book. Those standards involve volumes that would fill rooms and are constantly in the process of revision.
As to "assure that builders meet all of the requirements of the code," that is a physical impossibility.
To understand code and the officials who enforce it, lets take a few minutes and check out what they are all about in North Carolina.
The purpose of the code in clearly stated in Section 102.1 Minimum standards:
"102.1 Minimum standards. The purpose of this code is to provide minimum standards for the protection of life, limb, health, property, environment and for the safety and welfare of the consumer, general public, and the owners and occupants of residential buildings regulated by this code."
You did get the point, didn't you? MINIMUM STANDARDS. When you are buying a car or appliance, you do search for one meeting minimum standards, don't you? I don't think many of those are offered in the U.S.
The responsibility of the code enforcement official is clearly set forth in Section 109.1 Relief from personal responsibility:
"109.1 Relief from personal responsibility. The building official or the building official's authorized representative acting in good faith and without malice in the discharge of his duties shall not render himself personally liable for any damage that may accrue to persons or property as a result of any act or by reason of any act of omission in the discharge of his duties. Any suit brought against the building official or employees because of such an act or omission performed in the enforcement of this code shall be defended by the jurisdiction until final determination and any judgment therefore shall be assumed by the jurisdiction. This code shall not relieve or lessen the responsibility of an owner, operator or controller of a building for any damages to the person or property caused by defects, nor shall the building department or its jurisdiction be held to assume any such liability by reason of inspection or permits authorized by this code."
Maybe you better back up and read that again. Let me state is more simply: The code enforcement official has no liability for his actions. You the taxpayer will pay to defend him. If by some chance he is found to be guilty, you, the taxpayer, will assume responsibility for the judgment. As if that is not enough, the jurisdiction is not responsible for damages caused by what it missed. Who is going to win this case?
Now wouldn't life be wonderful if you and I could live by those rules? The code doesn't allow for that, it even goes a step farther and puts all of the responsibility on the builder and homeowner. Tell your client "it meets code" and the responsibility might have just transferred to you. It will not be transferring to me, I don't do code inspections.
If the state is not willing to assure that a building meets code requirements, you can bet your life I am not going to do so and neither should you.
A little word to the wise, remove the following from your vocabulary:
"IT MEETS CODE"
OH! You might want to advise your builder friends of the same. Chances are good that it doesn't.
Thought for the week
And God said: "Let there be Satan, so people don't blame everything on me. And let there be lawyers, so people don't blame everything on Satan." -- George Burns
