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Since I'm not a building contractor, I don't pay much attention to building codes, especially since my own efforts at home repair don't go much beyond prying windows open in the spring, adjusting storm-door latches and replacing dripping faucets.
Just last week, the flush handle kept falling off our toilet tank. Normally, I manage by ignoring things that next fixed, but this repair was impossible to postpone, and I went to the hardware store, bought a new handle for $5.95 and installed it. Much to my surprise, the job went smoothly and the repair stuck -- all too often, what looks like a 15-minute job turns into two or three days of frustration, followed by a call to a professional and a big dent in the checking account.
At any rate, it's a good thing I performed this repair then, because in the near future, the same activity could be a crime, unless I got a $22 building permit, and endured various delays and inspections.
It appears that the City of Salida might soon replace the 1990 Uniform Building Code with the 2000 version of the International Building Code. The 1990 UBC is out of print, and I have been told that state law sensibly requires that a city's building code be available for purchase.
The city contracts with the Chaffee County government for building inspections, and that's at least partly my fault. Back in 1979 or so, when I was managing editor of the local daily, I jumped right on a good story.
The city had its own building inspector then, a fellow who also sold used cars and did some construction on the side. He had contracted to build an addition to an elderly woman's house, and he had not got a building permit for the work. He explained that he thought that she had taken care of it, but that sounded pretty lame -- wouldn't you expect the building inspector to check to see whether there was a building permit? And think of the possibilities of conflicts of interest when the building inspector was also a contractor, since he could make life difficult for competitors.
After my foray into investigative journalism, the city decided to contact with the county's building department for inspections.
Last summer, the county adopted the 2000 International Building Code. So did the municipalities of Buena Vista and Poncha Springs. Last month, the county told Salida to adopt the IBC within 30 days, or the county would quit conducting inspections in Salida.
So it was time to look at this new and improved building code, which seems to be spreading faster than a Microsoft Outlook virus. The good news is that it allows you to change a light bulb or plug in a toaster without getting a permit and waiting for an inspection. The bad news is that just about everything else falls under the code.
For instance, there's that toilet flush handle I just
installed. It controls a valve in my water-supply system.
So it might qualify as the replacement or rearrangement
of valves, pipes, or fixtures,
and even if the handle
were exempt, the replacement of the ball cock in the toilet
tank would certainly qualify.
Adjusting that storm-door latch, or replacing the screen
or glass in the door, might well be a change of any
required means of egress,
and thus a project that
requires a building permit.
Another recent project, replacing the P-trap under the
kitchen sink, could also need a permit, since if any
concealed trap, drainpipe ... becomes defective and it
becomes necessary to remove and replace the same with new
material, such work shall be considered as new work and a
permit shall be obtained and inspection made as provided in
this code.
But was it concealed
just because it was in a
cabinet under the sink? I asked a contractor friend.
That's a judgment call for the inspector,
he said,
and if the inspector feels like being a bastard, well,
you're in trouble.
That trouble, according to city
ordinance, is a fine of up to $1,000, and a jail term of up
to 60 days, for each day of the each violation.
While these fines could certainly help the city budget in these Bush economic times, I have to wonder how they'll enforce this. Station undercover agents at Gamble's to see who's buying certain household repair parts, then conduct surprise inspections on those addresses a few days later?
At his first inauguration in 1869, President Ulysses S.
Grant said I know no method to secure the repeal of bad
or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent
execution.
Alas, as our bad and obnoxious drug laws demonstrate, Grant was wrong. The laws get stringent enforcement, but they don't get repealed.
The only solution seems to be not to let bad and obnoxious laws get enacted in the first place. That means a lot of time and effort that might have otherwise gone to productive work -- little wonder that the economy is in trouble.
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