[tlj009]

Louisiana has passed new building code laws. These laws will require every house or building built in Louisiana to meet certain building codes. Plans will have to be drawn for each building by an architect or engineer so that they can be reviewed, the building code must be followed and a certified inspector will be required to make periodic visits to the site to insure that the codes are being followed. The owner will have to pay for all that as well as the permits for the building. In addition, any contractor has to be a liscensed contractor as well as any subcontractors. This new law will likely add more than 25% to the cost of building a house and could very easily double the price of building. Since, the Law applys not only to new buildings but also to any additions, the price of additions will likely double, although it may be impossible to inforce this.

http://www.bcap-energy.org/newslette...s/LA_ACT12.pdf

[JerryLove]

Such regulations have existed in Florida for some time.

[H.M. Murdock]

And it's about time that Louisiana followed suit.
Seriously. Contractors need to be put on a tighter leash. I hear way too many stories about utterly incompetent buffoons building residences. If I were to hire a contractor to build my house, I would want one that is competent by general standards, knows how to do things right, and whose crew/subcontractors don't spend their lunch breaks getting high and busting up the tools. It initially comes back to bite the soon-to-be homeowner, but it's invaluable in the long run. Take it from someone who lives in a house built by morons.

[TheProdigalModern]

Eh--if I build a house, it won't be here in La.

My father could do the job just fine...but then again, he's basically the only non-professional that I would trust with it.

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by tlj009

Louisiana has passed new building code laws. These laws will require every house or building built in Louisiana to meet certain building codes. Plans will have to be drawn for each building by an architect or engineer so that they can be reviewed, the building code must be followed and a certified inspector will be required to make periodic visits to the site to insure that the codes are being followed. The owner will have to pay for all that as well as the permits for the building. In addition, any contractor has to be a liscensed contractor as well as any subcontractors. This new law will likely add more than 25% to the cost of building a house and could very easily double the price of building. Since, the Law applys not only to new buildings but also to any additions, the price of additions will likely double, although it may be impossible to inforce this.

http://www.bcap-energy.org/newslette...s/LA_ACT12.pdf

welcome to the 21st century. Building codes have existed in most states for quite a long time. LA is slowly catching up with the rest of the country

[tlj009]

Eh--if I build a house, it won't be here in La.

My father could do the job just fine...but then again, he's basically the only non-professional that I would trust with it.

That is really the problem that I see. The working poor and middle class who would build a house themselves are going to be the ones affected by this. My family has built four houses four ourselves (2 for my parents, 2 for uncles). My parents first house cost a total of $40,000 to build since we did it ourselves. The house was then appraised for almost $100,000. If this new law had been in effect, an architect would have to draw the plans at about 5%, $5,000, an inspector would have to inspect it 3%, $3,000, and the permit would have been around $2,000. So it would have cost an extra $10,000 which may not sound like much except the original cost was only $40,000. And that is assuming we could get a copy of the regulations and follow them ourselves. Since, I doubt that most people could do that, it almost insures that a contractor will have to build any house built. That in itself makes it a whole lot harder for the lower middle class or poor to own their own home. That $40,000 home that my parents built would have cost over $100,000 for a liscensed contractor to build (especially when all of his subs have to be liscensed too) and then at least $10,000 more for inspectors, etc.

I knew a man who lived in an old school bus because he couldn't afford anything else. After about 3 years he bought a trailer. Under these new laws, I guess all he would be able to do is pitch a tent.

Building codes have existed in Louisiana for a long time, they were just focused on liscensed contractors in the past though. Now everyone is affected.

[JerryLove]

The other option being that no one can afford homeowner's insurance because of the high fall-down during storms, and no one can afford taxes paying for the uninsured.

You are right. Building codes always make houses more expensive. So do property taxes.

[H.M. Murdock]

Pa-ching. Right on, Jerry.
After hearing my brother talk about what it takes to build a house that can really stand up to a hurricane (admittedly, the differences are few in appearance but great in effect), I came home and took a peek at my own house.
I am now scared of a simple breeze.


Seriously, though. Louisiana gets enough beatings from hurricanes to have had better regulations on this stuff before. In a perfect world, people would build better houses just to build better houses. But when lives are at stake, I see nothing wrong with sacrificing some spending money to prevent people from sacrificing their safety. Unless we all plan to object to driver's ed, road safety standards, vehicle inspections, medical liscensing and the like.

[JerryLove]

Of course, if your family member has the skills, getting licensed adds far less money to the project than you are concerned about.

You don't need an electrician to install, just to certify (at least in my state). This is true for most subsystems. Even the architect doesn't technically nreed to be the one who makes the blueprints, he just needs to sign off on them. The charges of such are quite a bit lower than you fear.

So get a general contractor's license and be done with it. Make your money back being a gneral contractor for others with similar needs.

[tlj009]

The other option being that no one can afford homeowner's insurance because of the high fall-down during storms, and no one can afford taxes paying for the uninsured.

You are right. Building codes always make houses more expensive. So do property taxes.

North Louisiana doesn't have much of a hurricane problem. I'm not a real big fan of property taxes either.

Of course, if your family member has the skills, getting licensed adds far less money to the project than you are concerned about.

You don't need an electrician to install, just to certify (at least in my state). This is true for most subsystems. Even the architect doesn't technically nreed to be the one who makes the blueprints, he just needs to sign off on them. The charges of such are quite a bit lower than you fear.

So get a general contractor's license and be done with it. Make your money back being a gneral contractor for others with similar needs.

Getting a contractor's license is not all that easy. There are a few requirements. First you have to have the experience. And that means working full time for another contractor. Then you must go to Baton Rouge, pay a fee and test. It is a pain and also means at least one day off work. Anyway the contractor's license is not that big of a deal. The deal is that I know a guy right now with 25 years of experience designing building that has been studying for 3 months to be an inspector and he is still not sure about passing the test. A contractor's license does no one any good if you have to tear out what you have built because you didn't know to call an inspector before you put up the sheetrock. Before ever building you would have to sit down and read every rule and then build your house. That is the problem. Most people, even if they have the skills, don't know what these knew rules are. It would take a lot of studying and even then if you do make a mistake, it is a very costly mistake. For all of them reasons, people who would normally build their selves will hire a contractor.

[tlj009]

Seriously, though. Louisiana gets enough beatings from hurricanes to have had better regulations on this stuff before. In a perfect world, people would build better houses just to build better houses. But when lives are at stake, I see nothing wrong with sacrificing some spending money to prevent people from sacrificing their safety. Unless we all plan to object to driver's ed, road safety standards, vehicle inspections, medical liscensing and the like.

Like I said, north Louisiana doesn't have much of a hurricane problem. Also shouldn't we be able to build what we want on our own land? Sure contractors should be held accountable for quality but I believe that they already were under the old laws. If I want to build an old shed to put my lawn mower and equipment under, why does it have to withstand a hurricane? And besides all of that, how many houses in the state can withstand a hurricane? Half of the houses still standing in New Orleans had to be torn down because of fungus and flood damage, not the hurricane force winds.

[JerryLove]

Like I said, north Louisiana doesn't have much of a hurricane problem. Also shouldn't we be able to build what we want on our own land?

Only under anarcy would that be reasonable.

I'm curious if you have the same objection to doctors needing to be certified, or if you think we should be ok doing surgery ourselves?

[jfahler03]

Originally Posted by JerryLove

Only under anarcy would that be reasonable.

I'm curious if you have the same objection to doctors needing to be certified, or if you think we should be ok doing surgery ourselves?

Bah... government intervention is the devil!

...we should consider the same for meat packing plants...

[JerryLove]

Hadn't even though abou those. Imagine how much more expensive our groceries are with all those silly health and oversight regulations (like Mad Cow is all that bad). Those gotta go.

[zekthedeadcow]

The primary issue with licensing is not "knowledge" ...it's proof of liability insurance. If the homeowner is the contractor then there's nobody to sue when it falls down... Small operations are generally ignored... however you DO _NEED_ certain things... like properly drawn building plans...that you actually follow... properly installed electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc... the person buying the house after the builder dies shouldn't get supprised with lead solder in the water pipes.

It isn't a matter of you trust the person and you think they know what they're doing... society has to trust them because the house will be around longer than you.

...and besides... if you can't pass a building inspection you're building a really crappy house...


Some of the fun things I've ran across...
1/2" plywood subfloors floors... in tiled bathrooms..
I just left a house with 3 phone systems...
water pipes over the fuse box
3 runs of tarpaper over a roof that needed 6... the middle one was run diagonally.. :/
CM-CL2 phone cable run outdoors
outdoor cable run indoors...
light switch on two circuit breakers... that was fun...
electrical boxs covered with drywall
breaker that ran random things throughout a very large house...
was siding a house who's outside walls were a mixture of OSB, "the compressed cardboard stuff" and 1" foam board... guess how well the FOAM lasted in a major hail storm