Sunday, December 9, 2012

The Bare Minimum Code in New Homes Being Built in South GA.

In Thomasville, GA. it looks like what buyers are looking for is new cheaply built homes and some of these homes unfortunately for the buyers are built to bare and below minimum code. It seems like people don’t care for quality or a home built right and above minimum code and thinking about it they will not understand the cheap price until they are in the home and notice things starting to go wrong. The type of construction in some of these new homes in South GA gives new meaning to bare minimum code, but the real estate industry doesn't care because the bigger the home and their cheap price are selling it doesn't matter if they are badly built homes as long as they can be sold. The worst part is that they are being built by a person that has no building background, knowledge and no building license and is MIA from job site the subcontractors run the project as they see fit because even if they do it wrong nobody that knows about building is there to tell them otherwise. With the construction industry still trying to come back very few homes are being built by qualified builders with quality materials and qualified sub-contractors and framers, not by out of working people charging $1.25/sq.ft. claiming to be framers and roofers charging under $20/square. I giggle when I see a home construction and from the street I see so many things done below minimum code and worse to see how the home is being built against Residential Building Code. But at the same time, I feel pitty for the buyers because they have a future of problems with the home they think they got at a steal of a price. I simply say "You get what you pay for" Due you expect to buy a FORD with the luxury of a Mercedes? Dream on.


Beware of Richard BigBird Claming to be a builder!
If you’re buying a new home in Thomasville, GA. make sure it is not built by Richard BigBird he is not a builder he does not have a building license he is working under someone else's license with no building knowledge on how to build a home to minimum code. These homes being built in Thomasville, GA. are cheaply to bare and below minimum code. Now if your realtor shows you these new cheaply built homes I would run and run fast. Georgia Law, states a licensed builder CAN NOT let another use his license to build homes. And it is happening in Thomasville, GA. 

  More Images
The Bare Minimum There seems to be a consciousness on building codes recently. I myself have been a little more focused on codes of late. This is probably because I have inspected a fair number of newer homes and homes with additions recently. The one theme that recurs when speaking of building codes is that they are minimum standards, the absolute lowest allowable acceptable parameter. When you stop and think,

does anyone really want something done to a
minimum standard? The only minimal thing I like is a bikini, but I digress. A minimum must exist because a standard needs a benchmark. This is the place to start when designing something like a house. You can go along the mark or better yet above, but never below. But what about standards for home inspections. Most people in the real estate business are aware that inspectors are governed or in most cases regulated by a set of

(This image shows no ice & water on valley and duct tape
on plywood joints. Told the home owners that he knows
 how to build Energy Efficiency. WOW!)

standards of practice (SOP). The home inspection SOP is the minimum or benchmark to which a home inspection is to be performed. Would anyone really want a minimally done home inspection? Image from a local home built in Thomasville, GA. Yet there seems to be inspectors and builders who see nothing wrong in providing the very least to their clients. I have heard more times than I care; "It meets code" as an explanation for a defect in a home. I also hear; "The SOP says I do not have to inspect that" There would appear to be a lot of effort by some put into not doing more than is defined as necessary.

I am continually amazed at the amount of discussion by inspectors on what can be done in the course of a home inspection. Listening to these discussions it is apparent that great thought goes into deciding what one can and can not do based on the SOP. This of course all boils down to seeking to limit ones liability. It occurs to me that going above the SOP would better limit ones liability than seeking to skate along the benchmark. Wrapping ones self in the SOP like a shield is not in the long term going to prevent clients from being dissatisfied. Not inspecting areas or items by using the SOP as a "reason" (excuse) will, if done enough times, grate on a client. Clients, and we are all clients, want nothing more than our best effort. Our "A" game. They also want someone who is competent. To accomplish this end takes personal effort. Not minimum effort, but maximum effort. Excuses are in many cases simply a lack of effort. And who really appreciates minimum effort?

 http://activerain.com/blogsview/1372657/the-bare-minimum

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