[Cob] Re: Coblist Digest, Vol 4, Issue 55

[Stephen Karrington]

For me, this seems to be another good reason to build where there
aren't any building codes :) Or at least codes that are actually in print.

In Ukraine, where I have been living there are definitely no
discernable building codes. If there are some no one follows anything
that is duplicated on the property next to them :)

The good news is that you can do just about anything
you want. The bad news is that everything looks ridiculous when
structures next to each other have absolutely nothing in common with
each other as far as esthetics are concerned.

S

> An engineer is a professional with a government-issued license.  The 
> license can be suspended for faulty engineering, etc.  This is why most
> engineers stay far away from cob and other alternative methods.  An 
> engineer would never sign a waiver - after all, you are asking for them
> to certify with your local government that the building is safe and 
> sound.  Then how, at the same time, could you ask them to sign an 
> agreement that says "the building might fall down, but it's not my 
> fault"?

> I think the $10,000 figure is probably accurate, give that an engineer
> will have to do a lot of research, beyond the standard process of 
> looking up engineering numbers for conventional structures.  There's 
> really no way around this issue:  if you're going to try to build under
> the scrutiny of your local building department, then it's going to cost
> a lot of money.  That's why Ianto Evans strongly recommends building 
> small (under 200 square feet), having good relations with your 
> neighbors (so they don't rat you out) and pretty much crossing your 
> fingers that you would be discovered.  This is probably also why, 
> despite many years of discussion about getting engineering for cob, I 
> have still never heard of a single code-approved cob structure in the 
> United States.