[Cob] Coblist Proposal: an Independent Cob Certification Program

[Ocean Liff-Anderson]

Been lurking, busy running my cob-oven-fired restaurant, but needed  
to chime in.

After reading what Sarah Booth is going through with our local code  
department (notorious in town for making even conventional buildings  
difficult to get approved), I can't help thinking that Stonebear is  
right:  building one's own shelter is a godess-given birthright and  
necessity.  And just too damned hard to afford for the average person  
living the "American Dream".  The 30-year-mortgage serves many people  
in our economy - the builders, manufacturers, financiers,  
mortgagers...but not the tenants, independent landowners, families or  
individuals.  Even many richer folks are trapped in the mortgage debt  
cycle.

That said, HOWEVER, it is clear that we need to make sure we know how  
to build safe cob (or strawbale, etc) houses.  One can take a week  
long class or read Ianto's book, and then go out and build a  
structure, which may or may not be sound, durable and safe to live.

But rather than wait for the industry to "catch up" with our recent  
advances in reclaiming ancient technology, I propose we create our  
own Independent Cob Certification Program!

Much like organic agriculture set about doing in the 70's & 80's,  
creating their own independent organic certification programs (Oregon  
Tilth, etc), let's create an independent cob certification program,  
where for a reasonable fee, one could have one's design, plans,  
construction techniques and completed building supervised and  
approved by cob "experts".  The Independent Cob Certification Program  
(ICCP) could be set up as a non-profit (like Oregon Tilth), but the  
cob-inspectors would be paid, through fees and fundraising.

The ICCP would solidify and discipline a movement which has been, out  
of necessity, primarily clandestine and "under the radar".  With the  
credibility generated from the organization of the ICCP, cob-friendly  
engineers could be elicited to volunteer and/or provide their  
knowledge to the field at cob-friendly rates.  Cob-friendly attorneys  
could help address potential liability issues for landholders and  
tenants.  Cob-friendly credit unions could be asked to support truly  
grass-root housing in their own backyards: ICCP-certified cob buildings.

Ultimately, the ICCP could have the effect we are looking for:  once  
the "official" building departments see that we're serious about  
certifying our own building technology (and "cleaning up our house" a  
bit) they will treat cob buildings with the respect they deserve.   
Officials may even be able to interpret "ICCP-Certified" as a  
justification for applying that magical clause in the building code  
which says that a building inspector can "sign off" on any building  
he deems structurally sound!

What do you all think about this?

Ocean Liff-Anderson
Intaba's Wildfire Restaurant
Corvallis, Oregon
http://www.woodfiredeatery.com



On May 10, 2007, at 11:47 AM, Stonebears wrote:

> I absolutely do not want code for cob right now ... we are still
> experimenting and the only thing code will do is limit the growth
> natural building in general need. I'm sick of paying through the  
> nose to
> take care of my own sheltering need.
>
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