If I start to build and it's not to code .... what happens?

[hnash53]

If I start to build a house, and it's not to code, and if I am "found out,"  what happens?

Hal, The Wanna-Be-Heretic

[MountainDon]

Depends on the inspector and/or the local authorities and how you act/talk with them.

At the very least you would be told to stop work. Maybe a fine. Certainly you'd have to apply and pay for a permit, or permits if there's electrical and plumbing involved. Then they would run over the structure with a fine tooth comb. Maybe ask you to tear some interior wall covering off at their choice to see what's under.

At worst, well you can imagine the at worst.

[NM_Shooter]

Here's a worse case scenario... your electrical work is not to code.  Your house catches on fire.  Post-fire inspection reveals non-code work.  Your homeowner's insurance will not pay.

It really is not much more trouble to build to code.  It just requires a little more research before you start work.

[Don_P]

My inspector would have you expose the footings to verify, expose the framing to be inspected and hire an engineer to take responsibility... basically gut the building. If it doesn't pass, better luck next time. Yup I came home to a nice orange sticker one time on my barn project. The nice note said something to the effect "You in a heap of trouble son". Luckily he knows me pretty well, we get along, and ag is exempt, this was borderline, he viewed it as a permit required storage building. On a residence he would probably have jerked my ticket.

[MountainDon]

Hal, do you actually build knowingly doing things that are not to code, or simply building without the paperwork?

[fishing_guy]

With the satallite images out there now, you will be found out eventually....

Our stuff is all temporary...no property tax increases that way...lol

[hnash53]

Yo, Mountain Don:

No I don't do things deliberately against code.

If you've read about my foundation construction for my cabin, you'll see that it is unconventional.

Lots of people have looked at me weirdly when I told them how I did my foundation.  I dug down 6-10 inches into clay-ey like soil, built 2'x2' treated 2x4 frames.  Then I packed gravel into the holes.  I laid down 4' x 4' tarp around each footing to prevent it from getting wet.  Then I insulated the footings, yes very unconventionally, using wood chips.  I got the idea when in Montana when I saw people go out into their gardens in midwinter, and dig up potatoes that had been covered by grass clippings, and though it was below zero outside, the potatoes were not frozen.

I piled up about 8 inches of wood chips around each footing...you can see this in my story on countryplans.
My foundation has not moved in nearly 8 years. 

This kind of "creative" building is the type of thing that I think inspectors would be very leery about.  I'm a conscientious type person.  I wouldn't build something that wasn't sound, safe, strong.  But I am also a person that thinks there are many unconventional ways of accomplishing what you need to do that work just as well and cost much less, and are doable by oneself.

By-the-book inspectors might not buy into the workability of some of my construction methods...not that I have a lot of them.

I just get to resenting all the rules, regs, etc.  And I also mistrust the motives behind a lot of the rules and regs.  Are they really for safety, or are they just to get more $$ out of my pocket and into theirs?

Anyway...

[fraggin]

Without fear of typecasting myself, and if you're as quasi-paranoid and governmentally pessamistic as I am sometimes, you could always tell yourself that by the time you're done, there will be no local government, very little state and federal government, and likely no resources to pay inspectors or enforce codes.
But then again, I called the city council in the town where I will begin a cabin project soon and asked all the necessary questions, and the lady was more interested in learning who I was kin to in the area than she was about the work I was going to be doing. Her response was "We don't really go to any lengths to enforce codes around here unless your sewer is running onto someone else's property." Out of curiosity, I researched the city data, and there had only been 6 permits to build filed in the past twelve years in the county. Luckly, further research for the specifc county only revealed that if outside city limits, the only inspection needed was for electrical work and that must pass code if connected to the grid, and must be done before concealed. As far as sewer, it was mandated by TECQ that no permit is required if there are no other dwellings or water sources within 10 acres of the site where a septic system was to be installed.
Now this is a town with a population of 900 people that thrives mainly off of tree farms and chicken houses. Codes and guidelines do vary from state, county and town level.
I'd say build smart, and anticipate an inspection of some sort if you plan to connect to a public utility service of any kind.