Sorry for the bump. Just had to say something. I spent my morning drinking coffee and reading this thread. What a hoot. You guys kill me. And one of the funniest was from Ernie:
On 01/04/05 17:30 ET, Ernie Bornn-Gilman said...
Do you figure he has quit this and gone into real
estate yet? I bet he sells futureproof used cars
on the side.
My slant on standards:
Been a commercial builder for 30 years. I left residential a long long time ago.
Sidenote: I applaud all the residential installers in this forum. They have to listen to some lady dressed to the 9's telling them how to do their job. I won't do it.
Back to my point:
The closest thing to a standard is the ADA. But even that has flaws. Paul Allen built the Rose Garden in Portland Oregon following all the rules for handcap access. Everything was passed by the building inspectors. The Rose Garden opened. After the first few basketball games were played some handicap attendants complained about the seating arrangements. Access to the seats via a wheelchair was not the problem. The view from the seats was. They threatened to sue Mr. Allen. He bowed to pressure and remodeled the entire handicap area of a brand new building.
I'm not saying what he originally built was wrong or right. All I'm saying is even when you follow all the codes required by the ADA it still might have flaws.
As a builder (I work in 5 different states) I would like to see standardization for the UBC, NFPA, NEC and any other entity that rears it's ugly head.
Wait- maybe I should write something up and make a website.
