[Porsche-O-Phile]

What MRM said.

Life-safety is a critical issue that shouldn't be compromised. Even going back to the Code of Hammurabi there have been building codes that directly dealt with life-safety (in Hammurabi's code, the law was simply that if one designed/built a house for another and the house collapsed and killed someone, the designer/builder was to be similarly put to death!)

The problem arises when government (predictably) uses legitimate life-safety issues as an excuse to justify giving it an endless reach. Government is NOTORIOUS for over-reaching like this. "Please think of the children" is used to justify practically anything. "Motorist safety" is used to rationalize draconian traffic enforcement that is clearly about revenue and nothing more. Similarly, "public safety" in buildings can be (and is, sometimes) used to WAY over-reach into areas that have very little to do with directly protecting the general public.

Not to mention professionals like architects and engineers are on the hook for anything that goes wrong - ESPECIALLY a life safety issue. Even if there were NO building codes or government regulation at all, I'd bet dollars to donuts that most buildings would still be overbuilt and safe because of everyone's fear of getting sued these days. Not to mention the inherent professionalism and responsible attitudes that exist on the parts of most professional designers.

So the simple question/answer set is:

"Do we need building codes?"
"Well, yes and no. . . Yes, when properly used they can help us have a built environment that is safer for the public-at-large but they ultimately might not be absolutely NECESSARY to accomplish that objective either. . ."