[Submitted] Ground Rules

[Verdant Haven]

4th draft

[TITLE] Ground Rules

[DESCRIPTION] A shocking series of electrocutions and electrical fires has ravaged newly constructed homes across @@NAME@@. After reviewing veritable mountains of legal filings, government attorneys have discovered that a typo in recent legislation inadvertently changed several portions of the building code.

[VALIDITY] Capitalist, no Devolution, has Courts


[OPTION 1] "I'm a builder, not a language teacher!" exclaims housing contractor @@RANDOMNAME@@, hurriedly filling out paperwork to change @@HIS@@ company's name. "Sure, I knew that an outlet or two were ungrounded, but that's what the new code said to do! You think it's my place to ignore our laws? Might as well just tell me to guess! This one's on you. You need to give contractors indemnity when the government screws up."

[EFFECT 1] the government pays contractors to be negligent


[OPTION 2] "An outlet or two?" blurts infamous personal injury lawyer @@RANDOMNAME@@, whose hair is standing curiously on end. "My entire electrical system is missing critical safety components! I tried to change a lightbulb, and I got shocked so badly I still can't feel my fingers! Real professionals absolutely know when the code is in error. Failing to say something was pure negligence! Make them rebuild these homes properly, and on their own dime, or there's going to be hell to pay!"

[EFFECT 2] defendants assert that laws are merely typos


[OPTION 3] "The fact that this happened is proof that the code has become too complicated" pants Inspector General of Code Compliance @@RANDOMNAME@@, hoisting a tome several thousand pages thick onto a table. "It takes a month to read this... how is my division supposed to catch and correct mistakes before they have negative consequences? Suspend all construction until we can re-write the building code to be clear, concise, and understandable for everyone! We have to simplify this mess."

[EFFECT 3] the nation's building codes consist of nothing but line art and emojis


[OPTION 4] "Heck yeah it's too complicated, throw it out!" cheers libertarian activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, jumping from behind a curtain to interrupt. "We don't need your code! We don't want your code! If somebody doesn't know what they're asking for, that's on them! Caveat emptor, right? Why does the government have to get involved in our lives? Keep government overreach out of the home – and out of home construction!"

[EFFECT 4] engineering degrees are considered "must haves" for first-time home buyers

3rd Draft

[TITLE] Ground Rules

[DESCRIPTION] A shocking series of electrocutions and electrical fires occurring in newly constructed homes has caught the attention of first responders and government statisticians alike. After digging through mountains of legal filings, some of which were quite singed, they have discovered that several portions of the building code were inadvertently changed by a typo in recent legislation.

[VALIDITY] Capitalist, no Devolution, has Courts


[OPTION 1] "I'm a builder, not a language teacher!" declares housing contractor @@RANDOMNAME@@, hurriedly filling out paperwork to change @@HIS@@ company's name. "Sure, I knew that an outlet or two were ungrounded, but that's what the new code said to do! You think it's my place to correct the writing in our laws? Might as well just tell me to guess! This one's on you. You need to give contractors indemnity when the government screws up."

[EFFECT 1] professional negligence is a legally-protected pastime


[OPTION 2] "An outlet or two?" blurts infamous personal injury lawyer @@RANDOMNAME@@, whose hair is standing curiously on end. "My entire electrical system is missing critical safety components! I tried to change a lightbulb, and I got shocked so badly I still can't feel my fingers! Real professionals absolutely know when the code is in error. Failing to say something was pure negligence! Make them rebuild these homes properly, and on their own dime, or there's going to be hell to pay!"

[EFFECT 2] companies are punished for obeying the law


[OPTION 3] "The fact that this could happen is proof that the whole code has become much too complicated" pants Inspector General of Code Compliance @@RANDOMNAME@@, hoisting a tome several thousand pages thick onto a table. "It takes a month to read this... how is my division supposed to catch and correct mistakes before they have negative consequences? Suspend all construction until we can re-write the building code to be clear, concise, and understandable for everyone! I'm sure we can simplify this mess."

[EFFECT 3] the nation's building codes are widely used to teach reading to children


[OPTION 4] "Heck yeah it's too complicated, throw it out!" cheers libertarian activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, jumping from behind a curtain to interrupt. "We don't need your code! We don't want your code! If somebody doesn't know what they're asking for, that's on them! Caveat emptor, right? Why does the government have to get involved in our lives? Keep government overreach out of the home – and out of home construction!"

[EFFECT 4] engineering degrees are considered "must haves" for first-time home buyers

2nd draft

[TITLE] Up To Code

[DESCRIPTION] A shocking series of electrocutions and electrical fires occurring in newly constructed homes has caught the attention of first responders and government statisticians alike. After digging through mountains of paperwork, some of which was quite singed, they have discovered that several portions of the building code were inadvertently changed by recent legislation.

[VALIDITY] Capitalist, no Devolution


[OPTION 1] "The contract said to follow the code, so we followed the code!" declares housing contractor @@RANDOMNAME@@, hurriedly filling out paperwork to change @@HIS@@ company's name. "Sure, we saw that the polarity was reversed on an outlet or two, but the code said to cross the wires and dot the T-squares, so that's what we did. Do you know how much a change-order would have cost us... err... the customer? If the code doesn't say what you want, just pass a new code – that's how it works, right?"

[EFFECT 1] professional negligence is a legally-protected pastime


[OPTION 2] "An outlet or two?" blurts infamous personal injury lawyer @@RANDOMNAME@@, whose hair is standing curiously on end. "Every outlet in my house is reversed! I tried to change a lightbulb, and I got shocked so badly I still can't feel my fingers! Real professionals should have known the code was in error - failing to catch it is pure negligence! Make them rebuild these homes properly, and on their own dime, or there's going to be hell to pay!"

[EFFECT 2] citizens are furious when companies obey the law


[OPTION 3] "The fact that this could happen is proof that the whole code has become much too complicated" pants building inspector @@RANDOMNAME@@, hoisting a tome several thousand pages thick onto a table. "How am I supposed to stay current on all this anyway, much less catch mistakes before they have negative consequences? Suspend all construction until you can completely re-write the building code to be clear and understandable for everyone! We cannot allow confusion and complexity to imperil the safety of our citizens."

[EFFECT 3] the nation's building codes are widely used to teach reading to children


[OPTION 4] "Heck yeah it's too complicated, throw it out!" cheers libertarian activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, jumping from behind a curtain to interrupt. "We don't need your code! We don't want your code! If somebody doesn't know what they're asking for, that's on them! Caveat emptor, right? Why does the government have to get involved in our lives? Keep government overreach out of the home – and out of home construction!"

[EFFECT 4] the first step for savvy homebuyers is to earn an engineering degree

1st draft

While we do have a couple of issues that are related to things like where homes can be built, and certainly things related to insurance, I'm couldn't find anything related to building codes and safety standards for home construction.

[TITLE] Polar opposites

[DESCRIPTION] A shocking series of electrocutions and electrical fires in the last quarter has caught the attention of first responders and government statisticians alike. After digging through mountains of paperwork, some of which was quite singed, they have discovered that somehow the portions of the building code covering the installation of electrical fixtures were completely eliminated by recent legislation.

[VALIDITY] Capitalist


[OPTION 1] "We followed the code, can't blame us!" wheedles construction magnate @@RANDOMNAME@@, hurriedly filling out paperwork to change @@HIS@@ company's name. "Sure, we cut back on QC for the electrical systems, and maybe we reversed polarity on an outlet here or there, but it was all legal. We figured you just wanted to pass along some savings to we poor contractors! If you want something done differently, just pass a new code – that's how it works, right?"

[EFFECT 1] professional negligence is a legally-protected pastime


[OPTION 2] "An outlet here or there?" rages lawyer @@RANDOMNAME@@, whose hair is standing curiously on end. "Every outlet in my house is reversed! I tried to change a lightbulb, and instead I got shocked so badly I still can't feel my fingers! This is pure negligence by both the company and the government – I demand restitution! Pass a new code, make them rebuild these homes properly from the ground up, and I strongly suggest you toss in a little money for my troubles, or else…"

[EFFECT 2] following the law is no protection from the law


[OPTION 3] "The fact that this could happen is proof that the whole code has become much too complicated" declares building inspector @@RANDOMNAME@@, holding a tome several thousand pages thick. "How am I supposed to enforce all this anyway? Suspend all construction until you can completely re-write the building code to be clear and understandable for everyone! Safety first - you cannot allow confusion and complexity to imperil the safety of our citizens."

[EFFECT 3] construction has ground to a halt while schoolchildren proofread new code requirements


[OPTION 4] "Heck yeah it's too complicated, throw it out!" blurts libertarian activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, jumping from behind a curtain to interrupt. "We don't need your code! We don't want your code! If somebody wants to take the risk with cheap construction, that's up to them! Caveat emptor, right? Why does the government have to get involved in our lives? Keep Big Brother out of the home – and out of home construction!"

[EFFECT 4] potential homebuyers make a point to earn engineering degrees first

[Australian rePublic]

Option 1- what kind of idiot would admit and say he would have done it differently had he been forced to? That's how you destroy your business. "I'm not gonna do anything to prevent ypur house from catching fire, unless you force me to". Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that such stupid people can't exist, but if they did exist they would have lost their business a long time ago by other having lost their business, their shoddy electricity work showing up on the news or word of mouth. I mean, if he's telling a parliamentary enquiry, a parliamentary enquiry, about how deliberately dodgy his electrical work is, how many of his customers would he have told "it's not my fault that it's perfectly legal for my electrical work to set your house on fire"?


Also, any reason why this is limited to capitalists? Electricians in Capitalist societies might cut a few corner to save a quick buck but some electricians in communist communities would also cut corners out of laziness. Hell, laziness could even be a reason for capitalist country electricians to cut corners

[Verdant Haven]

In my experience, construction contractors follow the code. "That's the code" is a refrain in instructional materials, and I sit in on numerous construction meetings through my employer, sometimes multiple per week, where the instructions "follow the code" are basically hard-baked into every construction contract. It gets used to explain things that are challenged on a fairly regular basis. "We were following orders" is a pretty universal defense strategy. Doesn't mean it's a good one, but it is extremely common.

Part of the idea I was suggesting behind the name change paperwork is that exactly what you're saying is true - word of mouth follows a business, but by changing the name of the company the contractor is trying to dodge that result of shoddy workmanship and keep milking the cash cow of quick and cheap construction. Much like a slum lord might keep something technically legally habitable despite terrible conditions, this contractor is slapping things together fast and cheap to grab the purchase, and then running with the money.

One of the reason's I actually gravitated to reversed polarity as a specific entry-point to the question of building codes is that when I was a child, we moved into a house that had had some work done on it, and only after moving in did we find that the polarity had been reversed in an outlet in that area. The electrician we had called in to do some other work, and who discovered this problem, had a strong enough reaction that I still remember it more than 30 years later.


I kept this one Capitalist at the moment mostly because it's so heavily reliant on the transactional nature of housing construction and purchase. Options 1 and 2 would need to be mirrored options as opposed to edits to work in a non-capitalist economic model, while option 4 is completely non-existent in a nation where the government explicity controls everything.

[Verdant Haven]

Another old one getting cleaned up for submission!

Changes:
- Altered title away from "Polar Opposites" to clear the way for the draft by Aussie and Millenhaal
- Cleaned up muddy options so they are both clear in what they ask, and aren't repeating each other
- Made the arguments, especially that of the first speaker, a bit more cogent
- Changed or updated effect lines 2 through 4.

[Ostrovskiy]

Does the first option really do anything?

[Trotterdam]

If professionals see that the law is so obviously wrong, they should really do something about it and petition the government to fix its law, rather than blithely implementing the law-as-written and then disclaiming responsibility when it goes wrong.

But by the same token, the lawmakers responsible for ratifying the broken code should also definitely be held responsible for their blunder.

[Luna Amore]

I like the concept. Malicious compliance to the absurd. I think it could use a punchier title. Some possible suggestions:

Follow The Red Tape Code
Opposites Attract Disaster
Bipolar Code
Homeowners In For A Shock
The Electrocution That Proves The Rule
Ground Rules

[Verdant Haven]

Does the first option really do anything?

It's a choice to re-rewrite the building code to correct the problem, and identify the financial burden as being on the homeowner. I can see how that it isn't as clear as it should be - I'll work on it.

If professionals see that the law is so obviously wrong, they should really do something about it and petition the government to fix its law, rather than blithely implementing the law-as-written and then disclaiming responsibility when it goes wrong.

But by the same token, the lawmakers responsible for ratifying the broken code should also definitely be held responsible for their blunder.

Sounds like you favor Option 2!

I like the concept. Malicious compliance to the absurd. I think it could use a punchier title. Some possible suggestions:

Follow The Red Tape Code
Opposites Attract Disaster
Bipolar Code
Homeowners In For A Shock
The Electrocution That Proves The Rule
Ground Rules

Thank you for the suggestions! I love and will use "Ground Rules," for the replacement electricity pun. I'd slapped the other title in hurriedly, just to make sure I wasn't posting with the original title now being approximately used elsewhere in GI. I'll slip in some reference to ungrounded outlets in the next draft (which were another problem found in that same electrical review of my childhood home, that I mentioned above).

[Verdant Haven]

Updated!

- Title changed to Ground Rules (thanks, Luna)
- Description and options streamlined to really focus the topic on the question of code compliance vs professional judgement
- Effect lines tweaked for ease of reading

[Verdant Haven]

I've done another update on this one!

- Significantly cleaned up the description
- Cleaned and shortened most of the options
- Replaced three effect lines