be the only thing above water in Miami-Dade County.

Love it

She also had no permits for connecting electricity and plumbing.

She might be a nice person and with cool place but, sorry, I have to side with the local rules/regulations on this one.

Mr. dixie built a toolshed/man cave, went to inquire about permits, was told that he could have a permit AFTER the thing was completed and all costs known because they provide permits based on cost of building.

That was 8 years ago. He still has not *completed* the deck rails of the porch.

Interestingly, our annual property tax ( which we don't have to pay because we are over 65) lists one tool shed.

The toolshed that used to be on the property was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, but the tax assessor assures me he was out to inspect the property at some point after we bought it and saw "the toolshed that is on the paperwork"
so we just stopped asking questions.

This isn't a tool shed, its her primary dwelling.

A vast majority of regulations are there for a reason. Incorrect electrical can be dangerous not just to the person but neighbors.

Fire codes, exits, storm tie downs, etc are important and I don't want some libertarian neighbor building whatever the hell he wants without following the codes, nor do I want builders to feel free to ignore codes.

between high home and rental prices and some of these regulations... I'm sure she would have loved to have poured X levels of concrete as a foundation, or had X spacing in her boards - but some people don't have the money.

There's even an article here on DU's front page on the issue.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8158955


So are you going to start handing out money to all these people or just keep barking orders at them until they are homeless?

Would you personally go drag the woman out of that structure? or do you think by delegating the action you somehow free yourself from the moral responsibility involved in making her homeless?

Not to mention what a lightning strike may do to her home if it's not properly grounded.
Electrical codes are critical to the safety of any house; I've been a marine electrician, and I still wouldn't do any major circuit panel work that would require a permit without paying for the permit and brining in a certified electrician to help me do the work to the city and county code. Changing out light fixtures or adding outlets is one thing; circuit panels, earth grounds, and major distribution boxes are another.
The coordination between my home wiring and the electrical company in balancing loads, grounds, and ensuring there's no deterioration in the wiring is not only important for safety, but affects my power bill.

There are "Tree House" specialists that can bring this up to code; maybe someone can do a gofundme for her or get the DIY network to have one of those TV Tree House shows to come out and film how to bring it up to code or something.

Haele

and they had a they had a typhoid outbreak... pardon me, they had a "freedom" outbreak.

They had to get water trucked in for two of three years.