[mattyb]

Hoping that you guys and gals are OK over there.

[seanc]

My mum rang the relatives last night, luckily they, their houses, pets & belongings have survived.

A powerline is dangling low over my auntie's driveway, so she can't get her car out and the pavement outside her drive has risen up.

[turtle777]

It's amazing what good building codes and standards can do.
The Kiwi earthquake was very similar in magnitude and proximity to the earthquake in Haiti.

In Haiti, 260,000 people died. In NZ, I haven't heard anything about a large number of fatalities.

-t

[mattyb]

AFAIK, and have read, 0 deaths. Hopefully the aftershocks won't change that.

Density of people in Haiti is magnitudes higher as well (double pop for a tenth of the size of NZ).

[sek929]

That could be the case, but I think Turtle nailed it with his post.

After everyone across the country saw hurricane Andrew rip off entire roofs of houses it sent sweeping legislation through the building industry. The roofing materials we use today are regulated by the Miami-Dade council.

[The Final Dakar]

Mark down the date that turtle supported government regulation.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

It's amazing what good building codes and standards can do.
The Kiwi earthquake was very similar in magnitude and proximity to the earthquake in Haiti.

In Haiti, 260,000 people died. In NZ, I haven't heard anything about a large number of fatalities.

-t

Building codes and standards!!! LOL It's a freakin' third world country... have you ever even stepped foot outside your perfect little world?

[olePigeon]

You guys didn't have a giant, exploding Jesus statue in Christchurch, did you?

[ort888]

I'm all for the free markets dictating how buildings should and should not be built. Keep the gubment out of it.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Building codes and standards!!! LOL It's a freakin' third world country... have you ever even stepped foot outside your perfect little world?

Dude, WTF ?

I was making an observation, not a moral judgment. Chill out.

-t

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I'm all for the free markets dictating how building should and should not be built. Keep the gubment out of it.

Well, it's not that easy.

Look at Florida: the strict building codes came about because the government got tired of footing the bill for insurers that would have gone broke by all the claims.
Now, why did they go broke ?
Because the government set limits on how much money they could take for hurricane insurance. Those limits were below a fair market rate.

Really, once you look into the details, you can see that governments create solutions to problems that didn't exist w/o their meddling.

How SHOULD it be ?

Governments should set only minimal required standards, but give recommendations.
If you don't follow it, you're on your own.

In the example of Florida: you either pay outragous insurance premiums if you don't follow strict building codes, or you don't get insurance at all. But don't come running to the government for financial assistance when disaster strikes. You're on your own.

-t

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Building codes and standards!!! LOL It's a freakin' third world country... have you ever even stepped foot outside your perfect little world?

Third world is a bit strong, the TV shows are certainly backwards and there isn"t much do do if you don't like extreme sports.