Building & Health Codes
(Page 6 of 9)
July/August 1974
By the Mother Earth News editors
Sometimes the Building Inspector will go to great lengths to enforce the regulations. In one place I visited, the Building Inspector used a helicopter to fly low over an area where many young people had recently immigrated and dropped smoke bombs over the sites of illegal structures. A crew on the ground then followed the smoke to the buildings and issued citations. Obviously every county is not this efficient. But when large numbers of new residents move in, the authorities usually keep an eye on their activities.
RELATED CONTENT
'How to Become Food Self-Sufficient' Competition
November/December 1974
By the Mother ...
A SELF-SUFFICIENT ENERGY/LIVESTOCK SYSTEM November/December 1980 An innovative Missourian shows us ...
With motivation, hard word and an internet connection, the dream of going back to the land is more ...
A Plowboy Interview with Steve Brown and Victor Schiff founders of the Ecological Food Society....
GARY SKEEM: AN INDEPENDENT IDAHOAN November/December 1979 Issue # 60 - November/December 1979 In so...
The salary of the Building inspector is dependent on how much money he takes in for permits. If he manages to increase local revenue, he will not only have a better chance of keeping his job, but he also has a good argument for a salary increase. Much of the activity of Building Inspectors and other bureaucrats with a smattering of power is dependent on local politics.
HEALTH CODES AND PERMITS
Regardless of where you buy land, you will have to deal with the local health authorities. They are empowered to make sure that you have proper water and sewage facilities and to issue permits and collect fees. A small fee buys a permit for the construction of an outhouse and later installation of a septic tank. Contrary to popular belief, outhouses are not outlawed by many Health Departments. In many areas, if you do not have adequate running water under pressure to your house and the outhouse is not located within 200 feet of an adjacent residence, you are permitted to use a privy. The following are standard health requirements for outhouses:
1. It shall be unlawful to erect or maintain a privy or outhouse unless a suitable shelter be provided to afford privacy and protection from the elements. The door thereof shall be so constructed as to close automatically by means of a spring or other device.
2. The vault shall not be permitted to become filled with excreta nearer than two feet from the surface of the ground and such excreta shall be regularly and thoroughly disinfected.
3. The privy building shall be made flyproof.
4. The pit privy shall be at least 4 feet deep.
5. The pit privy shall be at least 75 feet from well or stream.
6. All privy buildings shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition at all times.
Most areas today require that permanent septic tanks and leach lines be installed when a residence is constructed. This is often a costly venture requiring a machine operator to come in with a backhoe to dig your septic tank hole if you do not want to dig it yourself. The required minimum capacity of a septic tank is usually 750 gallons for a two-bedroom house. If you are purchasing land with a house already on it, be sure that the waste disposal system has been approved by the county and is functioning properly. You will save yourself a lot of trouble and expense if you discover inadequacies at an early stage in the proceedings, In most counties, cesspools and sewer wells are strictly prohibited, and even where they are allowed, they are an inferior method of waste disposal. Since these facilities are very common in many parts of the country, be sure the local regulations have not rendered such systems obsolete if they are in use on the land you are buying.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | 6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Next >>
