No. of Recommendations: 1
Not necessarily. There're tons of details in a building code that are there to make a building very safe, but that doesn't mean that deviating from the code makes it unsafe.
I guess it does depend on the code(s). But those codes are there for a reason. Old buildings in CA don't meet modern codes, and those modern codes exist because a lot of those old buildings in CA fell down during earthquakes. So they updated the codes**. D.C. may not have earthquakes, but their codes do exist for a reason.
**As I understand it, the older building predating the new codes is grandfathered. But if you try to renovate, you have to bring EVERYTHING up to code (i.e. the grandfather is nullified).
