[throwaway4891a]

Building codes are not a one-sized-fits-all panacea, neither good nor bad inherently. They are both policy creation and enforcement to prevent as much harm as people can reasonably afford while balancing the tyrannies of the many and the few, the poor and the rich, the DIY and the commercial. Regulation isn't always bad such as preventing lowest bidders from building garment factories which collapse, using outdated/dangerous electrical technologies (ie, aluminum wiring, lead pipes) or lacking modern safety items to prevent classes of risks (ie hard-wired smoke detectors).

Certainly, people whom are more affluent could purchase additional safeguards (ie automatic external defibrillators, whole-house water-filtration) while those whom are elderly/poor will likely need assistance meeting minimum standards.

Also, clipboard auditing (timber stickers) shouldn't be a substitute for inspection common-sense.

[nickff]

The problem is often (though not always) that the inspectors applying the standards can act in arbitrary and capricious ways. A professional contractor will often have one inspector approve a technique or design, then have another inspector come along and tell them to tear that section down and rebuild it.