[redtriumph]

Sadly this has been a norm in countries/places with a mix of corruption and ineffective enforcement of laws.

Back in my home town in India, tons of my relatives have built huge multi-storey buildings all the while ignoring the city code about spacing between adjacent buildings or distance of structure from main road.

That's not to say that everyone ends up kicking the rules, but the number of people who have done that in past 20+years makes me wonder how is it that easy to not follow municipal building code.

Hope, that it doesn't take a natural calamity for people to realize the importance of code and the local civil enforcement starts using its power!

[valarauko]

This wonton disregard for the rules in India comes up every so often, it gets plenty of airtime on the 24 hours news channels when an avoidable tragedy occurs, and nothing changes. For example, a few years ago there was a fire in a makeshift factory in Delhi, operating illegally inside a tenement building. The surrounding buildings had built unauthorized wings, blocking access for fire trucks & dozens of people died. Nothing changed.

[2devnull]

It may be more common but it’s not exclusive to places outside the USA.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfside_condominium_collaps...

Costs are costs. If you need lower cost anything (healthcare, pharmaceuticals, housing) you will likely incur additional risks.