[RoyalHenOil]

In some places, the problem is that scammy builders are not building homes to spec.

I'm talking about very serious flaws: not like drywall being thin, but more like joists that are thinner than the engineer specified or incomplete flashing that lets water leak into the insulation whenever it rains.

A few years ago, I worked in a brand new building, and we had issues like windows being installed inside out, pipes not being connected together, and rainwater trickling down walls under the paint.

These builds are poorly engineered -- not by the engineers and architects, but by the builders ignoring the engineers and architects. You can see numerous egregious examples here, for example: https://m.youtube.com/@Siteinspections

[softfalcon]

Yeah, this is what I’m referring to. It doesn’t matter if you have codes if people don’t follow them because of laziness and corruption.

I’m getting down voted, I guess I touched a nerve of the civil engineering folks.

I came to the knowledge I have from having discussions with my civil engineering friends. They were immediately disenfranchised a few years into their careers when they saw the corruption of the “construction cartels” in my city.

I’m sure it’s not true of every city, but it is in the city I live in here in Western Canada. Also common elsewhere in the world.

[daddylongstroke]

Yes, thank you for speaking to the reality on the ground, which a lot of folks in these comments are pretending doesn't exist. We have standards and codes, but I've worked on many new construction sites where nobody gave 2 shits about what, how, or why. They threw shit together, and as long as it looked close enough, it even passed inspections (always another job site to go to after this one after all). I personally know of many $1 Million+ houses in the Chicago area, that house some very shocking surprises inside their walls.