Wouldn't a completely uniform building code in a country as vast as the U.S.A. impose some quite unreasonable conditions on everybody to cater for things which are only likely to be a problem in specific areas?
Does it make sense to demand that buildings in Oregon be built to the same tornado-resisting standards as in Mississippi? Or for buildings in Florida to be able to cope with the same snow loading as Minnesota?
Even in a place as small as Britain we have differences in the Building Regulations between England and Scotland.
Some of the issues arising around local electrical codes do seem to make little sense though. If NM isn't "safe" in Chicago, why is it safe in Manhattan, or San Francisco?
Just look at our different national codes to see even more variation. In the U.K. TT earthing systems in which the earth is the sole fault-current path are common in rural areas. Yet the American NEC doesn't allow them at all.
