There are a lot of areas where the permit is just a fee you pay to the city. No plan review, no inspection, no nothing, just a permit fee and the permit passed on to the county so that the real estate taxes can be collected. some of these areas have adopted the NEC, but there is no enforcement. It becomes a problem for the building owner who does not understand the electrical system. No one is making sure that it is installed to code.
As far as the "dummy" fuse, the most common application would be for the grounded phase of a corner grounded delta system. It would have to be designed and instended to be installed in place of a real fuse. As Bjarney pointed out there is a problem with using copper pipe or tubing as far as the size.
Don

Don(resqcapt19)