Poor Qulity in the Home Construction Market :: Residential Housing Real Estate

With low finance rates more Americans are purchasing homes than ever before, but the quality of these mass constructed homes is dropping. Imagine breaking your back for ten years to save up for your first home and losing it all and more because your home fell victim to a fire. This is a common example of what may happen when a house is poorly constructed. Home builders are disregarding the much needed safety regulations when calculating their budgets. In the construction business time is money, and when time is an issue sacrifices are often made. It is these sacrifices that are lowering the standards of building within the home-building industry, costing Americans millions annually due to property losses and repair costs. Foundations are cracking due to poor engineering and rushed pouring processes, and homes are burning as if they were mere piles of kindling due to faulty wiring and the disregard of general fire precaution. A problem that has become increasingly more prevalent the l ast couple of years is the loss of property due to natural disasters. Regulations and guidelines have been developed and introduced into the construction industry to aid in preventing the destruction of homes in such a crisis. The devastation these natural disasters may cause accounts for billions annually but can drastically be reduced with stricter enforcement of precautionary measures outlined in construction regulation codes. Who should be held accountable? Maybe we should penalize the construction companies for ignoring what may seem like insignificant precautionary measures in order to complete projects on time and within budget. Or should we turn to the bigger picture and question the state or national level regulation agencies for their slacking enforcement and infrequent development of these imperative regulatory codes? Where ever the problem originates from, it needs to be resolved before the appeal of being an American homeowner loses its prestige. More importantly, homeo wners are at a financial and physical risk because safety and quality control has lost its priority. Purchasing a home is many times one of the most important investments a person or family may encounter. Most commonly homes are financed over periods ranging from ten to twenty years, but in some cases this is ample time for the integrity of poorly constructed homes to deteriorate beyond repair. This raises much concern within state regulatory agencies that overlook the lacking quality in thousands of homes built annually. Agencies such as the Texas Department of Regulation and Licensing and OSHA provide strict guidelines covering many different aspects of construction in order to insure quality and safety throughout the industry.