text: Meanwhile we've been doing this for 25 years in Puna... Just that now the County adds $10,000 for septic, min $5,000 for plumbers and electricians, and has made single wall, post and pier, and  decks without walls beneath them illegal.   All this has been done using locally available materials, paying a fair wage, building off grid, solar and cachement included.  It's just illegal because it's not a mini McMansion on a slab, paying into the plumber and electrician's lobby, made using $thousands of dollars of ugly simpson hardware, and incorporates actual craftsmanship like post and beam joinery, and hidden fasteners.  You can build that way, if you hire an architect, and try to find engineer who will do the studies the County wants.   So basically you can spend another $10k to pay architects and engineers to tell the County that your home is safe.  I commend this effort, but wonder why it has to be pre-fab from china AND bypass local fair wages.