A. Permit process develops to cover private property activities that intersect with public property. The goal is not restricting private property rights, but limiting adverse impact on public property. Permission to connect to water supply, create an outflow from private property into a public sewer or stream, to open a public business were all regulated in the nineteenth century. B. Cities develop permit process to insure that improvements to property are entered on the tax rolls. Cities initially adopted report standards, but made little demands on owners and builders.
Fire insurance recognizes the contagion effect of hazardous building practices.
A. distance to adjacent buildings and flamability of materials are central concerns in determining risk. B. Cities allow property owners to self-regulate within blocks to improve insurability. Insurance trade organizations, or organizations that promoted trade developed standards for installations that could be certified for safety. The South-Eastern Tariff Association is not an insurance group, but a regional industrial practice association that set prices for competitive products. In the 1890s they promulgated pricing structures for phosphates.