[Elv13]

There was a (government) public investigation / shame campaign a few years ago ago the construction industry in Montreal, Canada.

One of the person who testified in exchange for not being jailed was "Mr. 3%", a member of the office who approve (public) construction projects. He took 3% of the project total cost (in bribes) from the top 30 contractors in exchange for making sure their permits requests never got in these artificial rejection loops.

The bureaucracy, just like the old taxi industry, is about keeping smaller players out, not enforcing the codes.

[kennend3]

> The bureaucracy, just like the old taxi industry, is about keeping smaller players out, not enforcing the codes.

See my post above.. it is also about feeding the bureaucracy itself as well.

Some places (like where i live) actually go driving around looking for construction taking place so they can issue "stop work" orders and force you to get permits.

they use these permits to ask for more federal/provincial money as they are 'growing'.

They also grow the bureaucracy machine, which allows them to hire more people to drive around looking for lumber on your yard, to make you buy more permits...

[notch656a]

Honestly paying 3% to make sure your shit gets approved sounds great. It's kind of like dealing with a hooker instead of a wife -- at least you know exactly what it's going to cost after you leave.

More corruption at this point would almost be a good thing. As things stand there's basically no personal incentive for inspectors to actually approve projects.

[Elv13]

It was 3% as long as you were part of the conspirator and make it extra painful to everybody else. What the conspirators wanted out of this was to control the number of players so they could limit supply and control rates. Paying people to do nothing while you wait for the permits is how you bankrupt small contractors.