What's Good Enough? At one point in history, I think it was in medieval times, it was considered possible for a learned person to be capable of absorbing all that there was of written knowledge. Today, even within the context of a single field, that conceit is nothing short of ridiculous. In order for a builder to keep up with interrelated trade technologies, reliance on prescriptive standards and building codes should be standard operational procedure. Within any specialization, a practitioner will undoubtedly want to rely on exhaustive standards for that trade, but for a general contractor or construction supervisor, a more general overview is appropriate. That's the impetus behind Residential & Light Commercial Construction Standards (1998, R.S. Means, Construction Plaza, 63
