“a lot of insurance problems are related to govt edicts that make construction/rebuilds much more expensive.”
Correct.
Building codes have gotten very detailed and very expensive to meet.
One electrician we know walked us through the details a while back—it was amazing. His view was that the code was total overkill meant to prevent the one in a million electrical fire scenario.
Yeah, a builder friend told me recently he completes new custom homes and the regs make them so airtight the people move in and get sick. He has to go back and sneak some outside ventilation into the house and then they recover and are fine.