I'm just gonna pitch in my "me too!" story as well, because I was responsible for turning this crappy old storefront in a protected historical building in Seattle's Pioneer Square area, into this two-story monstrosity, and working not only with the City of Seattle's DPD, but also the Pioneer Square Community Association, and other historic organizations. It was simply an 18-month nightmare. The 2-story glass window was eventually installed in a snowstorm during the Christmas holidays, when it was well below freezing. kleinbl00 and cgod's stories are not unique in any way, shape, or form. Yes, there are. But to litigate in court, you need to have roughly a quarter million dollars sitting idle in a bank account somewhere, and be able to put your store opening on hold (while still paying the landlord the rent) for a couple of years while the case(s) work through the court system... ... and during that whole process, money is going out, and no money is coming in, because your fucking store isn't open yet!! So yeah. Inspectors have you by the balls, they know they have you by the balls, and they have absolutely no oversight or management or process in place to contest their rulings to a higher level of management. What they say, goes. Period. So you deal with it, because you have to get the store open and start making some money. Some day... Are there case laws that affect how regulations are interpreted...