Codes for Homeowners: Your Photo Guide to: Electrical Codes, Plumbing Codes, Building Codes, Mechanical Codes (Black & Decker)

Codes are a fact of life for do-it-yourselfers, but getting good information on codes can be a nightmare. Anyone who has ever opened a code book (or even a code interpretation book) looking for the answer to a building, wiring or plumbing question has found the same thing: a lot of arcane, technical words and cross-referencing, pages of meaningless charts, but no information that make sense. Codes for Homeowners combines decades of experience by author and IRC-certified home inspector Bruce Barker with Creative Publishing’s famous studio photography, and the result is the first truly clear and easy to use codes reference book for homeowners and tradesmen alike. Current with 2009 International Residential Code (IRC).

Bruce A. Barker is president of Dream Home Consultants, LLC., a Cary, North Carolina based building inspection and consulting firm. He has built or inspected more than 3,000 homes during his 29 years in the construction and building inspection industries. Mr. Barker is a Residential Combination Inspector, certified by the International Code Council. He is also a licensed contractor in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.

Mr. Barker is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). He currently serves on the Board of Directors after prior service as chairman of the Society's national Standards of Practice Committee. He is also vice president of the North Carolina ASHI chapter. Mr. Barker is a frequent contributor of technical articles to ASHI Reporter, Home Energy, Builder News, and other publications. Mr. Barker is also a member of the International Code Council.

Mr. Barker graduated cum laude from the Indiana University School of Business with a degree in accounting. He also graduated from Indiana with an MBA in information systems and studied law at the Indiana University Law School. He is a member of the Beta Alpha Psi and Beta Gamma Sigma academic honor societies. Mr. Barker spent his early career as a consultant with Peat Marwick (now KPMG), an international public accounting and consulting firm, and as the owner of one of the first computer stores in the Midwest.