Rob, what standards are you talking about?
Lots of different HI standards out there.
Remember, most standards are a MINIMUM and a HI is free to raise the standard.
I, too, use the building codes as a reference point in everything I do, but I am not a code inspector, I have no authority to enforce anything and I am not there at the proper stages of construction to see that things are actually built to code.
Also, I operate in an area that has no less than 15 municipalities in a five mile radius, which all have different codes or versions that they enforce.
It would take a GPS and a crystal ball to know exactly which code to quote if I were to try to be a code inspector.
I still get flack from the builders on new construction when I inspect and call out the stuff that the AHJ lets slide, but I still call it out, even though most stuff is not mentioned that I know of in national standards.
I think the standards (both state law here and national HI SOP) do a pretty good job of setting expectations for both the HI and the consumer.

__________________
Jim Luttrall
Mr. Inspector.net, Inc.
Allen, Texas 75002