Exploring the myth .
Its smoking (or it might be) .

If a property I owned , (completely owned , no mortage , no leasehold , no commonage) needed some work done on it should I be allowed to do it as I saw fit as my freedom of choice or would I have to comply with local laws covering such things under my obligations as a property owner ?

Say for example I wanted to redo the roof covering , the house had been done in hot felt , all the houses near it were done in hot felt , people have been doing hot felt for years , it does a good job and is in my opinion the best option and it should be my choice to make since it is my property .

However due to new health and fire safety regulations the local authorities have banned hot felt roofing .
Should I be allowed to ignore local laws ?
Would I have any chance of success in changing the law if I bought a frivalous lawsuit claiming my rights as a citizen trumped legislation and obligations as a property owner , yet were unable to prove that the law was in fact a bad one or that my rights were being infringed ?

Would the regulations be a sign that I am living under an oppressive government ?