A contractor first told me about the extra fire safety precaution of building walls within walls which I thought was crazy. It is confirmed by a document that the township referred me to and it says "Fireblocking shall be provided in concealed spaces of stud walls and partitions, including furred spaces, at the ceiling and floor levels, and at 10 ft intervals both vertical and horizontal." It also lists "glass fiber" as an "acceptable fire block." Why can't I have a space between XPS and the frame? I thought the spacing wasn't necessary, but is it potentially damaging? Unfortunately, my cinder block walls are not flushed horizontally. In a couple of places, there's a cinder block column that extends out 1 ft. So, building a frame out 12 inches or more will allow me to have a straight sheetrocked wall. The potential good news is that I talked to another contractor today who said that the township had accepted the seamed XPS boards as the vapour barrier which contradicted what the township told me on the phone, but I'll call and ask again. By the way, you indicate that once XPS is on the wall, it doesn't matter if there's another barrier - I don't understand. I thought the double vapour barrier construction was to be avoided. I thought that XPS is a vapor retarder, so some vapor will come in and with the presence of faced insulation, won't that moisture build up in the cavity due to the double vapour barrier present?

The dual flush toilet can be deemed equivilant to a 1.28 gallon model where the average volume of 1 full flush and 2 partial flushes equates to 1.28 gallons or less. You can verify all toilet models at www.map-testing.com; in addition this site will reveal the flushing performance of the toilets. While it is true that oversized sewer lines can be the cause of blockages, this is RARELY a problem in homes. The water from baths and showers is almost always sufficient to push the solid waste down the line. Here is a link that might be useful: Maximum Performance Toilet Tests

Many many things are done without permits within the city of Philadelphia, and to my knowledge it never comes back on anyone at the time of sale. The house I bought had an un-permitted bathroom that was completely new (which I removed), and an existing bath and kitchen renovation which were un-permitted (Bathroom replaced, kitchen to be replaced). When I was getting inspections for new plumbing work for an entirely new bathroom in the basement and when I had permits for the roof, I asked the inspector if most people got permits for remodels of existing baths and kitchens and she said No, most people don't, and they aren't so worried about kitchens and baths that are replacing existing, they are more worried about people making structural changes without permits, which apparently happens a lot, too. It's a fairly lax system compared to many locales. To be honest I have not gotten permits for every single thing I've done. but all my work is done by people who do More than required to meet code, not less.

Outswing doors have stricter exterior landing requirements than inswing. Check local code, here for outswing the code is 1-1/2” max drop to a landing, and the landing has to be quite large. Since you’ve said the door is not an egress door, if you change to an inswing door there is an exception to allow a full step right at the door like you want. ETA If this is a new French door or new construction I’ve found that inswing doors are preferable on decks. Inswing gives you the option of adding screened doors on the outside and leaving the French doors wide open in nice weather, there is no nice way to screen outswing doors. .