Building safety and quality regulation is developing into an important concern of public policy. For over 200 years, government has had a growing role in this process. This text questions whether government is the best or only provider of such grading or certification services. Building on theoretical work in several key areas, it discusses market alternatives, and includes new evidence about building regulation and a revitalization of some presently obscure aspects of legal philosophy. The matter of cost in public decisions is also considered on an abstract level in conjunction with knowledge and public choice problems.