My place 130 years old and the roof is just fine thank you very much despite regular exposure to 80 mph winds and the occasional stray boulder.....Of course, it was recently modified by an unlicensed contractor.
Scammers can be dealt with via contract law.
This isn't about government intrusion...it's about quality, about assuring competence, and about holding incomptent practitioners of certain professions responsible for their shoddy work.
I see... Only a government can assure competence....LOL...And you wonder why Americans have a fiscal burden of government 2X higher than Communist China.
Who guarantees that the provisions of contracts actually protect both parties? In the Calif. Civil Code, as well in the Business and Professions Code (as well as other code sections, I'm sure), the law spells out what provisions should be in certain types of contracts. I think these are legitimate areas of "government intrusion" -- life and professional services have gotten so complex that the provider of such services really has the consumer at their mercy if all that protects the consumer is a contract put forward by the service provider.
We obviously disagree, although I respect your opinion. But I do believe that some regulation of private businesses and professions is justified and necessary. Government does have a role to protect or assure some level of safety, public health, and I would also say environmental quality. The air in southern California is much cleaner today than it was 30 years ago, not because car manufacturers thought there was money to be made in manufacturing less polluting vehicles, but because they were required to do so by statute-imposed environmental standards. The dark side of human nature makes a pure libertarian view of government unrealistic, IMHO.