I did a project in Idaho for the railroad.
The railroad supervisor asked where I was staying (a mom and pop motel). He said it was good that I wasn’t staying at the new fancy Indian Casino. He said they didn’t have to follow the same building codes as everyone else does.
I have no idea if that is true - but it sounds like it could be with them being on tribal land.
True. The “Indian nations” as the Constitution refers to them have a large degree of immunity from state and local and even federal law, which is how they get to have casinos in the first place. Since Indian reservations are by definition tribal land and legally under the control of an Indian nation, they do not have to follow building codes.
I just did a search, and it said State and local building codes do not apply on tribal lands. They can create their own. Then I did a search for OSHA on tribal lands, and they do regulate workplaces located on tribal lands, and operated by tribal employers. Seems a bit strange. State and local governments have no say in the construction of safe buildings, but then the Feds oversee the safety of the employees in those same buildings.