Which building code?

In my RSS feed I have One Project Closer which has a Pro Follow series.  They are currently following pros on a house addition.  I don’t know which building code they’re following, nor in which part of the country the building is happening, but I have some questions.

Rebar  I have never known it to be acceptable for the rebar to exit the foundation into surrounding soil.  In this project, they’re pounding the rebar into the ground below the foundation AND at the sides.  As the rebar rusts, the pressure from the rusting is going to cause spalling.  It also provides an avenue for water to enter the foundation where it can freeze and further break the foundation.  In the first installment in this series the frost depth is mentioned so it DOES freeze there and this will be an issue.  Does anyone have an idea why this was allowed?  In the comments on this page someone asks a question but received a “they said it was okay” answer.  ?

Poured footings  There are no anchor bolts installed in the foundation.  No rebar sticking up . . . nothing to fasten the foundation down to the footings.  I’m shaking my head on this one.  I guess they’re counting on gravity and mortar to keep the foundation pegged to the footing in case of an earthquake or tornado.  Does anyone have more information on this?

Foundation  There is nothing holding this foundation together except mortar, gravity and parging.  No filled cells with rebar and concrete, no horizontal runs of rebar holding the horizontal courses together . . . nothing.  Somebody’s putting an awful lot of faith in gravity and mortar or I don’t know what I’m looking at.  And if this is what the local building code allows, why is the contractor not going one step beyond and using best practices instead?  The latest work on this project shows bolts sticking out of the upper reaches of the concrete block foundation for attaching the sill plate.  I’m hoping there are at least vertical cells with rebar and concrete that just wasn’t covered in the follow.

Please comment.  I’d love to hear what you think.  Am I the only one questioning what’s happening here?  Maybe I’ve just been watching too much Holmes on Homes.