Can a city be responsible for not properly enforcing building codes?

My house is 10 years old and I have owned it for 4.5 yrs. The builder was shoddy. Each time I go to do a project on the house I find another code violation dating to original buidling. Most recently I found that the builder did not seal the joints in the HVAC ductwork for the supply or returns. Leaks everywhere cause a lot of conditioned air to be lost in walls and the returns simply have no "suction". The builder was incorporated and has left the area. Is the city in any way responsible for allowing this? Isn't that why we pay permit fees and require inspections for construction?
Other neighbors have far worse problems than I do. So the follow up question is can the owner of the corporation be held personally liable for his poor buidling?
Follow up question