Threatening New Building Requirements Proposed by the State Fire Marshal

Alderman Robert Fioretti is concerned that his 2nd Ward residents will be badly served by new regulations from the Illinois Fire

Marshal. If you rent or own property in Chicago, you may want to take action as Fioretti suggests and write to the legislators who are working with this issue now, before they finalize the regulations. Here is what Fioretti sent to his constitutents:

I’m deeply concerned about a new set of building requirements from the Illinois Fire Marshal that could be extremely burdensome for Chicago condo and apartment residents, as well as businesses, churches and homeowners.

While I believe the proposed new rules are well-intentioned, Chicago already has strong fire safety regulations. In Chicago, all post-1975 high-rise buildings require sprinkler systems. All pre-1975 high-rise hotels, motels, shelters, dormitories and other transient buildings will require them by the end of 2016.

All pre-1975 high-rise apartment buildings in Chicago that do not have sprinkler systems have undergone a rigorous life safety evaluation (LSE) conducted by a licensed professional engineer to determine whether safety upgrades, such as automatic elevator recall, fire alarm systems, and hard-wired smoke detectors are required to ensure a comparable level of fire safety.

The new rules would require, among other things, that ALL newly constructed single family homes and other residential buildings install sprinkler systems, and that existing homes and residential buildings where more than half of the area is renovated install sprinkler systems. The costs associated with these and other changes in the new set of proposed rules will be exorbitant, and could cause countless Chicago building owners to lose their homes.

The truth is, Chicago’s comprehensive fire regulations are working. Fire related deaths have fallen from 185 in 1980 to 28 in 2012.

I’m also concerned that the proposed requirement for mid-rise buildings mandating pull stations, which when activated automatically call the Fire Department, would result in many false alarms, diverting resources away from actual fire emergencies.

My main worry is that these regulations, aside from being largely unnecessary, given the rules already in place in Chicago, will carry a prohibitively high cost for homeowners.

A Princeton University study from 2005 estimates these changes could cost as much as $29,000 per one bedroom apartment, including demolition and construction. This burden would fall on building owners and occupants, through increased rents or special condominium assessments.

These rules, if instituted, would be an economic disaster for Chicago, placing an unnecessary burden on property owners and tenants alike, and creating an overall drain on our local economy.

Current Chicago fire regulations are strong, and Chicago homeowners can’t afford another brick on their backs.

These rules have to be approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR). The general public has until Monday, August 12 to submit public comments to JCAR on the Fire Marshal’s proposals.

Will you reach out to Committee members, to let them know your concerns about the huge negative and personal impact of these proposals?

You can see a list of Committee members and their contact information so you can email or write a Committee member today, before these unnecessary, costly rules go into effect.