Life Safety and High Rise Buildings

The City of Chicago’s High Rise Sprinkler and Life Safety Evaluation (LSE) Ordinances better protect the lives of residents, employees and visitors. The purpose is to demonstrate that a specific high-rise building can provide a reasonable level of safety from fire for the occupants. Safety Evaluations are intended to satisfy the Chicago Building Code  for an existing building exceeding 80 feet in height which does not have a full sprinkler system and is either occupied for non-transient residential uses or which is a landmark or other building so designated in accordance with the ordinance.

The Sprinkler Installation Ordinance (13-169-205) requires all pre-1975 commercial high rise buildings that are not land marked to install a full sprinkler system by January 1, 2017.  This ordinance also exempts existing pre-1975 non-transient, residential high rise buildings from the requirement to fully sprinkler the building.

The High Rise Life Safety Evaluation Ordinance (13-196-206) requires that the high-rise commercial buildings and residential buildings exempted from retro-fitting with sprinklers must undergo a rigorous evaluation of the building’s life and fire safety features from an Illinois Licensed Design Professional. The Design Professional must then submit a Life Safety Evaluation Report to the Department of Buildings and the Chicago Fire Department for their review and approval.  This report will score the Building in 18 categories of Life and Fire Safety and must contain all certified life safety upgrades required for the building to obtain a passing score.

Meeting the requirements of the Life Safety Evaluation Ordinance is a multi-step process:

1. The Design Professional selected by building ownership must inspect and evaluate the subject Building and submit the LSE report to the Department of Buildings and the Fire Department.
2. The Department of Buildings and the Fire Department must approve and accept the building’s Life Safety Evaluation (LSE) Report.
3. By December 31, 2014, all construction required to comply with the individualized Life Safety Evaluation (LSE) report must be completed and verified through inspection by the Department of Buildings and the Chicago Fire Department.  Building permits must be obtained for the installation of any recommended upgrades to your building’s life safety structures or systems.  The Department of Buildings has created a streamlined permit process for LSE related construction work.

Further information can be found on the City of Chicago website. If you own property in Chicago, make sure you keep current with the maintenance of your property. Owners are required by law to make necessary repairs and maintain their property in a safe condition. Don't risk a complaint which can generate a Building Code Violation.  If you are cited for ANY building code violation, contact Bradford Miller Law, P.C. for a FREE 15-minute consultation. Located in downtown Chicago, our firm has been assisting clients with Building Code Violations for several years.

Posted by Bradford Miller Law, P.C.
Practicing in Real Estate Law, Landlord Tenant Law, and Estate Planning
134 N. LaSalle, Suite 1040
Chicago, IL 60602
312-238-9298
http://www.bradfordmillerlaw.com

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