Fire Marshall drops high-rise sprinkler proposal

2-Aug-13 – Saying his fire code updates need “additional refinement,” the Illinois State Fire Marshal today backed down on a proposal to require sprinklers in many high-rise buildings in Chicago.

The proposal was not going over well with condominium associations, homeowners, and business owners who would have to pay for and install the sprinklers.

After “numerous meetings” and “an unprecedented amount of public input,” Fire Marshal Larry Matkaitis said in a statement released on Friday the sprinkler proposal will no longer be considered by a committee of state legislators and a public hearing scheduled for August 6 has been cancelled.

The overall proposals, says Matkaitis (left), would be the first updates to the state fire code in 11 years. “As the brave first responders alongside whom I have served during four decades in fire protection know, Illinois needs 21st century fire safety standards.”

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, a vocal critic of the sprinkler proposal, was “very pleased” by the decision, according to an update to constituents. He has called the proposed rules “onerous” and said requiring sprinklers in high-rises would have a “disastrous fiscal impact.”

“Alderman Reilly believes the proposed regulations were a ‘one size fits all’ approach that failed to acknowledge the exorbitant Life Safety Evaluation retrofit investments that hundreds of homeowner associations have made to protect their buildings in recent years.”

Still an issue is the reality that Illinois regulations like this can be mandatory in Chicago, which the city believes has the “home rule” right to enact its own fire safety standards.

Sheli Lulkin, president of the Association of Sheridan Condo/Co-op Owners, promised readers of her condobytes.info newsletter, “We are going to fight to protect home rule in Chicago and put this issue to bed once and for all.”

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