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#Grandfather clause law code upgrade
The best way to protect our communities is to adopt, upgrade and enforce fire and life safety codes,” Lia said.
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“Destructive fire can happen anywhere, at any time. Many building codes include a grandfather clause exempting older buildings until some amount of remodeling occurs. He also referenced a new federal tax incentive for business owners which allows them to receive up to $1 million in tax credit when they retrofit a commercial building with fire sprinklers. A clause or section, especially in a law, granting exceptions for people or organisations who were affected by previous conditions.
#Grandfather clause law code code
Lia said fire and building departments need to work closely together to identify which buildings are not up to code and to make sure their codes are reliably updated. As a result of his inclusion of this fact in his press briefing, most media outlets reported the lack of fire sprinklers. Lia applauds Prospect Heights Fire Protection Chief Drew Smith for underscoring how the outcome would have been different had the buildings been protected with fire sprinklers. When it comes to life safety, the risks to occupants and firefighters are too great to allow grandfathering.” Many communities require code updates when rehabbing more than 50 percent of the building, but that is not enough. There should always be a timetable to upgrade buildings that are not up-to-date with their codes. “The grandfather clause is a convenient excuse to forgo necessary upgrades to fire safety systems,” Lia said. These can be dangerous for communities, he says, because the clauses prevent buildings from being upgraded to current building codes. There may have been an even more tragic outcome if the fire had occurred at night when people were sleeping.”Īccording to Lia, this fire also stands as a cautionary tale for grandfather clauses. As a result, even if they met all the requirements, they were not allowed to vote. “Nevertheless, more than 100 families have lost all of their belongings and their homes. The Grandfather Clause was a legal or constitutional mechanism passed by seven Southern states during reconstruction to deny suffrage to black Americans. “It is a relief that there were no deaths or severe injuries in this extensive fire,” said Tom Lia, Executive Director, Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB). Because it wasn’t sprinklered, the fire was able to grow and spread. The damage would have been limited to the room of origin. If fire sprinklers had been installed in the building, heat from the fire would have activated the closest sprinkler within seconds, automatically controlling the fire or putting it out. The buildings were not protected with fire sprinklers because they were built before codes required them and were therefore “grandfathered”. Orland Park, (July 20, 2018) – The massive, fast-moving fire in Prospect Heights on July 18 th that spread to three buildings and left more than 100 families displaced stands as a convincing reminder of the value of fire sprinklers and their important role in today’s codes.