CHICAGO STALLS ON HIGH-RISE SPRINKLER ORDINANCES:

The Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board said the Chicago Building Committee’s recent move to defer an ordinance mandating sprinklers in all commercial high rises is another stall tactic by the city. During the meeting the commission voted to defer the proposed ordinance for 30 days. Tom Lia, executive director of the board, said they were expecting the Building Committee to decide on an ordinance requiring fire sprinklers to be retrofit in high-rise buildings. Following the Cook County Administration building fire where six people died last October, Mayor Richard Daley and Alderman Edward Burke (14th) introduced separate sprinkler ordinances. Daley’s ordinance requires all commercial buildings be retrofit. It does not include residential buildings and designated landmarks. It gives commercial buildings until 2016 to comply. Burke’s ordinance requires sprinklers in all high-rise buildings, commercial and residential. Burke’s ordinance requires fire sprinklers to be installed by 2008.