Claude Cooper, Richmond, VA
Dan DeDentro, Rhode Island
Ila Jones, Florida
Jim Martin, Garden Grove, CA
Kerwin MacNamara, Fairfax County, VA
Marty Collins, Milwaukee, WI
Stan-Lee Kaderbek, Chicago, IL
Leo Lynch, Wilmington, DE
Mark Topping, New York City, NY
Steve Ikkanda, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Wible, NCSBCS

Background:

Mr. Cooper noted that this call followed up on an important issues call held in March 2003 during which members discussed the outcome of night club incidents in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and Chicago.

The purpose of today’s call is to discuss actions taken by state and local governments since then to address the issue of nightclub safety. Mr. Cooper noted that this was especially timely in light of the recent nightclub fire in Buenos Aires in which there were 190 people died and 700 were injured.

Mr. Cooper introduced the first speaker, Kerwin MacNamara, Fire Captain, Fairfax County, Virginia.

Question: What kind of violations are you finding in your county?
Answer: Originally the county found 63% of nightclubs inspected had locked exit doors; not so now. Means of egress are being kept open. Another early problem found was an illegal change in the use of occupancy.

There originally were complaints from owners over night inspections. Now it is not a problem. Once the message goes out, people start complying.  The county’s fines involve: Issue summons - $2,500 fine and /or one year in jail. Had 20 cases and county was successful in the prosecution of everyone of them.

Fairfax County issues permits for everything. What we are doing now is to issue a summons where an over-occupancy occurs and then we will immediately revoke the building permit and close them down right then. The county revokes the assembly permit, not the certificate of occupancy.

CHICAGO – Stan Kaderbek
In the past, the city licensed public places of amusement but there were no inspection tied to the licensure. Now an annual inspection is tied to license renewal. There are 800-900 such facilities in the city.

The building department can shut them down. The city has consolidated all notices of closures both dangerous and hazardous closures on single database that puts information out to police on their cruiser screens. EMS also have it. This system is enhancing safety.

Chicago has a standardized checklist (on website) that shows what you have to do. Buildings must take off chains or we will close down.

Question: Are your permits just related to building or do you do background check on owners?
Answer: Chicago does elaborate background checks on owners and the city does it every year. Theater community hates it but have to do it. Legitimate theater owners have similar process to go through. The city makes it easier for them. Work with group. Make it simple to comply.

Also doing 7,000 public places of assembly (restaurants 15,000) and inspect all restaurants annually. Was traditionally done by fire department if under 100 occupants. Over that number the building department handled. Now we are doing all.

Chicago does the inspections while they are in operation. A life safety check is done involving a building inspector and electrical inspector. Our goal is to get everyone to a consistent level. If what they find is not dangerous and hazardous, the owner has time to fix. If it is dangerous or hazardous, they have 24 hours to fix or we shut it down.

WILMINGTON – Leo Lynch
The city building department has joined forces with fire department and now we work closely with them (relocated on same floor). Any assembly we visit during operating hours. There are annual inspection and regular joint inspections in facilities we suspect may not be up to code. Have been very successful in bringing people into compliance. We are seeking and eliminating locked exit doors.

MILWAUKEE – Marty Collins
Milwaukee recently won a court case involving a $22,000 fine from a nightclub owner.

One major difference in Milwaukee since we established our inspection system in 1968 is that the building department does the fire inspections instead of the fire department. We also do annual fire inspections on the premises. Have to see this at night. Police will do spot checks for us. They especially look to see that the exits are unobstructed.

There are automatic tickets if the exits are locked. Police will also file a tavern report if they find a violation and that kicks the club into an annual review.

The local Fox news channel ran an undercover probe that looked at Milwaukee clubs. The worst thing they found was a coat check blocking a door and they couldn’t see an exit sign in another club because it was partially blocked by decorations. Fox stations tend to follow up on other Fox stations, so you may expect to have a similar undercover operation in your city sometime soon.

RHODE ISLAND – Dan DeDentro
It has now been nearly two years since the February 20, 2003, West Warwick nightclub disaster. Since then, the General Assembly has revamped fire codes rather than focus on enforcement which was where the major problem existed.

In Rhode Island the state building code does not handle existing buildings. These are covered under the State Fire Code and are inspected by the Fire Marshal. Unfortunately, the State Fire Marshal didn’t have staff to do this so they deputize the local fire officials to conduct the inspections on their behalf.

In July 2004 the state adopted NFPA 1. Rather than define nightclub in the law, the state established a Special Amusement Building Concentrated Occupant (COPA) then left those structures to the State Fire Marshal to inspect.

It has taken 1-½ years to work odd after hours to do inspections in the state. Now we have gotten the staff to do nighttime inspections. Over the past year and a half the state has created a list of 55 locations that are prime offenders.

Under the new state law there is an effective date to require sprinklers and fire alarms in buildings. General assembly will probably consider a delay in the law’s implementation date.

The fire code is just now getting up to gear in identifying problem buildings. Now owners have to come back with plans of action. Many owners request variances.

Rhode Island adopted all of the 2003 International Codes. The state Building Code Standards Commission did create a nightclub definition and based it on criteria in ICC Commentary that differentiates a restaurant from nightclub.

Also there is a special category under A-2 use group. Occupancy of more than 100 persons requires sprinklers. This requirement puts a damper on basement nightclubs.

Haven’t seen new buildings coming in where this can be enforced. Critical buildings have been identified by the Fire Marshal. Will see some improvement in 3 or 4 months.

Question: In Rhode Island how is the issue of the combustibility of soundproofing handled?
Answer: We address under the provisions of NFPA 1.

Question: Are you measuring intensity of lighting?
Answer: We do so under the provisions of NFPA but there appears to be no really good equipment out there to measure lighting intensity. The Fire Marshal does this but not sure with what equipment.

Claude Cooper noted that In Richmond it takes about 4x amount as much light to come up to 1 foot candle.

LOS ANGELES CITY – Steve Ikkanda
The police and fire handle nightclubs in the city. They enforce the 1997 UBC in LA and look forward to adopting a new set of codes in CA.

RICHMOND – Claude Cooper
All nightclubs are inspected while they are operating. There are two efforts here -- a roving fire marshal is on duty and nightclubs are being inspected continuously. They also have a team of building inspectors that go around and make unannounced checks. This team looks at fire rating, electrical problems, exits, etc.

From Richmond’s perspective, this must be an ongoing effort. They have closed several clubs. We go after the certificate of occupancy. The owner must then start from scratch to reapply for that certificate.

FLORIDA – Ila Jones
The Fire Marshal does not handle the Florida Building Code. The state has a joint Fire and Building Code Committee that resolves potential conflict between two services. They have binding authority to resolve.

NEW YORK CITY – Mark Topping
New York City is under its own building code. The city, however, is in process of adopting the ICC codes. Occupancies for over 75 people require a public assembly permit and triggers fire safety inspections. There are egress requirements and sprinklers for on stage areas. The fire department does the annual inspection on those.

They do have some nightly inspections. Building department personnel participate on night teams.

The Buenos Aires fire shows that there is still a problem with fireworks and pyrotechnics in clubs.

HOW ARE YOU HANDING FIREWORKS?

RICHMOND requires they must first be demonstrated in the establishment in daytime with regulatory officials present.

MILWAUKEE requires certificate and pre-show demonstration and then also will attend first show and can do random inspections as well to double-check. If they find a show with problems with pyrotechnics, Milwaukee finds out where that show is going next and alerts next city.

If you have shows, let’s share information among each other. (There was consensus on this point and AMCBO will explore.)

Mr. Cooper thanked everyone who was on the call and opened a discussion regarding the topics that should be covered in the next Important Issues call.

OTHER TOPICS FOR NEXT CALL

It was agreed that the next topic would be best practices that state and local building departments were using to address homeland security concerns.

Among the best practices that NCSBCS/AMCBO will cover on the call are:

• Actions being taken by building departments to keep building plans secure.
• Building department involvement in disaster drills and planning with state and local homeland security and emergency management personnel.
• Mutual aid agreements, both intrastate and interstate.
• Criteria being used by state and local governments to conduct damage assessments.

OTHER ISSUES

• Action is expected in March on New York City’s building code adoption.

• Claude Cooper described an AMCBO letter submitted to the New York Times Op Ed regarding the need for the city to adopt the International Building Code to coordinate with the codes in place in neighboring jurisdictions.

• Jim Martin reported on pending actions by the California Building Standards Commission to consider reversing a previous decision as to which building code to adopt. The Governor of California is appointing new commissioners to the Building Standards Commission. It appears that there is a shift towards the IBC. Mr. Martin reported that he would be at the Commission meeting tomorrow, January 19.

AJOURN

There being no further items for the call, Mr. Cooper thanked everyone for participating and at the call ended at 1:15 p.m.