I am often asked, “When is a building in Chicago required or non-required?”
There are a couple of Chicago Building Code Chapters to be familiar with,13-76*, 15-16-110. Though there are other chapters to be considered, these are the primaries.
Type of Occupancies: “Required” Status
- High Rise Building, any Building or Occupancy
- 80 Feet or greater
- Building with atrium open to multiple floors
- Class I Fire Alarm, General Alarm
- Any school two stories or greater
- Daycares greater than 100 kids
- Hotel equal or greater than two stories
- Dormitory two stories or greater
- Non-Sprinklered SROT
- elecommunication building
- Class II Fire Alarm, Coded PreSignal
- Institutional buildings
- Hospitals and nursing homes
- Daycares with infants greater then 30
- Incarceration facilities, jails, prisons and similar
- Large Places of Assembly greater than 1000 people
- 1 Master City Tie Box within 100 feet of main entrance
- NFPA101 or 72 Systems
- Daycares less than 100 kids
- Elevator Recall Systems:
- Enforced by the Elevator Code or Inspector
- Stairwell Door Unlocking Systems
- Must be designed and installed in a fail-safe mode, all stairwell doors open
- Voluntary or “Non-Required” Buildings, Sample Buildings
- Residential less than 80 feet
- Standalone restaurant
- Warehouses or factories
- Small to large retail, strip mall or covered malls
- Small to midsize movie theaters
- Out-patient treatment facilities
- Professional use office buildings
- Gymnasiums
- Small to midsize churches
- Car dealerships
- Automotive repair shops
- Home for the elderly, “Independent Living”
- Adult education under 100 students
- Library
- Fire House
General System Configurations: Protection and Notification
- City of Chicago Sprinkler System takes precedence
- Sprinkler System 100% supervised with external monitoring
- Fire panels shall be in a secure and protected room
- There shall be a front door zone annunciator display within 20 feet, visible upon entry
- Daycares require 100% smoke detection
- Schools require heat detection in all electrical mechanical rooms, closets, and storage rooms, when not sprinklered
- Smoke doors with hold open devices require smoke detection left and right
- Any space without a sprinkler head requires a smoke detector or heat detector depending on room use
- Elevator lobbies (recall), smoke detection or sprinkler head
- Manual pull stations within five feet of all exits and stairwell doors, except high rise
- Smoke Duct Detectors on air handing units greater than 2000 CFM
- Audible sounding devices is the code, visual devices are ancillary, with exception to Chapter 11 “Accessibility”
- High rises, speakers 75 feet on centers, elevator lobbies, five feet stairwell doors, elevator cars, space greater than 5000 SF, and every 5th floor stairwell landing
- 2-way fireman communication every 5th landing in stairwells
Difference Between City of Chicago and NFPA 72
- High rise systems are based on a manual system, no automatic audio operation
- No pull stations in high rise buildings, with exception to school occupancy
- 100% coverage may not be required
- No decibel minimum required, similar to NFPA 18.4.3.5.1 or 18.4.5.1
- Wireless radio is not an approved monitoring method
- Required fire alarm to be installed in full conduit, no open cable
- Class I and II systems require backlit incandescent annunciator, trouble bells
- Residential smoke detector 15 feet from bedroom door, not every bedroom
New Trends: Special Codes, Applications, and Design Consideration
- Low frequency sounders
- Sleeping room requirements
- ADA residential units and strobe requirements
- Smoke and fire partitions
- Smoke and fire dampers, standalone to system applications
- Mass notification, dual use systems
- Carbon Monoxide detection and interfacing
This is a two-page summary of a 1,033-page code document. For more details, see the Chicago Building Code or call High Rise Security Systems at 630-920-0100 for expert consultation.