The DuPage County Board has unanimously approved revisions to the county building code that include new safety measures to improve fire evacuations in high-rises, changes inspired by the deadly blaze last fall in a Cook County-owned building in downtown Chicago.
The first major overhaul of the county code since 1996 also includes provisions allowing building inspectors to issue tickets for zoning and building violations on the spot, much like traffic tickets.
Among the new measures is a requirement that stairwell enclosure doors in buildings three stories or more or 40 feet or more in height shall not be locked from the stairwell side except under certain circumstances when extraordinary security is necessary.
Under those instances, buildings must have sprinklers; pressurized stairwells; an electronic lock-release system that can be activated by building management, firefighters or automatically by the fire alarm system; and a telephone or other two-way communication system provided on every third floor.
“What happened in the Cook County Administration Building in Chicago was a tragedy that must never be repeated,” DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said. “With these building code revisions in place, we are working to ensure that DuPage County will never see a repeat of that catastrophic event.”
The new code goes into effect immediately and applies to all existing buildings in unincorporated DuPage as well as to all new buildings.
There are only a couple of buildings tall enough to qualify, and they already are up to code, county officials said.
The enhanced ticketing ability of county inspectors, known as code enforcement officers, is intended to crack down on repeat violators, while reducing congestion in the local ordinance court, officials said.
Under the previous code, judges issued fines when appropriate. Under the new measure, however, violators will still have a choice to fight tickets in court.
