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1 SPECAL FEATURE BY MARK SUSK, S.E.T, SCHRMER ENGNEERNG CORPORATON UPDATE ON THE CHCAGO HGH-RSE LFE SAFETY ORDNANCE VOCE COMMUNCATON SYSTEMS High-rise owners and residential managers condominium within the City of Chicago should know by now that the deadline for installation of a one-way and two-way voice system is drawing near. For those new to the residential high-rise community, and to try and put to rest some of the rumors that have been circulating since the adoption of the ordinance, this article provides the following information; 1) a brief overview of how voice systems work and why they are needed, ) a discussion of the basic requirements for such systems, and 3) a summary of issues related to the design and installation of these systems, which building owners and operators must address. Overview An occupant notification system is one of the most critical components of the various fire and life safety features provided in occupied buildings. The notification system is what alerts the occupants that a fire has occurred and directs them to what emergency action should be taken. Studies done in human behavior during fire [1] reveals that panic, which supposes irrational behavior for a situation, is not typical behavior in a fire. On the contrary, people appear to apply rational decision making given their understanding of the situation at the time of the fire. Without information or instructions provided to building occupants via an occupant notification system, occupants cannot make informed decisions on what steps to take to save their lives and their families' lives during a fire emergency. There are two primary types of notification systems, a general evacuation system and a selective evacuation system. The general evacuation system functions exactly as the name implies, it evacuates the entire building simultaneously. f a manual fire alarm pull station or smoke detector connected to the fire alarm system is activated, all the notification appliances (typically horns and strobes) within the building sound the alarm and all occupants evacuate immediately. General evacuation systems that employ horns, bells, or other sounding devices, other than speakers, can really only provide the occupants of the building one instruction, and that is to evacuate the building now! For small or medium size buildings this may be the only Total Cleaning, and Restorati.ClA ~-- Prof~ss~:~~ ~--~ ~!~ p~~~ ::P ~?t ~~-": """. -~...,;> Cleaning Garbage Chute ~~..;;..-~' :.".. ~Q. ~~t~_ ~_....,. 0.,~~.:i) Carpet, Upholstery... 1MOdRe~ediation & Drapery Cleaning nfrared Camera Photo inventory, moving disposal nspections Air& Exhaust or storage related Duct Cleaning to evictions BROUWER BROS~~ STEAMATC" ~"" CLEAN5 Management as ndividual as You Are! Our Mission: Established upon the belief that true success is measured by more than mere profitability. Legum & Norman Mid-West is committed to excellence in service and to the highest standards of honesty, reliability and innovation in our relations with both our clients and employees. Our Focus: Professional Condominium Association Management Call Tom Skweres at or \D to page 37 for more details on Legum & Norman ssoclao ~lid-\vest. ['1A..C All material herein is copyrighted CONDO LFESTYLES 35 /

2 LFESTYLES message necessary, but for large or tall buildings the ability to provide occupants different messages can be critical. Selective Evacuation System The other type of notification system is a selective evacuation system, which notifies specific zones or floors independently and only a portion of the building is alerted. These systems typically rely on the use of speakers and strobes so that one or more different voice instructions can be given to one or more areas of the building. Selective evacuation systems are commonly used in large assembly spaces and high-rise buildings where activating a general evacuation signal may create additional problems for the occupants or the emergency responders. When directing large groups of people in an emergency situation it may be necessary for the emergency responders to provide specific instructions to avoid evacuation delays or disruptions. For example, high-rises have multiple exits for each floor but if a particular stairwell was filled with smoke or blocked, the emergency responders could direct the people towards a safe exit utilizing the selective evacuation system. Also, these systems allow with occupants in non-fire areas to provide direction on evacuation or to instruct them to stay in their designated area allowing emergency responders to concentrate their efforts on evacuating the occupants in the hazard area. A selective evacuation system typically uses speakers that can transmit a prerecorded voice message or allows emergency responders to provide live spoken.at. Voice Communication Panel instructions via a centrally located microphone. f emergency responders believe it is necessary to evacuate the entire building, the "all call"function allows verbal instructions to be given to the entire'building simultaneously. For all highrise building owners, the Chicago Building [ Code (CBC) requires the installation of a voice system by January 1,01. The required voice systems have three basic components; the control panel, occupant notification appliances (speakers and strobe lights) and two-wayemergency telephones. The following will help to explain the CBC requirements and clarify any confusion of what is required. Voice Communication The voice Panel panel (VCP) is the 36 CONDO LFESTYLES 0.09 All material herein iscopyrighted 009.

3 SPECAL FEATURE brains of the system and is located in the main lobby typically within eye site of the main entrance. This location is not popular with many high-rise building owners because the lobbies may be decorative and ornate and installing avcp in the main lobby in full view of the public is not aesthetically pleasing. The final location for the VCP is not entirely up to the voice system designer and requires approval by the Fire Prevention Bureau. The Fire Prevention Bureau requires the panel in plain sight because, in the event of an emergency, the responders do not want to waste vaiuable time searching for it. The VCP normally contains a master paging microphone, one-way voice control buttons (one per fioor), and an emergency teiephone handset. The master paging microphone and control buttons allows emergency responders to give spoken instructions to selected individual floors, or to the entire building simultaneously. The telephone handset allows two-way s between. emergency responders at the VCPand emergency personnel in the stairwells. Selective One-Way Voice Requirements The selective one-way voice system consists of speakers installed throughout various portions of the building. buildings as well as existing buildings. requires speakers in all of the following of a residential high-rise building: Lobbies and common This includes new The CBC locations use areas of the building Corridors and hallways spaced at a distance not greater than 75 feet apart End of corridors Eievator iobbies and elevator cabs n each stairwell located on every fifth floor Near each stairwell exit doorway The CBCdoes not require speakers to be provided in each dwelling high-rise residential buildings. unit of existing or new Consequentially, providing sufficient sound levels in the dwelling units can be difficult with speakers located only in corridors and eievator lobbies. The City chose not to require speakers in each dwelling unit as part of the high-rise Life Safety Ordinance because this is not required in the CBCfor new construction, a desire to limit the financial impact on building owners. and Schirmer Engineering suggests building owners consider providing at least one additional speaker in each dwelling unit located near the door to the corridor. This will provide gr~ater audibility within the dwelling additional unit for a small cost. The cost for this can be priced out as an option during the bid phase of the voice system project. in an informal capacity, Schirmer Engineering was asked by a property manager of a residential high-rise to perform testing to determine if there was sufficient sound levels inside the units with speakers located only in corridors and elevator lobbies. The test was informal and the parameters were simpie. We went into the dwelling unit bedroom with a decibel meter and activated the voice system. The sound level did not register on the decibel meter and the voice instructions were barely audible. The test was conducted again with the bedroom door closed and under those conditions the voice message could not be heard. n the event of an emergency, the occupants of these units would not be able to hear the emergency responder's instruction. For a greater level of life safety, it is suggested that at least one speaker should be installed in each dwelling unit. The issue of speakers in each dwelling unit should not be dismissed simply because of the cost. n the event of an emergency, there couid be serious ramifications if the notification system cannot be heard, resulting in a failure to awaken occupants and/or to properly instruct occupants during an emergency situation. Because the high-rise ordinance does not require! f,.' \d,,...'. " t '.. > "'.' ;; ~ Your Association as if We Lived There Ourselves! w, M"ntain "d -~" Li.UA c ssoclao. All material herein is copyrighted CONDO LFESTYLES 37

4 LFESTYLES speakers in the dwelling choose to provide these additional units, building owners can speakers as a secondary project, which can occur after the January 1,01 deadline. For buildings that have an existing occupant notification system (public address system) there is an option that would allow these systems to be used in lieu of the required one-way voice system. This exception, however, requires that the existing occupant notification must meet all of the following criteria: system Must be electronically supervised or used continuously and tested on a monthly basis; Must be available for fire department use from a central command location; Meet audibility levels specified in the CBC; Have the ability to transmit voice instructions; Must be available for fire department s subject to field testing. use; and Many of the buildings have intercom or public address systems, and even though the exception is in the CBC,the typical intercom system does not meet the CBCrequirements. Visual Notification Requirements Another area of confusion we are often asked ArlinllR HeighlS to address is the requirement to install visual notification appliances (strobes) to notify persons with hearing impairments of an emergency. Some property managers, and even some fire alarm contractors, will insist that strobes are not required because the CBCdoes not specifically mention strobe placement. Even though the CBCdoes not specifically require strobes, they are required. The State of llinois adopted the llinois Accessibility Code, which became affective April, 1997 and is based on the Americans with Disability Act Accessibility Guidelines. The lac requires strobes in all restrooms, corridors, meeting rooms and any other area that is considered common use within the building. The bottom line is that not installing strobes would be a violation of the lac (State Law) and expose the owner to a potential law suit whether or not an emergency were to ever occur. Two-Way Voice Requirements The two-way voice the system consists of a telephone portion of handset at the VCPand two-way stations (handsets) in each required exit stairwell at not lessthan every 5th floor, i.e. on levels 5, 10, 15, etc. The two-way system is used by emergency responders to communicate between command personnel at the VCP and emergency responders on other floors. t Crvslll Lake/McHeJV ~1331 should be noted that use of wireless s devices have proven to be unreliable in highrise buildings because of the typical steel and concrete construction. The CBCdoes allow an exception to the requirement for installing a two-way voice system in condominium and apartment buildings that are 15 stories or less in height and contains 60 or fewer dwelling The Process units. Despite the rumors, there is currently no indication that the City will delay the January 1,01 deadline for installation of required voice systems. Nor is there any indication that the City will rescind the ordinance, so it would behoove all owners and managers to start the installation process. Below are the typical steps involved in this process; Table 1 provides estimated time frames for each phase of the process. Contract with a design professional, someone with knowledge ofthe CBC requirements, to create design drawings and an installation specification for fire alarm contractors to bid. The drawings and specification provides the fire alarm contractors guidance on how to install the system and also ensures all bids received are based on a single set of bid documents. This will save the owner money as the bids will be sent to multiple contractors and all bids will be competitive. The bids are then reviewed for accuracy and an installing fire alarm contractor is ultimately chosen. The fire alarm contractor prepares a set of construction drawings that will be submitted to the design firm to be reviewed for specification compliance. After the design firm approves the drawings the fire alarm contractor submits the drawings to the Department and issuance of the construction of Buildings (DaB) for review permits. After the permit is obtained, the contractor commences with system installation which is monitored periodically When the installation by the design professional. is completed, acceptance testing is conducted with the owner's representative, the design professional, and/or the Fire Prevention Bureau (FPB). After all the testing is satisfactorily completed, the system can be put into service. Table 1 indicates that approximately weeks are needed to complete the project. The designated time for each phase is an estimate based upon typical projects and can change for various reasons. Below are a few of the most common reasons the time table could be modified. Condominium have to approve the funding installation. Association Board members necessary for the Typically boards meet once a month and if a board member is not present or has a 38 CONDO LFESTYLES 0.09 All material herein is copyrighted 009

5 LFESTYlES question, the process could be extended into a second month, adding another weeks to the time table. An item that is often overlooked is the contract period. This is the time designated for the Owner's attorneys to finalize the contract. Depending upon the complexity of the contract, this could take - weeks. The installation phase is estimated at 6 weeks; however, larger buildings may take significantly longer. The time estimated for the DOB review is an average. The DOB has limited resources to review drawings and if there are numerous projects submitted to the City this phase may take -3 weeks longer. f Owners wait until the eleventh hour to submit construction drawings to the DOB,there could be significant backlog which could potentially add weeks to this phase. The initial time table allotted a total of weeks (approximately 10 or 11 months) from the drawing and specification phase to completion. outlined above, the time frame could easily be extended for various reasons to 56 weeks or more. As Table 1 Phase Design Drawings and Specification Bid Package Submittal Contractor's Bid Review Contractor's Construction Drawings Preparation DOB Review nstallation Acceptance Testing Total Time frame (Weeks) '6 Conclusion: The CBC requires all high-rise buildings (including residential) within the Chicago City limits to install a voice system. The deadline specified in the Code is January 1,01, which means the systems, must be designed, installed, approved, and fully functional by January 1,01. There are good reasons not to wait and get this work completed now. First,the economy slow down has affected the construction industry and there are a number of electrical contractors looking for work, which means the bids will be more competitive, thus saving owners money. Secondly, there are approximately 1,700 high-rise buildings within the City of Chicago with approximately 1,100 ofthose being residential high-rises. Asthe deadline draws near, condominium associations and apartment building owners will be in a hurry to install the required system and contractors will be able to demand top dollar for the work, which means added cost to the owners. Many owners seem to have a wait and see attitude hoping the City will either postpone the deadline or change the requirements. As of now, there is no indication that the City will do either, so there is no better time than the present to complete the required work. :: References: Ref [1] SFPE Engineering Guide to Human Behavior in Fire, 003, Society of Fire Protection Engineers 0 CONDO LFESTYLES 0.09 All material herein is copyrighted 009.