DEPARTMENT: SAFD
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Charles N. Hood
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
High-rise Fire Sprinkler Retrofit Briefing
SUMMARY:
In January of 2016, the San Antonio City Council approved an amendment to the 2015 International Fire Code requiring all high-rise buildings that do not have fire sprinklers to have these systems installed within 12 years. Through the FY16 budget process, council also approved the addition of a fire inspector to assist with inspections and the administration of the high-rise program. This briefing serves as an update to the progress of the high-rise inspection program and the stage of compliance for the affected buildings.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In February 2015, the (SAFD) requested approval of the Public Safety Committee to establish a stakeholder group to study the feasibility of a retroactive fire sprinkler requirement for high-rise buildings following the tragic events at the Wedgewood Apartments in Castle Hills. The stakeholder group met 5 times and included the San Antonio Housing Authority, the San Antonio Apartment Association, representatives from the Building Owner and Manager's Association, insurance industry representatives, sprinkler contractor representatives, various fire protection engineers, condominium owner's groups, and others. Ultimately, the ordinance was approved and the inspection program was established. Approximately 200 high-rises were initially identified as potentially meeting the criteria for the inspection program. Through the submittal of original architectural drawings, field measurements, inspection and verification, the list was reduced to 150 with 35 buildings needing to have fire sprinkler systems installed. As of November 20, 2017, over 400 high-rise inspections have been conducted with some of them being follow-up inspections to verify that deficiencies have been corrected.
ISSUE:
The first phase of the sprinkler ordinance was that building owners...
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