I told him that IFC didn't give him the power to do what he thinks. That's when he gave me the ultimatum. Can you believe he wrote a letter saying that we have to EXCEED the adopted codes? Ron F
-----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cahill, Christopher Sent: Friday, July 18, 2014 10:26 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Segue to AHJ's from CPVC Underground Wow, and he doesn't even know what that section says. " The fire code official is hereby authorized to enforce the provisions of this code and shall have the authority to render interpretations of this code, and to adopt policies, procedures, rules and regulations in order to clarify the application of its provisions. Such interpretations, policies, procedures, rules and regulations shall be in compliance with the intent and purpose of this code and shall not have the effect of waiving requirements specifically provided for in this code." Enforce THIS code... shall be in compliance with the intent and purpose of THIS code. I don't see where he gets HIS code in place of THIS code. And interpretation are only allowed to CLARIFY. What's not clear is the issue. Private contractor AHJ or gov't employed AHJ? Reason being is the contract doesn't have the same liability protections usually. IOW you can sue a contact AHJ easier than the gov't. I'd suggest you have your attorney reply. Hope you have an owner willing to tell them they are moving in without CofO. 'Cuz that's the way it really gets in front of a judge. He's right in that he can hold the CofO. That's a powerful tool. Only the owner can push this and move in. Then the AHJ writes a ticket and you get to go to the judge (assuming the City attorney doesn't squash it) to explain how the gov't is wrong on the basis of denying the CofO. I've had a few AHJ's cave when an owner tells them we'll see you in court. But sadly most owners cave and write a check for the unlawful requirement. And consider this, the local sprink chapter in MN hired a lawyer a few years ago to write a white paper about the law and legal limits of what AHJ's can actually do. It was mailed to every AHJ in the State. I'm out of contracting now so I don't know how effective it was but at least it made them aware we weren't a bunch of dumb contractors that will fall for their every whim. Chris Cahill, PE* Associate Fire Protection Engineer Burns & McDonnell Phone: 952.656.3652 Fax: 952.229.2923 [email protected] www.burnsmcd.com *Registered in: MN Proud to be #14 on FORTUNE's 2014 List of 100 Best Companies to Work For -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Friday, July 18, 2014 12:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Segue to AHJ's from CPVC Underground It's Friday so I figured I'd whine on the forum. To set the stage, prior to the letter I am referring to we had approved permitted drawings from the AHJ. The following is a quote from a letter we received from that same AHJ. "At this time , Blah Blah Blah Fire Protection District is denying said plans and is requesting a re-submittal of new plans that exceed IFC, UFC, and NFPA standards." Nowhere in the body of the letter does he say exactly how we are to "EXCEED" IFC, UFC and NFPA. In the letter they basically outline that what was submitted meets the all of the codes. I was told by the author of the letter at a meeting the day before that he didn't care what the code said because he is the AHJ and per Section 104 of the IFC he can make us do whatever he wants. Then he said "do it my way or there will be no Certificate of Occupancy." We are 4-5 weeks away from a CofO and the change involves increasing the size of two new diesel pumps that are being installed. The fire chief told us to go to the State Fire Marshal if we wanted to appeal. I'm a bit frustrated with AHJ's right now. Ron F _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
