On March 16th, Chris Lynch, Principal with Code Red Consultants joined Sean Gouvin, Director of Facilities Planning & Engineering with Baystate Health, Kirsten Waltz, Principal with Steffian Bradley Architects, and Mike Forth, Project Executive with Suffolk Construction in San Antonio, TX to discuss best practices for cost effective life safety compliance as developed through their experience on the various phases of construction on the Vista award winning Hospital of the Future project at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA. The presentation focused on the process developed to avoid an issue many health care providers deal with: non-compliant life safety conditions cited in a building that recently opened. The key points from the presentation were:
- Developing a proactive procedure at the onset of the project to get all key players at the table to identify any gaps in the design and construction process that could lead to life safety issues.
- Aligning the right team, consisting of the owner, architect, contractor, M/E/P Engineers, and the life safety consultant with clear lines of communication and well defined guiding principles for the project.
- Shifting the perspective for the project from reviewing for minimum code compliance to providing value based code consulting. By integrating the life safety consultant into the design process, opportunities to employ compliance strategies that reduce risk or minimize construction or maintenance costs can be identified. Specific examples include:
- Maximizing the use of suites to minimize the application of corridor regulations
- Coordinating with the HVAC designer and architect on the location of fire and smoke rated walls to reduce the number of costly fire rated doors and dampers.
- Coordinating with the architect and hospital security staff to design areas with security concerns to meet the competing commitments of life safety and security while minimizing the number of special locking arrangements.
- Including the hospital’s facilities department in the design process to educate them on the type and manner of how key life safety features such as firestopping is installed.
- Coordination with sub-contractors to review the manner in which the fire protection and life safety systems they are installing will be tested and inspected prior to installation.
- Performance of site inspections during construction to simulate the regulatory enforcement provided by all the Authorities Having Jurisdiction for the project, including local, state, and the healthcare regulatory agencies such as the Joint Commission or the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The team developed a life safety checklist that identified up to 150 points of failure in the process if one of these key team members fails to perform their role. The case study is a great illustration of how the role of the life safety consultant on a project is evolving as project teams get more integrated. The results are being realized by owners that are experiencing less regulatory issues on new construction projects that are designed more efficiently relative to the construction costs as well as future maintenance. If you would like to know more about this process and how it may benefit you on your next project please feel free to reach out to us.
Whether you are a building owner, engineer, architect, on general contractor, some of the most stressful moments on any project happen in the weeks leading up to obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy. It’s a gauntlet of inspections and tests where any misstep can be costly. One of the most challenging tests is the acceptance test of a building’s smoke control system (i.e. stair and elevator pressurization, atrium smoke exhaust, etc.).
Join Code Red Consultants, WSP, Suffolk Construction Company and the Boston Fire Department for a panel discussion on the inspection, commissioning, and acceptance testing of smoke control systems. We will discuss common reasons for failure during the fire department acceptance tests, what can be done during design to avoid them, and the critical role that an experienced smoke control special inspector will serve in getting the system to pass on the first try. For a 15% discount, register online and use Promo code SDB29.
At Code Red Consultants, we believe in building lasting relationships with not only our clients, but with code officials as well. Having a good working relationship with building and fire officials can help to keep an open, honest dialogue throughout a project and maximizes the likelihood that any code issues will be flushed out during the building design. When the code doesn’t speak to a particular issue or project complexity, having mutual respect with a code official can be invaluable when it comes to developing compliance alternatives, equivalencies, and other alternate methods of design and construction.
Based on our reputation with the code official community, we were requested to provide training to the Building Officials of Western Massachusetts on October 16, 2013 at the West Springfield Town Hall. We will be providing training on Commercial Building Plan Review & Inspections reviewing some common misconceptions and overlooked code requirements in the industry. Although the organization consists largely of building officials, people involved in the design and construction industry are encouraged to join as associate members. Contact us if you would like more information about being involved in a great building official organization to stay on top of the latest code changes, industry news, and training events.
Smoke Control Special Inspections have been a major source of heartburn for projects throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Unfamiliarity with the requirements of smoke control systems, including special inspections, can mean costly change orders and significant delays for a building receiving its’ Certificate of Occupancy. Code Red Consultant’s Nathan Birmingham, P.E. will be speaking about smoke control special inspections on Tuesday, October 8th at the ASHRAE Boston Chapter meeting in Waltham, MA. The presentation will discuss the state building code requirements for special inspections of atrium exhaust, stair pressurization and elevator pressurization systems. Nate has significant experience with the design and testing of smoke control systems and as part of the presentation, the issues that are often identified during his special inspections will be discussed. We hope to see you there! Information on registering for the upcoming meeting can be found at www.ashraeboston.org or in the latest ASHRAE Newsletter (http://www.ashraeboston.org/Newsletter/newsletters/2013/NEAire_10_13.pdf).
