Most of our country's large loss of life fires has one or more common elements of egress deficiencies, non-compliant interior finishes, and lack of automatic fire extinguishing systems. Fire departments continually try to prevent these tragedies from re-occurring through the establishment of a fire prevention program. One of the most significant elements of a comprehensive fire prevention program is the fire department's participation in the construction document review process. (Even small volunteer fire departments must participate in this process.) This task enables fire prevention bureaus to directly reduce the likelihood of fire deaths because of improper construction, inadequate exits or poorly designed suppression systems.
The construction document review process is one of the few times we will always have the ability to fight the fire before it starts by ensuring fire fighters will have the essential tools to fight a fire before they even arrive at the scene. We can only provide an available water supply (hydrants etc.), emergency vehicle and fire fighter access, and the building suppression system one time. This one time occurs when the building is constructed or significantly renovated that requires review by the local fire department. The fire protection decisions made during construction will impact the fire department's ability to mitigate an emergency in a building for the life of the building. This is our only opportunity to ensure the construction features do not contribute to the spread of fire or create unsafe conditions for fire fighters. It is also here where we make certain the building's fire suppression systems are adequate for the hazard it protects.
What sounds as a simple mundane task to undertake and accomplish is not as easy as what it appears. The construction document review process can become very political which may equate to the creation of added pressure on all parties involved. A philosophy of being fair, accurate and consistent will help to avoid accusations of selective enforcement and favoritisms but will not alleviate potential conflicts. Challenges frequently arise when developers are unaccustomed to a having the fire department actively involved in the construction document review process. Most fire departments and municipalities modify the nationally recognized model codes and create local amendments. Many times developers become frustrated because of the variety of codes they have to understand combined with a difficult construction document review process. In past articles we have discussed the need to have the best person possible for the job. The person responsible for construction document review has become one of the most technical jobs in the fire department and has continually evolved into a job with complex duties. Fire departments have begun to fulfill this need with very well trained and educated personnel. On many occasions developers are not accustom to dealing with such a well trained individual in the fire department. What has been overlooked in the past by many fire departments is now being brought to the developer's attention because of the increased training of fire department personnel responsible for construction document review. In addition, many times developers encounter inconsistencies with code interpretations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This within itself can cause frustration and animosity between the construction document reviewer and the developer. Once one or both parties are frustrated and become adversarial, it is difficult to achieve the desired level of effective fire prevention services.
The most effective construction document review processes utilizes each of the three basic principles of fire prevention, education, engineering and enforcement. This is one of the few fire prevention activities where we have the opportunity to apply all of these principles together! The following suggestions utilize one or all of theses principles to improve the construction document review process.
Provide Training for the Staff
In the last article Training-What makes us the experts?, we emphasized the importance of providing training for fire prevention professionals. As the fire prevention professional continues to evolve into one of the most technical duties of the fire department, give him or her the tools to do their job. The best tool you can give your fire prevention staff is the opportunity to further their knowledge through professional development. Encourage and support continued professional development for each member of the fire prevention staff. Not only focus on the technical aspects of the job but ensure courses regarding conflict management, dealing with difficult people, and customer service are part of the continuing education.
Build a Strong Coalition with Your Building Department
One of the best allies a fire department can have is a building department representative with a good technical background that understands the needs of the fire department. Many of the requirements in the building code are there to ensure occupant safety during a fire. Take time to build a strong working relationship with the building department. Explain the fire department's needs and be willing to help them. Remember to be empathetic to their needs! There will definitely be times where the building department and fire department will disagree. That is ok, but have a good working relationship to resolve the issues at hand.
Learn from Other Fire Departments
Chances are the problems and challenges you are facing with your construction document review process may be similar to a neighboring community. Seek the input of neighboring fire officials. This can be accomplished through informal round table discussions with local fire officials or setting up an e-mail group to bounce ideas off each other. It can be rest assuring to learn that the problems with a particular code issue are being addressed in the same fashion in your neighboring community. This also reduces the argument of "you are the only fire department doing this, no one else requires this"
Strive to Prevent Problems before they Occur
If you have been doing construction document review long enough and met enough developers and builders, it can become obvious when a construction project is not going to go smoothly. Whether it is a poorly trained design professional or a lack of understanding the potential impact of a renovation some projects just don't go well. There are costs overruns to correct code deficiencies, higher costs than anticipated, the list goes on.
It is our job as fire professionals to provide the owner, architect and builder enough pertinent fire code requirement information early in the project. They must learn to seek our input early in the conceptual phase of the project and we must offer our technical services early in the project. We are not the designer, but if we can outline our potential concerns in writing early in the conceptual phase, some of the problems may be avoided. If they still occur, we have been well documented of our concern during the conceptual phase of the project.
Continually Improve Communications to Ensure Customers Succeed
Create handouts of what your local codes are. Identify changes made to the model codes. Ideally, provide your local codes on line for review. As noted above, this is the type of information you can share during the conceptual design meetings or when you receive a phone call from a builder asking "What if I build a _________ or change_________"
Find an easy method to document meetings, phone calls, construction document reviews and inspections. For example, create a list of typical comments on issues you address during most meetings with architects, builders etc. Some topics with comments would pertain to fire lane requirements, sprinkler requirement, fire alarm issues, egress analysis requirements, storage practices etc. Use these comments as talking points for you meeting and then finalize them as minutes of your meeting. Always attach handouts and web sources for additional requirements to the minutes of the meeting. These documented events also serve as your lifeline when the project turns sour and entities begin to seek blame. Remember the builder and architect will be gone after the project is complete. You want a long lasting relationship with the owner of project. Ensure the owner is well informed of all stages of the project. Make sure the primary customer (owner) succeeds.
Always Look for Ways to Improve the Process
We can always improve our processes. Seek input from the developers and business owners that have gone through your construction document review process. What makes sense to us may be a big stumbling block for the users of our process. Use focus groups and survey satisfaction cards to seek gain insight of pitfalls with your construction document review process. It is difficult to fix the problems if we can't identify them.
Make Customer Service a Daily Priority
Customer service in the fire service is just as important in the fire prevention bureaus as it is on the street in the Big Red Truck! Many times we have to sell a disliked service. However, we need to educate the customers the reasons behind the code requirements. As we all know, most of the code requirements are because of some tragedy that has occurred. Explain not only the where it is required but why it is required. When possible offer a solution to correct the fire protection deficiency. Try to provide a few solutions to their fire protection problem without crossing the line of being their architect!
