Gentlemen & Ladies, I have run into a situation where I need some perspective. I hope you will share your views with me. I have a client that has leased a commercial space in a strip shopping center. The space is approx. 7,500 s.f. The space is about 1/2 to 1/3 of the entire center. The previous occupant was a church. My client wants to put a teen club in this space. The building has no automatic fire sprinkler system in this space, but has been added to other parts of this center. The state fire marshal has reviewed this project, and has approved occupancy of 225 people. The actual occupancy by IBC is approx 900-1000. The local building inspector has denied allowing the occupancy of this tenant until an automatic fire sprinkler system is installed. The local building inspector has allowed that any other fire suppression system that is UL or ICCES certified can be used. The tenant is a fire fighter from another jurisdiction. They have offerd to get their commrades to stand fire watch, but building inspector has denied that since people are unreliable. The lease is for one year. Building owner does not want to install sprinkler. Any suggestions? Thanks, Michael R. Spencer
Once approved for that occupancy, any occupant or organization can move in, and if the same type of occupant and does no changes, could occupy the space.
Any non-fixed method of watching for a fire might not be there with a future tenant.
Watching for a fire is different than extinguishing fire before it spreads and causes more damage.
Having the local authority having to check for each event to make sure there are enough watchers adds cost to the local government, is the owner willing to pay for the overtime wages to verify the watchers are there each day?
Explain (which you probably have) that protecting his building is in his best long term investment in the property. Some say insurance premiums could go down, but I have never seen that proof.
