CFD extends Greek Life's deadline to meet safety codes

The houses are on track to meet the new 2016 deadline.

By Kelly Olejnik

Published July 7, 2010

Greek Life houses are on track to meet the updated fire safety regulations before the 2016 deadline.

The Columbia Fire Department has inspected and confirmed that 15 of the 42 houses on campus have met the regulations and three houses are currently in the process of doing so. All houses must install automatic fire sprinklers before the Dec. 31, 2016, deadline. The fire sprinkler system is designed as a minimal safety device, and it is the only requirement the fire safety regulations are asking the houses to meet.

CFD Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said houses may choose to hide any of the sprinklers' exposed pipes for appearance purposes, but once sprinklers are installed and fully functional no other renovations are necessary. Houses were originally required to meet the fire safety regulations by 2012, but the Greek Fire Safety Task Force petitioned and was granted a four-year deadline extension due to lack of funding for each house's sprinkler system.

Sapp said he did not want to enforce the deadline when a number of houses could not meet the safety requirements on time.

"We were certainly comfortable that the original date was an adequate one, but after a number of meetings with all the interested parties we agreed that the extension was suitable," Sapp said.

Greek Life Director Janna Basler said in an e-mail this extension was very necessary in order to include the alumni advisors.

"Most chapters cannot afford to install sprinklers with the regular flow of income from rent alone," Greek Life advisor Danny Jonas said in an e-mail. "Donations for infrastructure improvements may come from the housing corporation, alumni or both."

Alpha Epsilon Pi President Marshall Rader said his fraternity has yet to renovate the house due to the cost.

"Our housing corporation is well aware of the required sprinkler system, and has developed a plan to install the sprinklers by the 2016 deadline," Rader said. "When the sprinkler system is installed, it will most likely be paid for by our housing corporation."

Sapp said if an organization fails to meet the deadline but has made a good faith effort to complete the project, they may appeal to the Building Construction Codes Commission Board of Appeals for an extension. The organization must be able to present that they have in good faith made a valid attempt to comply with the code requirement.

Although the fire regulations only require Greek Life houses to install the updated sprinkler system, all houses must maintain a fire evacuation plan and hold fire drills under the supervision of CFD Lieutenant Shawn McCollom.

McCollom said the houses are inspected for safety standards on an annual basis to ensure a safe living environment for students.

"I have worked closely with Greek Life on safety education and fire drills for these students and found we have the same goals in which we are going to do everything in our powers to see these students are kept as safe as possible," McCollom said.