- May 6, 2015
4:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Meeting Topic:
“After the Deadline: Compliance with Chicago’s High-Rise Ordinance.”
Presented By: Carl Baldassarra
Carl Baldassarra is a Principal at Wiss, Janney Elstner and Associates, consulting engineers, in Northbrook, Illinois, and leads the firm’s fire protection practice group. He has a BS degree in fire protection engineering, a Master’s degree in business, and is a licensed engineer in several states.
Mr. Baldassarra leads project teams involving fire protection/life safety analysis, code consultation, fire protection system design, loss investigation, and litigation support. He is also very active in a number of ICC and NFPA codes and standards-making technical committees. He is currently Chair of the International Code Council (publishers of the International Building Code) Code Technology Committee.
Prior to joining WJE, Mr. Baldassarra was Executive Vice President at RJA and President of Schirmer Engineering Corporation. A 40-year veteran of the fire protection engineering profession, he is well-versed in systems design, code compliance, performance-based design, fire investigation and project management. Carl has also been active in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the international organization representing practicing fire protection engineers globally, serving on its Board of Directors and as its President in 2014.
Relevant to today’s presentation, Carl was hired by the City of Chicago to study the fire at the Cook County Building in 2003 and to recommend changes to the Chicago Building Code to improve fire safety in Chicago’s high-rise buildings. Those changes led to the development of the Chicago High-Rise Ordinance and the Life Safety Evaluations affecting more than 1,700 existing high-rise buildings in the city.
The deadline for compliance has passed, and the City has said there will be no further extensions, leading to today’s presentation: “After the Deadline: Compliance with Chicago’s High-Rise Ordinance.” Carl will describe a summary of the major findings from over 200 building surveys and will also identify what the City is now doing to enforce the Ordinance and what it means for the fire alarm industry.
Event Timeline:
- 4:30 pm Registration/Cocktails (Cash Bar)/Networking
- 5:30 pm Buffet Dinner Starts
- 6:00 pm Training Starts
- 7:30 pm Conclusion
COD at the door is accepted, but please register without finishing the payment process! Thank you!