Lombard amends local building codes to help small businesses
LOMBARD, Illinois— The Village of Lombard Board of Trustees unanimously passed the latest revisions to the Lombard Building Code at a recent Board of Trustees meeting.
Lombard's Community Development Department had introduced the recommended building coderevisions to the Lombard Board of Building Appeals and the Board of Trustees after performing a comprehensive review Lombard's building codes.
The Village evaluated code requirements for one-story buildings that are already built with non-combustible materials, such as steel.
Small businesses desiring to construct their business in a one story building would have had to provide two hours of fireproofing on the structural steel.
After the Community Development Department reviewed this code with the Fire Department, the latest amendments would no longer require selected retail and office related establishments to add additional fireproofing materials to the steel.
For the business owner or tenant, this change will save thousands of dollars for the typical small business, while still ensuring that other provisions of Village code are met.
In addition to the Building Code changes, the structure of the code and language was changed to make the code more user friendly.
The village also adopted the International Plumbing Code to be used along with the Illinois Plumbing Code, as the International Plumbing Code is more complete than the state code, and is easier for the residents and builders to follow.
Lastly, Lombard adopted by reference the latest amendments to the federal Accessibility Code. This new code is mandated by the Department of Justice, but enforced by the local municipalities.
“The village continues to look for opportunities to review code provisions to ensure that they are meeting their desired effect. These latest amendments allow for essential life safety provisions to be met for building occupants, while also addressing developer and contractor regulations in a proactive manner,” noted William Heniff, Lombard's Community Development Director.