UP YOUR STACK™ decided it was time to revisit the Chicago code situation and find out if any progress had been made. We felt 9 months was a reasonable time.

For those of you unfamiliar with our concerns, the major problem we discovered last year was that the City of Chicago’s new Mechanical Code does not recognize listed hoods. In a nutshell, that means that all new restaurant operations coming to the city must use the old formula of sizing a hood by its square footage. The recognized formula for sizing a hood in this manner requires considerably more CFM be exhausted than any listed hood. Exhaust air flow for listed hoods are established based on lab testing.

A second shortcoming is that the lower velocity threshold for design purposes of 500 FPM is not recognized either. That simply means that designers cannot take advantage of using demand ventilation and owners must pay considerably higher energy bills throughout the life of their restaurant operation due to these two shortcomings.

We immediately sent a letter directly to the mayor and his department heads last November. Eventually we received a reply from the committee chair that developed the new Chicago Mechanical Code. After several letters back and forth, we felt we had made our points but did not have any clear cut idea of how long it would take for the city to make adjustments.

Hold on to your hats. Mayor Daley has always contended that “This is the city that works”. And for the most part, people familiar with the city know that it does on many different levels. But it is a system based on patronage and who you know, that works to the advantage of those having connections or an understanding of the system.

Our recent follow up has produced the following facts. The City Council alderman closest to the situation has not responded to our calls and letters. The new man in charge of the Department of Construction and Permits, Mr. Raphael Hernandez is reported to have said in response to our questions, “We have no staff”.

At a recent luncheon forum at AIA’s offices in Chicago addressing the City of Chicago’s code progress produced the following statements:

• Since the Mechanical Code has already been issued, our time line indicates it will take seven years for us to address all issues and completely adapt the needed corrections.
• Mechanical, electrical and plumbing sections already issued are a secondary priority.
• We anticipate issuing the life safety section early in 2006.
• We anticipate issuing the structural section sometime early next year.
• The new fire code has no date.

To try and bundle this up for our readers who must come to build and work in Chicago, adding this information together means that although the work started some seven years ago, it may be as much as another seven years to get to the point of making all the corrections that are now on the table.

Since model codes are not static, it is conceivable that the city codes will never catch up to the current codes and always be out of step by 7-10 years. That is if we are lucky.

Somehow, that does not seem like “The City That Works” nor does it sound like the mayors department heads have dealt him any favors to make Chicago a more friendly city to come and do business in.

One local architect who happens to be located in downtown Chicago told me recently that when a client approaches him for a restaurant or kitchen facility, he warns them that they are better off going to the suburbs where they will be open at least four months earlier and be able to take advantage of the energy saving codes available everywhere else except for Chicago.

We confess, that anyone coming to Chicago with a new restaurant must be ready to deal with code omissions that will cost them more money to build, more time for the approval process and significantly higher operating expenses for the life of their operation. And do not forget, that we are only addressing the new Chicago Mechanical Code. Our sources tell us that other new codes contain similar outdated requirements.

For further information visit Fortnightly, a Foodservice Equipment Reports electronic newsletter at http://www.fermag.com/fortnightly/08.09.05/regulatory/home.htm