Bill Koffel - Koffel Associates

The Burn: Beyond FirestopHosted by John ZalepkaIntroWelcome to The Burn, Beyond Fire Stop. Our show is dedicated to life safety and code compliance in the built environment, which puts me on a mission to find the most interesting people in this space to get their unique perspective. Our hope is that our listening audience walks away with an understanding of how our guests and their businesses and organizations contribute to the promotion of life safety of whatever is being built. Our show is brought to you by Specified Technologies, Inc. Also known as STI Fire Stop. And since 1990 STI has been a leading global provider of innovative fire protective solutions that help stop the spread of fire, smoke and hot gases.My guest today is Bill Koffel, President of Koffel Associates. Bill established a fire protection engineering firm and is recognized as an expert in fire protection codes and standards. Key TakeawaysBill’s BackgroundFather was volunteer firefighter Became a volunteer firefighter when he was of ageFire Chief introduced him to program at University of MarylandTurned hobby into a professionNFPA 101Life Safety code differs from Building code or Fire CodeFire code is generic Building code addresses new constructionLife Safety Code addresses new and existing construction and goes into greater detailLife Safety Code is occupancy specific1991 Edition of the Life Safety CodePrior to that, the code gave options of building with or without sprinkler protection. Bill worked with American Hospital Association and worked to change the code to require sprinklers in all new healthcare occupancies Chapter 43Added in 2006, deals with rehabilitation of existing buildings. Changes old requirements Bring old buildings as close to new building requirements as possible. International Existing Building Code Essentials Authored book along with Clay Aler Serves as a handbook of why codes do the things they do. History of how codes are developed...