L.A. Orders Sprinklers in Older Towers : Council Action Affects About 350 Industrial, Commercial Buildings

Ten weeks after the devastating First Interstate Bank inferno, the Los Angeles City Council adopted a law Friday requiring owners of about 350 older high-rise commercial and industrial buildings to install sprinkler systems as a fire safety measure.

The council, on a 13-0 vote, also signaled that it would formulate a separate ordinance requiring sprinklers in more than 100 older residential towers.

More time is needed to develop the residential ordinance, officials said, because under existing rent-control laws the high costs of such improvements may be passed on to tenants. “It could translate up to $150 per month rent increases,” said Richard McCaughey, a legislative analyst. “We don’t want to put little old ladies out on the street.”

Pre-1974 Buildings

Under the city’s new ordinance--backed by Fire Chief Donald O. Manning and Frank Kroeger, general manager of the Building and Safety Department--building inspectors will review all commercial and industrial buildings more than 75 feet tall (typically about seven stories) that were built before a 1974 state law requiring sprinkler systems.

The tallest structures would be inspected first, and their owners cited if sprinkler systems had not already been installed. Owners would then have one year to submit plans for installing sprinklers, and another two years to complete the work. The owners would have an automatic one-year extension if major asbestos removal work is necessary. Owners also would be able to apply for extensions on a case-by-case basis.

“I want to get all the high-rises fitted with sprinklers as quickly as we can,” Manning said. “Any delay creates anxiety on my part.”

Many of the city’s older high-rises already have been retrofitted with sprinklers, Kroeger said. Such a system was being installed at the First Interstate tower--the city’s tallest building--when the fire broke out May 4, killing one man and injuring 40.

The First Interstate fire could have been controlled quickly and without injury had the sprinkler system been in operation, fire officials say.

Council members heard no opposition to the ordinance at a public hearing Friday. However, the Central City Assn., representing 235 downtown companies, and the Building Owners and Managers Assn. lobbied for similar statewide legislation authored by state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles).

Los Angeles officials consider the city’s ordinance more stringent than Torres’ bill, which has been amended to allow building owners up to nine years to install sprinklers.

The state bill provides an extra incentive for the City Council to pass an ordinance requiring sprinklers for residential buildings. Torres’ legislation would supersede the city ordinance if a classification of buildings, such as residential, is left unprotected. However, if residential buildings are included under the city’s ordinance, McCaughey said, the city’s tougher ordinance would take precedence.

Councilman Ernani Bernardi, chairman of the council’s Building and Safety Committee, noted that the decision to delay adopting an ordinance for residential buildings triggered complaints from the public and critical editorials. “We are in no way dodging the issue,” he said.

Rent Increases, Evictions

Councilman Richard Alatorre, chairman of the Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee, said a study of the sprinkler mandate for residential buildings raises the specter of unjust rent hikes and even evictions.

Officials are concerned that the costs of complying with a mandatory sprinkler law combined with other expensive improvements might enable landlords to gain freedom from city rent control under a major-rehabilitation clause in the rent-control law.

The council instructed its staff to report in 90 days with a plan that would require sprinklers for residential structures without causing undue hardship on owners and tenants. Among the possibilities would be less-stringent sprinkler requirements, such as in hallways only, as well as changes in the rent-control law.

City staff was also instructed to report in 90 days on possible tax-supported financial plans to aid building owners. Councilman Gilbert Lindsay, whose downtown district includes many of the buildings that would be affected by the ordinance, spoke in favor of such financing options, but other council members objected.