Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to try to bring building contractors to heel moved forward Wednesday, pushing a change an administration official said was prompted by the 2015 death of a Chicago firefighter in a warehouse that was under construction.
The wide-ranging proposal would centralize the process for disciplining contractors who violate code or fail to pull the proper permits with the city building commissioner. Commissioner Judy Frydland said different types of work violations now go to different boards, making the process confusing and time-consuming.
"If we find a plumbing problem, that goes to one board. Electrical deficiencies go to another one and on and on, and it’s tough to really get our arms around it," Frydland said after a City Council committee hearing where the ordinance was advanced.
"You had to bring in the Law Department, file a complaint, you had to go to different commissions, to get any kind of discipline," Frydland said. "So this consolidates it into one matter."
Firefighter memorial Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune
A memorial for firefighter Daniel Capuano is placed as a crew prepared the warehouse at 9213 S. Baltimore for demolition in Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. The building where firefighter Daniel Capuano died was torn down a year after the fatal fire.
A memorial for firefighter Daniel Capuano is placed as a crew prepared the warehouse at 9213 S. Baltimore for demolition in Chicago on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. The building where firefighter Daniel Capuano died was torn down a year after the fatal fire.
(Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The city wanted to change the process after the December 2015 death of firefighter Daniel Capuano, Frydland said. Capuano, 43, fell down an elevator shaft while battling a smoky blaze inside a Southeast Side warehouse.
Construction work at the site where Capuano died was unauthorized and outside the scope of building permits, according to the city’s building department, which found the warehouse unsafe. But Frydland said it was "incredibly frustrating" to try to cite the company doing the work. "They kept saying ‘You have to do this, this,’ and so all I could do was go write up all (the contractor’s) jobs," she said.
"This allows for a progressive discipline," Frydland said. A first step would be to put a hold on any new permits until a contractor fixes problems the city finds. A second violation would lead to a suspension, and then the city could revoke a company’s license, she said.
A year after Capuano’s death, the city demolished the warehouse.
The ordinance will head to the full City Council for consideration later this month.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
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