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1 | AN ACT concerning safety.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Greek | ||||||
5 | Housing Fire Safety Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Legislative findings. Fire deaths and burn | ||||||
7 | injuries among college students have become a common | ||||||
8 | occurrence. It has been proven that automatic fire sprinkler | ||||||
9 | systems are a highly effective method of controlling or | ||||||
10 | extinguishing a fire in its early stages and protecting the | ||||||
11 | lives of the building's occupants and the responding | ||||||
12 | firefighters. Many students are living in Greek housing that is | ||||||
13 | not adequately protected with automatic fire sprinkler | ||||||
14 | systems. Insurance companies recognize the benefits of | ||||||
15 | sprinkler systems and have offered significant policy | ||||||
16 | discounts to Greek organizations to cover housing protected by | ||||||
17 | automatic sprinkler systems. Dormitories in the State of | ||||||
18 | Illinois are already required to have automatic fire sprinkler | ||||||
19 | systems by 2013. | ||||||
20 | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | ||||||
21 | "Automatic fire sprinkler system" means a fire sprinkler | ||||||
22 | system as defined in the Fire Sprinkler Contractor Licensing |
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1 | Act. | ||||||
2 | "Greek housing structure" means a structure that provides | ||||||
3 | housing for members of a social fraternity or sorority exempt | ||||||
4 | from taxation under Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code | ||||||
5 | of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 50(a)), the active membership of which | ||||||
6 | consists primarily of students in attendance at a public or | ||||||
7 | private institution of higher education. The structure may also | ||||||
8 | provide for other activities in addition to housing. | ||||||
9 | Section 15. Automatic fire sprinkler systems required. | ||||||
10 | (a) In the case of a Greek housing structure the | ||||||
11 | construction of which is begun on or after January 1, 2011, | ||||||
12 | that construction must include the installation of automatic | ||||||
13 | fire sprinkler systems. | ||||||
14 | (b) In the case of a Greek housing structure construction | ||||||
15 | of which was begun before January 1, 2011, automatic fire | ||||||
16 | sprinkler systems are required in every such structure by | ||||||
17 | January 1, 2019. | ||||||
18 | (c) If a Greek housing structure does not comply with this | ||||||
19 | Section, it is unlawful to occupy the structure as a Greek | ||||||
20 | housing structure. | ||||||
21 | (d) Nothing in this Act may be construed to abrogate any | ||||||
22 | statute, rule, or ordinance requiring that a fire extinguisher | ||||||
23 | be present in a Greek housing structure. | ||||||
24 | Section 20. Enforcement of Act. |
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1 | (a) If a Greek housing structure is under the jurisdiction | ||||||
2 | of the unit of local government in whose territory it is | ||||||
3 | located, that unit of local government is responsible for | ||||||
4 | enforcing this Act with respect to that structure. | ||||||
5 | (b) If a Greek housing structure is under the jurisdiction | ||||||
6 | of the institution of higher education that its residents | ||||||
7 | attend, that institution of higher education is responsible for | ||||||
8 | enforcing this Act with respect to that structure. | ||||||
9 | Section 25. Local ordinances. If a unit of local government | ||||||
10 | has adopted an ordinance that requires automatic fire | ||||||
11 | suppression systems in housing units under this Act that is | ||||||
12 | more stringent than this Act, then the local ordinance shall | ||||||
13 | control. | ||||||
14 | Section 30. Interpretation of Act. Nothing in this Act | ||||||
15 | shall be construed to apply to the standards already governed | ||||||
16 | by the Fire Sprinkler Dormitory Act.
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17 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | ||||||
18 | 1, 2011.
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