NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 66

Perspectives

BUILDING SAFETY

AWAKENINGS

AS THE GRIP OF THE COVID PANDEMIC EASES, WHAT
DO FACILITY MANAGERS AND BUILDING OWNERS
NEED TO CONSIDER AS THEY TAKE STEPS TO REOPEN
SHUTTERED OR MINIMALLY OCCUPIED BUILDINGS?
BILL KOFFEL, AN NFPA COMMITTEE MEMBER AND
BUILDING SAFETY EXPERT, OFFERS A FEW TIPS.
Interview conducted and edited by Jesse Roman
o this day, desk calendars in office

SYSTEMS CHECK
Facilities where
inspection, testing,
and maintenance
procedures have
not been conducted
during the COVID
shutdown may
require extra steps
to reopen.
GETTY IMAGES

buildings around the world are
still eerily stuck on March 2020-
the month when the COVID-19
pandemic prompted a global
shutdown. In addition to offices, schools and
universities sent students home; gyms, theaters,
concert venues, and even hotels and airports
either closed or dramatically reduced their
capacity.
In recent months, however, many of the facilities that COVID shuttered have reopened. Others
have yet to return to normal but are planning
to later this year. It is a unique situation, maybe
unprecedented, to have such a significant number
of facilities all coming back to life at the same
time after such a long hiatus, says Bill Koffel,
a fire protection engineer and the president of
Koffel Associates, a fire protection and life safety
engineering, design, and consulting firm headquartered in Maryland.
" I think this mass reopening will create some
significant challenges on the resources available

to code officials and authorities having jurisdiction, " Koffel said in a recent interview. " This really
is new territory for us, and we'll have to learn as
we go. "
In addition to AHJs, many building owners are
grappling with how-and even if-to return their
facilities to the way things were before COVID.
This includes not only buildings that partially
shut down, but also occupancies like grocery
stores and health care facilities that never closed
but made significant COVID-related alterations.
If anyone is qualified to comment on the uncertain present and long-term future of the code and
fire safety implications of COVID, it's Koffel. He
is recognized as an expert in fire and life safety
codes and standards, especially for health care
facilities, and he's active in the standards development process for a number of organizations,
including NFPA, where he has sat on committees for NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®; NFPA 99,
Health Care Facilities Code; NFPA 13, Standard
for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems; and
the proposed NFPA 915, Standard for Remote
Inspections.
NFPA Journal caught up with Koffel to talk
about what the reopening has looked like from a
safety perspective, as well as the many ways that
the coronavirus pandemic may permanently alter
our safety standards and the built environment.

Do codes and standards include much
guidance on a mass reopening type of
situation, or is this uncharted territory?
I would have to say this is new territory. We have
a 2021 edition of the Life Safety Code and of NFPA
1, Fire Code, but those documents were really
completed in the beginning of 2020, right when
this whole pandemic started, so there wasn't time
to address this.
You are president of a large code
consulting firm. Have you been involved
in helping facilities or buildings deal
with this reopening?
We haven't received a lot of inquiries, nor are we
necessarily providing a lot of consulting services
on the topic right now. A lot of our clients do a
lot of health care work, and they were operating during this pandemic. But I do suspect from
talking with people that, in many parts of the
country, the reopening has not yet really started.
In Boston, for example, a lot of the office buildings
are still vacant. I think this is something that we'll
see develop over the next three to six months.

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NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

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