UConn Advance - July 18, 2005 - Builders of Husky Village To Remedy Code Issues At Residence Complex

The University and Capstone Building Corp. of Birmingham, Ala. announced last month that Capstone Building will remedy all remaining code deficiencies in the Husky Village residence hall complex by the opening of school in late August.

The work will be done by Capstone Building and will be inspected by UConn’s new Office of the Fire Marshal and Building Inspector.

Under the terms of the agreement, the seven-building complex, constructed in 2003, will be fully code compliant and ready for student occupancy by the start of the fall semester.

“This solution accomplishes our goals: to have the facility fully code compliant when students return in the fall and to limit the University’s financial exposure,” said Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, vice president and chief operating officer. “It is most advantageous to the University and Capstone Building to forego litigation costs.”

Capstone Building was the builder of the Husky Village project. Late last fall the University discovered that Husky Village had fire and building code deficiencies. Although the state fire marshal verified that the violations were not threatening to health or safety, they are a concern to the University, which has required them to be fixed before the 300 students who live there occupy the buildings this fall.

With the assistance of two Connecticut firms with expertise in engineering and code compliance, UConn designed a corrective action plan to be implemented this summer.

Capstone Building’s proposal for addressing the code issues was reviewed and approved by UConn’s Architectural and Engineering Services and by the two firms that helped design the corrective plan.

The work will be inspected throughout construction and after completion by UConn’s Office of Fire Marshal and Building Inspector. The office was created in February to ensure that all fire and building codes are met on construction of buildings at UConn that are not of sufficient size and height to be inspected by the State Department of Public Safety’s Fire Marshal and Building Official.

Work to be completed includes enlarging stairwells to meet code requirements; providing ventilation in interior spaces and common areas; ensuring that flues are properly ventilated; and assuring that the fire rating in stairwells, between floors, and in mechanical and plumbing shafts meet state building and fire codes.