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Fire district raises alarm over Romex wiring, engineered trusses as Beecher considers 2021 code update
Summary
At the Sept. 8 Village Board meeting, the Beecher Fire District asked for a formal role in inspections and raised safety concerns about Romex wiring, lightweight engineered trusses and factory-built stair systems in recent Lennar homes as the board moves to adopt the 2021 building codes with local amendments.
Drew, a chief with the Beecher-area fire district, told the Village Board on Sept. 8 that firefighters and residents face added risk from construction methods he said appear in several new Lennar homes in the Hunters Chase East subdivision. Drew said packet photos show exposed Romex (nonmetallic sheathed cable) in wall bays, lightweight engineered floor and roof trusses, and preassembled engineered stair systems — and that some homes lacked visible inspection tags.
"These kill firefighters," Drew said, referring to the truss roofs used in the houses. He also said the district responded to two gas leaks during foundation excavation and that plan-review errors — including what he described as missed Romex and sprinkler-system items by the village's plan reviewer, SafeBuilt — raise concern about inspection thoroughness.
The matter matters because the board is preparing to update local regulations to the 2021 model code set. Trustees discussed whether to adopt the 2021 codes with local amendments to retain a mandate for conduit (metal raceway) rather than permitting Romex, and whether to require residential sprinklers. Trustees said the village currently enforces a 2015 code set with amendments adopted in February 2015 that added a conduit requirement; updating will require reapplying any local amendments to the 2021 code.
Trustees and committee members described a series of meetings with SafeBuilt to reconcile the code text and avoid unintended consequences when adopting the 2021 codes. Multiple trustees said they prefer retaining conduit as a local requirement rather than automatically allowing Romex, citing concerns about rodents, future wiring modifications and accidental drilling into live cables. Board discussion indicated a majority preference to keep conduit in the local amendments and to require sprinklers for multifamily and commercial buildings while not adding a residential-sprinkler mandate for single-family homes at this time.
Board members described the next step as directing SafeBuilt to finalize the draft ordinance language reflecting the board's consensus and return the draft for formal adoption. No final ordinance adopting the 2021 code set was voted on at the Sept. 8 meeting; trustees asked staff and SafeBuilt to finish revisions and bring a finalized ordinance to a future meeting.
The fire district asked that it be given a seat at the table during code-review and plan-review discussions so firefighters and fire officials can raise life-safety concerns before adoption or approval of development plan reviews. Village staff and trustees said they would continue meetings with SafeBuilt and incorporate trustees' direction when preparing the final code-adoption ordinance for a future vote.
Background: the National Electrical Code (NEC) permits nonmetallic-sheathed cable (Romex) in many residential applications, but local jurisdictions may adopt amendments — as Beecher did in 2015 — to require conduit or other methods. The board’s forthcoming decision on the 2021 code package will determine which local amendments are carried forward or newly adopted.
