Getting to Know us Better:
We would like you to meet our one and only Code Compliance Specialist, Gerald Couse. Jerry resides in the beautiful downtown Columbia County suburb of Elizaville with his wife of 34 years, Marilynn. He has actually been in love with the same woman for those 34 years, if his wife finds out, he'll be in big trouble. Jerry and Marilynn have three grown children, Melissa, 33, Cynthia, 31, and Daniel, 25, two grandchildren and another on the way.
Jerry was previously employed for 24 years with IBM, which included eight years of testing and repairing electronic equipment and sixteen years in the IBM fire department doing plan reviews, code compliance, and fire systems maintenance, testing and repair. He joined State service in 1996 as a Fire/Safety Representative in the Office of Children and Family Services, moved to the Department of State, Peekskill Regional Office, as a Code Compliance Specialist, and finally to the SED last September.
Jerry’s hobbies, aside from playing grandpa, include volunteer fire and ambulance service, 37 and 32 years respectively, skiing, umpiring baseball, ballroom dancing and mowing his 3 acres of lawn.
Electrically Operated Partitions:
We have posted the final version of the proposed regulation for Electrically Operated Folding Partitions. Included are the dates for required compliance and the availability of a waiver for those buildings that will not comply in time. Please review this information on our web site at:
https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/Partitions/electric_folding_partitions.html.
Please read the advisory letter. This letter was provided to Superintendents of Schools at all school districts and all BOCES District Superintendents by U.S. Mail last month. The letter discusses the dates for compliance and the request of waivers. You will also find an aid claim form. Aid will be granted for all retrofitted/existing doors reviewed and approved by SED. If the doors are included for retrofit in a previously approved construction project it will receive aid through the final cost of that project and cannot be submitted a second time utilizing this form.
All existing doors to be retrofitted should be submitted to SED for approval. The application form for these projects is provided at the web page link also. This application form is specific as to explaining the required documentation for submission. This is the only information and documentation required. Martin Doyle will review all of these submissions at SED. If you have questions you can contact him at (518) 474-3906 or mdoyle@mail.nysed.gov by e-mail.
Using the International Building Code:
In the June 2002 Newsletter we told you the family of IBC codes will still be referred to as the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. The "official names" of the individual books will be "Building Code of New York State", "Mechanical Code of New York State", "Fire Code of New York State", etc. These individual code books must be utilized in conjunction with each other when designing a project.
The "Fire Code of New York State" contains a number of parameters that are required to be applied to new designs. These features may not be specifically or clearly detailed in the "Building Code of New York State". Here are a few of them, they are quite specific and somewhat different than what we are used to providing.
Chapters F11 through F44 contain many additional requirements for hazardous uses. Any one of these might apply if the use occurs within a facility/building. A couple of these are; Service Stations and Repair Garages, Tent and Membrane Structures, Welding, Compressed Gasses, Flammable and Combustible Liquids, LP Gasses, and many others. These will surprise you.
jlevy@mail.nysed.govIf you would like to have this Update sent directly to you by e-mail, please send your e-mail address to Joe Levy at
Please continue to send in your comments and requests. If you have a subject you would like addressed, feedback on the material you read, input or general comments we are happy to hear from you.