RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Fire life safety legislation was a major win for labor and management in Albuquerque, New Mexico

By / Natalie Bruckner

The great strides on fire life safety legislation that labor and management have made in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will be a game-changer for everyone.

It has been a long and bumpy road, but the efforts of Local 49, SMACNA New Mexico, the Mechanical Contractors Association of New Mexico, SMACNA contractor Energy Balance & Integration LLC, and many others are finally paying off.

Effective October 7, 2022, a temporary emergency rule has been issued to the New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) to read that all smoke and fire dampers will be inspected by an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) or a contractor with an ANSI accredited program that is certified to inspect smoke and fire dampers.

In addition, amendments have been made to sections 1, 8 and 9 of 10.25.2 NMAC, which means inspections of the mechanical operations will now be conducted alongside fire control system inspections.

“Currently, the fire control systems generally get inspected, but the mechanical system does not, and that is what our legislation is going to correct,” Kocurek says. “The fire control systems only sense the fire and smoke, the mechanical system and smoke control equipment receives that signal to actually go to work. It has to go hand-in-hand.”

According to Isaiah Zemke, business manager-financial secretary-treasurer at Local 49, “The rulemaking was made possible due—in part—to relationship maintenance and upkeep with the governors’ staff.”

Rather than fight this battle alone, labor and management collaborated, educated, and enlisted the help of those who were beginning to understand why inspection of the mechanical parts of smoke and fire dampers is such an important issue. “We worked together to overcome the barricades in the fire marshall’s office and actually teamed with the proper contacts, while also engaging the Construction Industries Division of New Mexico,” Zemke says.

It was with this united front they were able to gain access to various legislative leaders and educate everyone from the rule makers to individuals on the issue. This ultimately resulted in a win, not just for the industry, but also for building occupants, who can now feel safer, should a fire break out.

Overcoming misconceptions and misinformation was a major hurdle for those involved in this endeavor. Some believed that advocacy for the amendment was a case of political opportunism, gaining more work for union contractors.

“There were governmental agencies that were against our process,” Zemke says. “So, we decided—at one point—to step back and consider who would be best to get on our team and work alongside us. This was greater than SMACNA New Mexico and Local 49 just promoting work.”

As labor and management and other members of the advocacy team worked together raising awareness among those outside of the industry, “It became clear that we were trying to advance an ‘industry’ issue, not a political issue,” says Ronda Gilliland-Lopez, executive director/administrator at the Mechanical Contractors Association of New Mexico.

Kocurek adds that this shift in thinking was integral to their success. “First and foremost, any proposed initiatives have always been for the health and safety of the citizens of New Mexico. Second, they are designed to improve and strengthen the mechanical industry,” he says. “That battle took a while, but we did this by reminding community leaders that Local 49 and SMACNA New Mexico are a team.”

That’s not to say there weren’t misconceptions around the relationship between labor and management. “There was a need to break down old political barriers,” Kocurek explains. “Many legislators think only in terms of labor versus management and union versus non-union issues, which generally translates to Republican versus Democrat. However, many were surprised to see labor and management working together for an industry issue.”

The team agrees that while trade unions and signatory contractors may have some disagreements on personal political issues, they stand united as industry partners on industry issues. “That alone is breaking old barriers,” Kocurek says.

While there may still be a long road ahead to overcome this stereotype, Zemke says, “The goal is one day to be able to walk into Democrat or Republican representative offices and discuss ‘industry’ issues without being tainted by preconceived political issues, and that can only be done through exemplary partnerships like this.”

Political advocacy was not the only effort this partnership engagned in to advance this issue. “Using the JATC, we conducted awareness sessions with some AHJ personnel,” Kocurek says. “We would show them how extensive our training and knowledge base is in mechanical fire life safety and smoke containment systems, and how we can provide a complete verification of the fire life safety systems covering all aspects. Nobody knows the mechanical aspect of these systems like we do because we actually install them as part of our everyday work.”

Work on fire life safety doesn’t end here. The team has a goal to get as many AHJ to the training centers as possible. “This is how we will educate them on how the mechanical systems actually work,” Zemke explains. “We will assure them we are working together with them to cover all bases in the inspection and verification of fire life safety systems, in all our public buildings, and in as many private buildings as possible.”

Ultimately, the team has a big vision, and that is to have the mechanical inspection certifications available just as they are with elevator inspection certifications. “We eventually want all buildings to have certification updated every four years as the building codes and NFP codes already state they should be,” Gilliland-Lopez says. With such a strong labor-management partnership, it is likely they will reach their goal. ▪

Natalie is an award-winning writer who has worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada. She has more than 23 years experience as a journalist, editor, and brand builder, specializing in construction and transportation. When she’s not writing, you will likely find her snowboarding, mountain biking, or climbing mountains with her rescue dog.