August 3, 2018

University of North Carolina Asheville

Attn: Nancy Cable, Chancellor
Chancellor's Office, CPO 1400
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804

Re: UNCA Student Housing

Dear Chancellor Cable,

This letter is to inform you of life safety issues that present an immediate threat to the
life safety of the occupants and first responders to the new dorms that have been built
under the guidance of the State Construction Office and are in the process of being
turned over to the University for beneficial occupancy. We have been aware of these
issues for several months and notified the State Construction Office when we first
observed the problems in May. We have urged the State Construction Office to try and
have the issues addressed by the designer/builder but until the buildings are turned
over to the University we do not have authority to intervene. Now that these buildings
are on the cusp of being turned over to the University we must take action in the
interest of the safety of occupants and first responders. At this time, we are notifying
you that pursuant to N.C.G.S. 58-31-13, even if a Certificate of Occupancy is issued by
the State Construction Office, we will not allow beneficial occupancy of these buildings
until the hazards are abated. This abatement plan should address the issues identified
below.

1. The stairwell shaft walls as built do not meet 2012 NC Building Code Sections
707.5, 1022.1, or 1022.5. Two-Hour rated stairway shaft walls are required per
plans UL 263 Design U301. The walls in the stairwell are not constructed to meet
this requirement. For example, the wall joints are not staggered, there are
incorrect nail patterns and there are electrical penetrations into the shaft and
wood penetrations into the shaft wall.
2. The elevator shaft walls as built do not meet 2012 NC Building Code Sections
707.5, 1022.1, or 1022.5. Two-Hour rated elevator shaft walls are required per
plans UL 263 Design U301. The walls in the elevator shaft are not constructed to
meet this requirement. For example, the wall joints are not staggered, there are
incorrect nail patterns, and there are electrical penetrations into the shaft, and
wood penetrations into the shaft wall.

3. The Class I standpipe system is required by NCBC 905.4.1 to be located in every

required stairway at an intermediate floor level landing between floors, unless
otherwise approved by the fire code official. As currently built, the standpipes
are not in compliant locations and the locations have not been approved by the
fire code official. In addition, the current locations ensure that the charged
standpipe hose – once connected, if connection is possible (which is questionable
at some floor levels) – will obstruct the stair from further use. This eliminates use
of all stairwells for fire department access to the building and evacuation of
occupants who remain in the building, in violation of Section 1003 of the NCBC.

Before we can allow for these buildings to be occupied we must be certain that these
issues have been addressed and corrected. Once you have reviewed these issues and
had a chance to discuss them with your facilities and maintenance departments please
forward us a plan to abate these hazards. We will work with you to make sure the
abatement will result in code compliance. After they have been corrected we will
conduct another inspection to ensure the life safety issues have been corrected and
beneficial occupancy can be permitted. We know that you take these life safety
concerns for your students very seriously and we wish to work with you to put together
a plan that will work.

Should you have any questions or need additional information please let us know.

Sincerely,

Cc: Clifton Williams, General Counsel

Latif Kaid, Director, State Construction
David Todd, Assoc. VC for Campus Operations