City of Chicago Task Force Demands, 2 layers of drywall

[Baris Yuksel]

Nine months ago I purchased a 7 unit property in Bronzeville that was in housing court for several issues. Prior owner had chosen to fight back the City via lawyers and for years had been putting just band aids using handyman off craigslist, instead of fixing these issues using licensed contractors. 

When I first met with the task force inspectors (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, porch etc) I listened all their demands, then I fixed everything that was mentioned (new porch, new roof, new windows, new pipes etc) and invited them back. Now it seems they are coming up with new items so the list just keeps growing. They refuse to give you a definitive list or their notes just so they can keep finding new stuff each time. 

One thing they came up with in the recent inspection was that they want the entire garden unit drywall ceiling to be 5/8" for 1 hour fire resistance. (It is a 3 story building and this garden unit was legalized with the rehab permit & plans under which things are being done)

Existing drywall appears to be half inch (so we are off by 1/8th of an inch) and it was never touched so I thought it can be left alone but now they want to cut it and check the thickness.

Since they demanded that I tear down the entire ceiling to put 5/8" drywall per code, I suggested if I can keep the Half inch drywall and just add another layer of 5/8" inch which would make it much thicker then what they demanded. Of course the answer came back no. 

Any suggestions or advice in how to best deal with the task force and their moving list of demands? This drywall alone will cost a good chuck of money and there are several new items that they keep adding to this list of demands. 

They also want 3 layers of 5/8" drywall on all posts and beams. Is there a good source to look up the City of Chicago code for this?

I may need a new contractor that works closely with fixing code issues and deals with the city task force / housing court violations.

Thank you in advance!