Dear Professor Gross,

Since receiving your e-mail on September 5, this office has looked into
the matter of pending certificates of occupancy.  We are advised by the
Facilities Planning office that the Fire Marshall has now issued a
Certificate of Occupancy for the Hesler Biology Building, and a
temporary certificate has been issued for Neyland Stadium.  With respect
to six other buildings, Facilities Planning advises that to their
knowledge all items noted by the Fire Marshall as requiring action to
obtain a Certificate of Occupancy have been accomplished.  According to
Facilities Planning, the Fire Marshall inspected the buildings after
they were substantially completed.  Facilities Planning assures us that
all life safety systems are fully operational in all the buildings.  The
Fire Marshall is aware that the buildings are occupied.  Thus, issuance
of the certificates appears to be a ministerial task being delayed
solely by the workload of the Fire Marshall's office.

Sincerely,

Catherine S. Mizell
Vice President and General Counsel 
Sept. 7, 2006

cc President Petersen, Chancellor Crabtree, Andrea Loughry, Gary Rogers,
Peter Foley

Dear Vice President Mizell,
     Thank you very much for your rapid clarificaton of the questions
raised regarding Certificates of Occupancy. Perhaps I shouldn't
be, but I am surprised that it is taking so long for the Fire 
Marshall's office to issue Occupancy Certificates for some UT buildings. 
We were told that Claxton was on the list and the renovations 
of that building were completed well over two years ago. At any 
rate, I am very pleased that I can inform my colleagues that there
are indeed no safety or legal concerns related to buildings in use, 
even if they do not have a Certificate of Occupancy. 
     Best regards,
             Lou
Louis J. Gross
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    and Mathematics
Director, The Institute for Environmental Modeling
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
President, UTK Faculty Senate
Past-President, Society for Mathematical Biology (www.smb.org)
gross@tiem.utk.edu
http://www.tiem.utk.edu/~gross/
http://atlss.org/ (ATLSS Project Home Page)
http://www.tiem.utk.edu/bioed/ (Quantitative Life Sciences Education)
9/7/06

cc President Petersen, Chancellor Crabtree, Andrea Loughry, Gary Rogers,
Peter Foley