Grant Ullrich

Managing Deputy Building Commissioner | City of Chicago

Grant Ullrich, Assoc. AIA, is Managing Deputy Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Buildings with responsibility for code development, policy, and administration. He is currently leading a multi-year effort to better align the City of Chicago’s construction requirements with the latest model building codes and standards.

Grant is a licensed attorney and holds professional degrees in law and architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining the Department of Buildings in 2016, he worked in the City’s Law Department handling a wide variety of matters including code enforcement, legislative drafting, and constitutional litigation.

Grant is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association and the American Institute of Architects. He regularly speaks to professional organizations and students about building codes. In 2019, he was elected to the International Code Council’s Major Jurisdictions Steering Committee, and he has been appointed to the International Code Council’s Code Correlation Committee and Existing Building Code Consensus Committee for the 2021/22 code development cycle.

Experience

  • Managing Deputy Commissioner / City of Chicago Department of Buildings / 2020–present

  • Deputy Commissioner / City of Chicago Department of Buildings / 2016–2020

    Responsible for code development, policy, and administration on behalf of department which issues nearly 50,000 building permits annually | Streamlined and centralized processes for granting project-specific approvals | Rewrote rules governing self-certification and structural peer review | Implemented comprehensive rewrites of requirements for electrical installations and conveyance devices (elevators) | Oversaw first successful comprehensive revision of the Chicago Building Code in 70 years | Currently overseeing third phase of three-phase initiative to comprehensively update and align the City of Chicago’s construction requirements with national model codes, including the International Building Code.

  • Assistant Corporation Counsel / City of Chicago Department of Law, Constitutional and Commercial Litigation Division / 2013–2016

    Represented City of Chicago and individual employees in litigation involving constitutional claims against city ordinances and programs including zoning decisions, vacant building registration, landmark designation, liquor moratoriums, automated traffic enforcement, vehicle impoundment, building inspection, business regulation, unauthorized occupancy of city-owned property, and intergovernmental relations | Supervised and coordinated work of support staff and outside counsel | Advised multiple client departments on litigation strategy.

  • Assistant Corporation Counsel / City of Chicago Department of Law, Building and License Enforcement Division / 2011–2013

  • Attorney Law-Clerk / City of Chicago Department of Law, Building and License Enforcement Division / 2008–2011

    Prosecuted cases to enforce municipal ordinances and secure monetary and injunctive relief on behalf of several public-safety departments | Opposed Illinois State Fire Marshal’s illegal effort to impose burdensome retroactive requirements on Chicago property owners through improper rulemaking | Assisted with drafting ordinance requiring mortgagees to register and take responsibility for vacant buildings in foreclosure | Implemented processes to greatly increase efficiency of drafting documents required to file ordinance enforcement cases | Represented Law Department in Department of Buildings code revision efforts.

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law / May 2008

    Juris Doctor cum laude, pro bono notation

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / August 2008

    Master of Architecture | College of Fine and Applied Arts Graduate Fellowship

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / May 2004

    Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies with high honors | Chancellor’s Scholar