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Article
Courtesy of CBS Channel 12 News
By
Andrew Lofholm
Published March 24, 2022
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WATCH VIDEO |
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WEST PALM BEACH — One thing that Florida legislators did
not do was pass condo safety rules. It’s been less than a year since 98
people were killed when a building collapsed in Surfside.
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The I-team has
reported extensively on the issue, including the integrity
of our beachfront buildings and what can be done to make
them safer.
You might remember, right after Surfside, Boca Raton’s City
Council required any building more than 30 years old to get
inspected, and again every 10 years. Broward and Miami-Dade
counties have similar rules.
It seemed that lawmakers were poised for a statewide reform,
but they failed to agree on what it would look like.
Nearly 500 miles away from the sight of one of the deadliest
building collapses in United States history, lawmakers in
Tallahassee did not create any laws to prevent another,
similar tragedy. |
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While the exact cause of its collapse is still under
investigation, a 2018 field report from a consulting company revealed $15
million worth of repairs were needed at the Champlain Tower South, but the
HOA only had $700,000 worth of reserves.
The clock ran out on legislation that would have required inspections on
older and reserve studies which would gauge the health of an association’s
fund to pay for fixes revealed by the inspection.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed,” Fred Hadley, who lives in Century Village
west of Boca Raton, said Monday in an interview with CBS12 News.
He’s been pushing his association’s leadership to take its aging building’s
safety more seriously, especially after Tallahassee failed to do so.
“Started to get the Surfside redux syndrome, which is well, you know why do
I want to have to pay for something that won’t benefit me. I’m in my 80s,
and it will only really benefit future residents here and of course that was
the problem in Surfside,” he said.
North Florida state senator Jennifer Bradley sponsored the condo reform. In
a statement to CBS12 News today, she said that even a narrower bill to just
create an inspection program failed to get through the house with hours to
spare, adding she hopes to work on condo safety again next year.
There is some talk about lawmakers gathering for a special session,
potentially to tackle the home insurance crisis. It’s too early to say if
they will, and if they would include condo safety in a potential special
session.
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