At the site where
Champlain Towers South once stood, a mountain of rubble
remains a disastrous and heartbreaking reminder of loss,
failures and questions.
Each day for the past three weeks, the county's Mayor,
Daniella Levine Cava, has had the tragic task of announcing
the number of new victims recovered from the collapse. On
Tuesday, the total number of confirmed casualties had
reached 95.
But with each day also comes the discovery of possible
reasons that may have contributed to the 12-story
condominium's sudden overnight collapse. The building had
documented problems. As part of the building's
county-mandated 40-year recertification, an engineering
report flagged the building for having "major structural
damage" after waterproofing issues were identified near the
pool deck and in the parking garage.
But would more frequent inspections have saved the building
and more, importantly, the people inside?
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Following the devastating condo collapse in Surfside, questions have surfaced about Florida’s lackluster high-rise inspection laws. |
Current state law
leaves much of building rule-making to local governments who
are re-evaluating their own inspection and maintenance rules
following the Surfside tragedy.
One inspection we couldn't find mandated in Florida is part
of a 5-year routine inspection in about a dozen U.S. cities,
most of them big cities. It's called a facade inspection.
Experts describe it as a probe into the exterior wall of
buildings which, often, show the first signs of abuse from
weather and water.
"Facade inspections are to find things that can be overhead
fall hazards or a danger to the public," said Bill Payne, a
structural engineer and Vice-President of O & S Associates.
His firm, which has an office in South Florida, had an
engineer conduct a walk-through of Champlain Towers South
before submitting a proposal to do work on the building as
part of its 40-year recertification.
With Florida's typography leaving much of the state nestled
against saltwater, Payne believes facade inspections should
be a natural part of Florida's building inspection process.
"Any building over 6 feet where you get the deterioration
mechanisms and the public safety hazards to converge, the 5-
year inspection is a really prudent thing to do," Payne
said.
Still, more frequent inspections and more stringent
maintenance rules will only be as powerful as those who
enforce them.
Many local building departments are understaffed, which
leaves trusting building maintenance to those who oversee
the building or, in the case of condominiums, condo boards.
However, condo boards are voluntary and often made up of
people with little to no building knowledge who represent
residents with, often, little desire to pay for pricey
repairs.
"Boards are very reluctant to tell each unit owner, 'guess
what guys, here comes a $50,000 assessment or more.' So
instead of doing that, repairs are kicked down the road,"
said Glazer, who added he has seen for himself how many
Florida condo boards don't have the money in reserves to pay
for major repairs. Reserves are supposed to maintain enough
money to pay for repairs that are over $10,000.
"It's time for the Florida legislature to say you're not
going to waive reserves anymore because if you're living in
a condo and your assessments each month are very low, you're
living a lie, that's it," he said.
A task force of Florida attorneys will review current condo
laws and make recommendations to the Governor about possible
regulatory changes. Glazer would also like to see a law
requiring condo board members to take a class before serving
on a board. Glazer currently teaches a 3-hour class.
"The laws will definitely change going forward. I certainly
would like to think more frequent inspections and reserves
will be funded, and there will be a mandatory class; that's
what I hope happens here," Glazer said.