PALM BEACH COUNTY — In the wake of the
deadly and devastating Surfside condominium building
collapse earlier this year, Palm Beach County commissioners
said Tuesday they will let the state take the lead on major
inspection and safety rule revisions for high-rises on the
beach.
Some communities in
Palm Beach County have made their own rules on how often
condos need to be inspected nd certified.
For now, commissioners said those rules should be made by
the Florida Legislature when it meets in January.
The director of Palm Beach County’s Building Division said
Tuesday condominium owners need to prepare for new rules
when it comes to inspecting and maintaining buildings,
especially for older ones.
"I think that everybody thought the
program in Miami-Dade County would protect everybody. And
clearly it wasn’t," said Doug Wise. |
|
|
The question is, who
will make the new rules: the county or the state?
A task force on inspections is giving Palm Beach County the
option of a plan that includes inspecting all condos three
stories and higher east of Interstate 95 every 25 years, and
west of the interstate every 35 years.
It's a move Commissioner Maria Sachs calls premature.
"Let the state continue to maintain the safety and
structural integrity of every condominium in the state of
Florida, including Palm Beach County," Sachs said.
Other commissioners said local rules would be impractical as
building officials said there is a severe shortage of
experts qualified to make inspections.
"We don’t have enough structural engineers and electrical
engineers to do this in the next five years," said Palm
Beach County Vice Mayor Robert Weinroth.
Commissioners said that if the state fails to make new rules
during it’s next session, Palm Beach County will then
consider its own regulations.
Sachs is confident the state will act.
"You can’t go to sleep at night thinking we’ll, I'm okay in
my building. But how about my mom who lives across the way
in Sarasota? This is a state of Florida public safety issue
and it’s got to be done by the state of Florida," Sachs
said.
In the wake of the Surfside collapse, Palm Beach County will
reach out to condo homeowner associations and ask everyone
from owners to public safety officials to report problems
with buildings.
But for now, commissioners want state lawmakers to make the
rules of when and how often buildings are inspected.