12 Story Condo Collapses in Miami . . .

The building that collapsed was built in an area well known for weak zoning regulations. There are probably a half dozen buildings built in the 80's within 20 miles of it up and down the coast where this type of event could happen.

The reason is that the population in the area exploded from the late 70's to the early 90's and the local governments were overwhelmed and undermanned and fiercely opposed to any type of regulation that would halt the surge.

There was a hotel built early in the surge that collapsed early on killing a bunch of people but it wasn't seen as an endemic part of the surge and the missing zoning assets.

FIU is doing a study on this, however they're a questionable source because one of their projects, a pedestrian bridge over a major roadway, collapsed in 2018, pancaking some people underneath. It's possible that they're doing a legit study but it is just as likely they are covering their asses from the legal action on their own disaster.

This type of south Florida story is going to pop up more and more often as that wave of construction begins to age out due to shoddy building materials, poor regulation and all the construction that was done hastily in a gold rush mentality.

 

There's some truth to this..... but alot would never be truly exposed as Hurricane Andrew did most of the demo work in 1992. SFL building codes radically changed after that. (Now known as "Miami/Dade building standards" to your insurance company)

either way, it's sad for those affected by this.

 

Hurricane Andrew is why I think there are probably only a half dozen buildings along the fill that might collapse. You're right that it exposed a lot of shoddy construction almost immediately.

The difference now though is 30 years of aging and weathering, particularly with water levels slowly rising and fill subsiding around it.

 

I just read an article this morning in regards to the salty air deteriorating the rods used inside the concrete. Scary stuff.

 

Not sure if applies in this instance, but it's very true. Ocean front condos here (NE FL) are always subject to structural remodels (particularly to porches and east facing areas) as the rebar in the concrete eventually corrodes..... most here in St. Augustine have experienced serious facelifts due to this, and we get hammered by more extreme NEer type weather than alot of FL.
I didnt stay at a Holiday Inn Xpress, but I do have several friends that are contractors and carpenters

 

I'm guessing if the developer is still around they'll say the disaster was created by natural causes and the condo association not taking natural deterioration seriously enough. There apparently is a 2018 inspection report that does everything but say that the building is structurally unsound. It has a long list of needed repairs and replacements, some of which no condo association could likely afford w/o significant state aid. The failure of the water-proofing under the pool and garage is going to be the big ticket item there. All the columns and pillars immediately above that layer had significant cracks and chips falling out of them.

So, the inspector is going to get reamed for not specifically spelling out the dangers involved in the situation. The condo association is going to get reamed for not taking the time to follow up on what was a horrific report from any point of view. The city is going to get reamed for letting that report get filed without further action.

The developer may or may not have liability depending on the final report, although it is also possible that the development was done under a one-off shell corporation. There was a lot of that going on in construction in the 80's. The contractors who fulfilled the various contracts are likely to mostly be out of business now as their owners are likely to be retired. It's possible that a few really big contractors were involved but that's a big if. A lot of these guys were put out of business by Hurricane Andrew anyway.

159 dead people gives nobody an easy out on this one.

 

The local officials are saying it probably wasn't a problem related directly to maintenance issues at the condo.

They're going to walk that back in a hurry as soon as everybody else realizes how much inspection work is going to have to be done up and down the coast if what they are saying is true, which of course it is not.

This is either a neglect issue at one condo, which will have expensive ramifications in the court system or it is a systemic issue for the South Florida area which will have expensive ramifications for everybody.

Guess which one is it?

 

A little side note on this, many buildings built after the new codes went into effect were built under the old building codes.

I worked in county permitting right when it was taking effect and the builders were dropping off box after box of permit apps just so they could get in before the code change since it was going to cost quite a bit more with the new codes.

That being said I think this was more about being built on swampland than anything. Of course it's all just speculation right now

 

This sounds exactly like NYC in the 80's. The expediters were really good at figuring out exactly how to send in the waves of permits in the right configuration to evade proper regulation.

I think it's going to turn out to be about a condo board that had no idea what to do with the info they were given in 2018. Then it will be about about City Hall not having the balls to threaten to condemn the building if the condo board did not remedy the serious violations catalogued in the Morabito inspection. Finally it will be about changing conditions on the coast that may require another sweeping overhaul of zoning regulations with a heavy inspection regime of existing properties.

If the 2018 inspection had created a requirement to cure the problems found in a reasonable time frame 160 people are alive today.

 

That was the Chinese drywall issue during the housing boom, I believe you’re referring to. Loaded in sulfur.

 

Or they did like the company I worked for doing remodels. Sneak all the materials in over the weekend, paper up the windows so no one could see in, and get to work. No permits needed

Of course most of what we did had no chance of killing anyone, besides the workers that is. When I was scraping the drug dealers brains off the plaster walls of an apartment in Wash. Heights I thought they might show back up looking for the stash. I actually found the cash but that's a story for another day.

Could be a combination of a few things but yours sounds very probable. Lax enforcement is always high on the list in Florida.

I didn't think about it at the time but during the No Name storm we had to head out to a condo on the gulf to pump out the underground garage, a condo literally within 10 feet of the gulf had an underground garage. That right there is just the powers that be wanting tax revenue not worrying about what happens later.

 

Who ever heard of a Building Inspection every forty years??

That's what I heard was going on in South Florida from CNN...I guess they will start doing them at 10 years going forward plus plenty of Wrongful Death lawsuits will change things fast

 

I think City Hall is screwed on this one.

Apparently the condo board was arguing over the cost of the repairs and even whether the repairs were necessary for more than a year after they received the report. It was only when a new board had been elected with the repairs as a major point of contention that ousted most of the old board that serious discussions about how to do the repairs began.

This is a clear situation where effective regulation by the municipal authority would have prevented the delays in handling the problem that ultimately led to 160 deaths.

I'm not a big government fan but a government that is dysfunctional is worse than a government that is overly intrusive. City Hall should have been all over this and they should have forced the board in office at the time of the inspection to take action at the risk of having the building condemned if they didn't.

 

As far as I am aware reinspection is not required in most municipalities, it may have been a recert for insurance purposes but I don't know and Surfside may require them.