Condo safety must remain a priority

Four-plus months after the condo collapse in Surfside, improved building safety depends on the Florida Legislature. Will Tallahassee find time?

We understand that Republicans already have priorities for the session that begins in January. They want to gerrymander legislative and congressional maps to benefit their party. They want to pass a Florida version of Texas’ unconstitutional anti-abortion law. Gov. DeSantis wants more election suppression. Surely there will be tax breaks for businesses. The Legislature hands those out every year.

And everything has to be done quickly, so campaign season can start in earnest.

But unlike the contrived issues that energize Republicans every year, this is a real one. The Champlain Towers

South collapse revived questions about construction standards and condominium associations. Engineering trade associations and the Florida Bar agree on the need for reform.

Throughout Florida, however, only Boca Raton has joined Broward and Miami-Dade counties in approving a safety inspection program. The city will require structural and electrical inspections of buildings that are at least 30 years old. Broward and Miami-Dade’s standards are 40 years.

Boca Raton’s ordinance will apply to what the state calls “threshold buildings” — those that are taller than three stories and/or have at least 500 occupants. If repairs are necessary, the owner(s) must submit a plan within 30 days of getting the report. Single-family homes and duplexes are exempted.

“To my surprise,” Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, no other local government has approved such an ordinance. City staffers considered a 25-year standard, but Boca Raton settled on 30 as “a decent amount.”

And if the Legislature creates a statewide standard that is different? “A comprehensive look,” Singer said, “would benefit everyone.”

We can understand the initial hesitation. There are roughly 1.5 million condominiums in Florida. Sixty percent of them are more than 30 years old.

Ordinances would require additional staff. Boca Raton budgeted roughly $250,000 for the first year. Palm Beach County’s building director said a similar ordinance could apply to 1,500 structures. Overseeing that many inspections, Doug Wise said, could be “a big reach for us.”

But no one should presume a satisfactory level of safety. Florida is not known for strict construction standards.

Post-Hurricane Andrew examinations showed that damage was higher where inspectors were more lax.

Certainly, the Legislature has no shortage of good suggestions.

Seven of Florida’s top architecture and engineering trade groups created a task force. It recommends reinspections after 30 years with follow-ups every 10 years. Allen Douglas, executive director of the Florida Engineering Society and the American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida, called that “the bare minimum.”

The recommendation applies to more than condos. The trade groups want the state to include structures covered by Florida’s building code that have more than 10 occupants and are larger than 2,000 square feet.

The first inspections would be visual, overseen by a licensed architect or engineer. The checks would cover all accessible areas, including one-third of balconies and handrails. If the review found a problem, a more thorough inspection would follow. All reports would go to local building departments, which would have to notify owners and make sure that they made the repairs.

Then comes the political problem with such requirements applying to condos.

Florida requires condo associations to put aside money in reserves for maintenance, but the state also allows the associations to opt out. So the requirement is basically meaningless because unit owners don’t want to face those expenses.

If the state toughens that requirement, which could make unit owners responsible for the cost, there are options. Financial institutions could provide lines of credit to stretch out the payments. The state could issue tax credits to compensate owners for a drop in property values if units suddenly come with new expenses.

Ideally, these and other options already would have gone before committees in Tallahassee. Legislative leaders would have done more than issue thoughts and prayers, as happens after mass shootings. They would have acknowledged building safety as an issue of great state concern.

It hasn’t happened, though there soon will be a special session to provide DeSantis with another moment to rant about President Biden. In case Tallahassee hasn’t noticed, there’s also a nursing shortage in Florida, but there’s no indication that the Legislature plans to address it. Priorities.

We do know this: If Boca Raton’s ordinance had been in place statewide, the 98 people who were killed in Surfside almost certainly would be alive. That alone should be enough to get Tallahassee’s attention.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

FILE People look at the rubble at Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, located at 8777 Collins Avenue, a part of which collapsed in the early morning in Surfside on June 24.