For safer condominiums

On Friday, June 24, the entire South Florida region will commemorate one year since the fateful day that Champlain Towers South collapsed, claiming 98 lives. This was one of the deadliest building failures in U.S. history. While nothing can bring back the victims, we can move forward as a society and use this tragedy as a learning experience to make sure it never happens again.

Since the collapse, the construction industry has been involved in identifying what went wrong to cause such a catastrophic event. Early findings showed that a lack of proper maintenance was the largest contributing factor. No matter how well designed, engineered and constructed a building is, maintenance is arguably most important for its long-term viability.

It also became apparent that Florida needed stricter laws regarding maintenance of condominiums. The governor and Legislature concurred and called a special session May 25. As a result, SB 4-D passed, with stricter requirements for the inspection and maintenance of condos and other multi-story buildings throughout the state.

The new law will require inspections of buildings three stories or higher within three miles of the coast at 25 years of age, and at 30 years for those more than three miles inland. The law also requires inspections every 10 years thereafter, with inspection records made available to buyers, renters and unit owners.

For buildings occupied before July 1, 1992, the first inspection must be completed by Dec. 31, 2024. Very important: After Dec. 31, 2024, condo associations will be prohibited from waiving the collection of reserve funds to pay for routine or additional maintenance and repairs.

I praise the Legislature for passing these important reforms. The construction industry looks forward to working with building owners, management and condo associations during the recertification process to ensure the utmost of safety and structural integrity of these structures.

We never want another Champlain Towers tragedy. I believe, with these measures, we are doing our part to help prevent any future disasters.

Peter Dyga, Coconut Creek

The writer is president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors Florida East Coast Chapter.