There are lessons we must learn from the Surfside tragedy
Following are excerpts of Miami Herald editorials since the collapse of the Surfside condo tower. To read the full editorials, go to miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials
JUNE 28
Mass tragedies like this one often lead to serious changes in regulations, like those after Hurricane Andrew. If we learn that this condominium collapse could have been prevented with new and better building codes, more frequent inspections or tougher requirements for condo maintenance or construction, this disaster must serve as yet another turning point in building safety in Florida.
That will cost money, a lot of it. Retrofitting old buildings and constructing new ones to higher standards costs more. But if — as we learned post-Andrew — cost-cutting is what led to this disaster, we’ll have no choice. We’ll need to pay up, and just be grateful that we’re around to pay the bill.
JULY 9
When a building fails Miami-Dade’s 40-year recertification process, its representatives go before an obscure county review panel called the Safe Structures Board, and sometimes city boards as well.
County Commissioner Raquel Regalado told the Editorial Board these reviews seldom mean owners must evacuate buildings that are out of compliance. She wants to take a closer look at who sits on the county’s structure board, how many cases they hear, how many extensions they give to building administrators and how often they require evacuations.
These little-known government boards often operate quietly and without much scrutiny until a tragedy like this happens. While they are a small piece of the puzzle, the county should give this issue serious scrutiny.
JULY 9
Condo owners and buyers need new and better tools to make informed decisions. Condo boards need to be completely transparent about maintenance and responsible about setting money aside for future needs. Lawmakers need to set standards for the safe operation of high-rises.
And those who live in condos need to get involved in the operation of the building. That may mean condo life isn’t as carefree as before.
In the end, it’s hard to know how worried — and how diligent — you should be.
AUG. 8
But for a real eye-popping example of festering problems now being uncovered, look no farther than North Miami Beach and the saga of the Jade Winds condominium. One building in the complex is 13 years past due on its 40-year recertification, the longest-standing unresolved recertification case for buildings flagged by the county after Surfside. And it’s still occupied.
Engineers have told the condo residents that the building is structurally sound and safe to live in, and the main problem seems financial. Repair costs exceed reserves. Bankruptcy and allegations of embezzlement have bogged everything down. Jade Winds seems close — finally — to getting its recertification, a unique South Florida requirement created to ensure the structural integrity of older towers after a federal building collapsed in the 1970s.
But 13 years? If recertification is truly about safety in older residential buildings, we cannot allow the process to drag on for more than a decade or we risk undermining exactly what it is meant to ensure. Thirteen years is simply unacceptable.
AUG. 26
There are lessons we must learn from the tragedy, and the video — and other information from NIST as the investigation proceeds — will provide a place to start. Was the design flawed from the start? Were inspections lacking? And were other buildings constructed with similar structural issues waiting to go off like a time bomb 40 years down the line?
The Herald’s investigation, done in consultation with four engineers and a general contractor, turned up indications that columns were designed too narrow to safely accommodate the amount of reinforcing steel called for in construction plans at the basement and ground floors. The video offers more evidence that overcrowded concrete reinforcement and extensive corrosion may have played a role in the collapse.
As Dawn Lehman, professor of structural engineering at the University of Washington and one of the Herald’s consultants, said, the extensive corrosion where one column met the building’s foundation was “astronomical.” She noted that a problem like that should have been discovered in the 40-year recertification of the Champlain Towers South condo that was under way when the building fell.
That’s why we need this investigation, and why we need to hear — in real time — what investigators are learning. Our safety depends on it.
SEPT. 7
State Sen. Jason Pizzo plans to file a bill to require statewide building inspections based on a scoring system that takes into account the size of the building, location and when it was built. His goal is to zero in on shoddy construction from the ’70s and ’80s. The Florida Bar’s Condominium Law and Policy on Life Safety Task Force also is looking into this and will have a report with recommendations for lawmakers and DeSantis likely at the end of the month, Chair William Sklar, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, told the Editorial Board.
Requiring inspections seems like an easy fix, but who’s doing those inspections? There are different types of engineers, not all of whom have the expertise to perform them.
Florida law should require a structural engineer to sign off on them. A Republicanbacked bill that died this year that would’ve prohibited the practice of structural engineering by someone who’s not licensed. It should be reconsidered, but a transitional period likely would be needed, as there are roughly only 650 certified structural engineers in Florida and 27,000 condominium associations, according to Sklar. A sudden requirement would push inspection costs through the roof.