‘Is my building safe?’ Experts say whether you should worry about another collapse

As the grim search for the bodies of victims at the collapsed Champlain Towers South continues, some apartment and condo dwellers in Miami are asking themselves: Could my building be next?

Florida’s Building Code is among the strictest in the nation, due to the state’s vulnerability to hurricanes. Experts say it is practically impossible for condo towers built over the last decade to suddenly collapse, because building materials and technology have greatly improved since 1981, when the Champlain was completed.

But the majority of residential towers in Miami-Dade — 70.2% of the county’s total 1,016,653 single-family homes, condos and apartment buildings — were built before 1990, two years before Hurricane Andrew led to the hardening of South Florida’s building code.

On Friday, the city of Miami’s building department announced it will request citywide inspections of all buildings six stories or taller that are 40 years or older.

Multiple experts say the current inspection process isn’t deep enough, because it doesn’t account for the effects of sea level rise, floods and king tides on the porous limestone over the decades since older buildings were built.

“Everyone associates Miami with beautiful glass and steel buildings,” said David Haber, managing partner of Haber Law, a construction, condominium and real estate firm. “But we have a lot of concrete buildings just like the Champlain towers that are nearing the 40-year recertification process. I’m getting condo boards asking me what should they be doing. Their residents are asking ‘Is my building safe?’ It’s the first logical question anyone living in those concrete buildings would ask.”

The city’s new inspection process will require condo associations to provide letters detailing the conditions of their structures, including signs of visible distress. The letters are due in 45 days starting June 25 and will need to be signed by licensed structural engineers who have designed and inspected at least three buildings with similar characteristics.

Better inspections

Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Miami Democrat whose district includes Surfside, said he is convinced some kind of structural failure caused the building collapse. With the region’s high water table and vulnerability to sea level rise, the state needs to update its recertification process to include more factors, especially for buildings close to the shore line and flood zone.

“This building was built in 1981. To be candid with you, I think construction quality and inspections were under less scrutiny than they are today,’‘ Pizzo told Jake Tapper on CNN Friday afternoon.

The way the building caved inward, he said, means it “could be a subsurface issue” and that raises concerns for him regarding the neighboring tower “built at the same time, same developer and same subcontractor with the same exact plan.”

“It’s really incumbent upon us in the state Legislature to change the laws as it relates to when these buildings get recertified,’‘ Pizzo said.

The 40-year recertification process should take into consideration the structures and the subsurface around a building, especially in vulnerable ares of the state.

“’I’m in a condo-heavy district with 560,000 constituents and it stretches all the way from South Beach in Miami Beach all the way up to the Broward County line,’‘ Pizzo said. “There are 4.5 million condos in Florida, but these are uniquely situated and obviously susceptible to disaster like this.”

Haber and others believe inspections also require evaluation by a civil engineer, who would be able to determine if the building was sinking, as well as a geotechnical engineer to gauge the condition of the soil under the building.

“These are things that the current engineers who perform the inspections are not capable of doing unless they have X-ray vision, and I don’t know a single engineer who has it,” Haber said. “All of these foundations are made out of concrete and rebar. But concrete is porous and rebar can rust, weakening the strength of the building.”

Even in cases of wear, collapse is “very unlikely,” said Atorod Azizinamini, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University.

Warning signs

Still, some signs should be noted and reported, he said. Among them are cracks on pillars, floors and indoor walls, or exterior walls where the concrete has chipped away so you can see the rebar inside.

Another thing to look out for: Small pools of water in places that are not exposed to rain.

“You need to see where the water is coming from and what effect it has on the foundation,” he said. “You want to have an engineer look at that.”

Older buildings give clear signs at times that they are in need of repair, said Rafael Aquino, co-founder and CEO of Affinity Management Services, which manages about 50 homeowners associations and 12,000 apartment rental units in Miami-Dade County, Broward and Palm Beach.

Spalling, or the flaking of concrete, is the most common problem, Aquino said, with buildings nearing their 40-year birthday. Water can infiltrate into the rebar, or reinforcement steel, causing it to rust and expand.

“Once it expands,” Aquino said. “It releases the concrete that it surrounds and it creates a safety hazard where pieces of concrete may fall off.”

Another issue? Nearby construction.

Building associations should request an engineer to outline the existing condition of a building before nearby construction happens, Aquino said. The association could also negotiate a budget with the project’s developer to cover the cost of any damages or new coat of paint.

Associations should plan and budget for repairs years in advance. Engineering reports can forecast the longevity of the paint, elevators, pool deck and roof, giving HOAs a longer runway for building reserves.

The costs of repairs range from a few hundred or thousands of dollars up to millions. Aquino said that one of the buildings that he manages — a 40-year-old building with 500 units in Miami Beach — spent $18 million to repair balconies, railings and the parking garage and install impact windows. Another in Fort Lauderdale, with 230 units, invested $2.5 million on new paint, roof, and elevators.

A political game

But just reporting a suspicious sign to the homeowners association or landlord isn’t always enough. Jason Kellogg, an attorney at Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman law firm, said sometimes board members don’t investigate a potential warning sign because they’re afraid of how the residents will react.

“If you report something, you have to make sure the board members follow through and hire an engineer,” he said. “A lot of times these HOAs don’t want to spend time on inspections because they don’t want to have to fine everyone in the condo and then get voted out.”

Those looking to buy existing condos in older buildings can take steps to verify if the building remains safe.

“Violations do show up in public records. If someone wants to do their due diligence, they can call a municipality and inquire,” said Eisinger Law Partner Carolina Sznajderman Sheir.

The condo association must provide certain documentation, Sheir said, including budget reports and pending special assessments.

“If those special assessments are related to a 40-year recertification or other restoration projects, that’s useful for a buyer to gain information about what work is being done to the property,” she said.

Both condo owners and prospective buyers should research the building’s reserves.

“If you are a purchaser, you should look at whether the association is adequately reserving,” Sheir said.

Buyers should ask the following: What major projects has the building taken in the last five years? Has the building gone through its 40-year recertification process? Has it had concrete restoration work?

Zero maintenance work may be a red flag, she said. “If you are telling me that a 40-year-old building hasn’t had any major work done, that might be a warning sign.”

Associations should be proactive, Sheir said, about repairs. “Someone’s life is worth more than doing these repairs. If you are in a building association, you should endeavor to plan to do these changes. You should squirrel away money or have a strategy in place to finance it.”

Haber even suggests recertifications should start every 10 or 20 years instead of the current 40-year anniversary, because climate change is a constant factor on buildings, regardless of their age.

“The state of our environment is not what it was 40 years ago and people need to acknowledge that, especially bayfront and oceanfront properties,” he said. “It’s going to be more expensive to do these deeper certifications, and many of these older buildings are filled with people on fixed incomes. But we’re not living in the 1970s anymore. There’s no reason to think that climate change isn’t affecting building if it’s already affecting our roads.”