![]() The government division responsible for managing the trust considers educating condo board members as one of the trust’s purposes. The legislature did create a trust fund, underwritten primarily by fees assessed on associations, to help implement Florida’s condo laws and regulations. Board members are not required to have financial, management, engineering, or planning expertise or training. The members of these boards are volunteer residents elected by fellow residents. This spirit of hands-off regulation has left it to condo association boards to identify and manage risks and decide whether and how to respond. But in 2019, the legislature passed and Governor DeSantis signed a bill that postponed a sprinkler retrofitting requirement until 2024 and left in place a provision allowing an association to opt out of the requirement by a majority vote. In 2017, the legislature passed a bill to ease fire safety rules for multi-story condos, but it was vetoed by former Governor Scott, who cited a recent fire in a London high-rise that killed 72 people. Light-touch regulation is also apparent in the history of fire safety regulation for Florida condominiums. But-at least until now-the identification and review of unsafe buildings in Florida has been haphazard at best and nonexistent at worst. Local officials can condemn unsafe buildings and order their evacuation, as happened with a North Miami Beach condo building when it was inspected after the Surfside collapse. No Florida state law requires condo associations to establish reserve funds for emergency repairs. Local officials did not enforce this requirement for the Champlain Towers South condo building. In Miami-Dade County, the 40-year-old building recertification provision requires structural or electrical problems identified in the process to be repaired within 150 days from when the process commences. No Florida state law requires association boards to repair structural problems when they are discovered. ![]() The statute, however, was repealed two years later when some associations complained about the high costs of the inspections. In 2008, the state of Florida briefly required regular structural integrity inspections of condo buildings over three stories. Only two Florida counties, including Miami-Dade County where the complex is located, have these recertification requirements. The board of the Champlain Towers South condo association commissioned the report to comply with a “40-year-old building” recertification requirement. The report also explained why extensive repairs were necessary. ![]() How this failure happened is still not clear, but it is coming into sharper focus every day.Ī 2018 engineering report on the structural integrity of the Champlain Towers South complex in Surfside, Florida warned of major structural damage and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of support-bearing columns. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is overseeing the investigation.The families of those who occupied the Champlain Towers South condo building the night of June 24 are feeling the consequences of a collective failure to manage risk with an acuteness that few of us ever experience. Other possible factors include sea level rise caused by climate change and damage caused by salt water intrusion.Ī final conclusion on the cause is likely years away. “I just don’t want to cause these families any more stress.”Ĭhamplain Towers South had a long history of maintenance problems and questions have been raised about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. Hanzman has been conducting a series of hearings on individual claims by collapse victims about the amount of compensation for a family member’s death, which he recently described as harrowing. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing.Ī billionaire developer from Dubai is purchasing the 1.8-acre (1-hectare) beachside site for $120 million, contributing to the settlement. The money comes from 37 different sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium whose recent construction next door is suspected of contributing to structural damage of Champlain Towers South. The $96 million is for loss of property, including the condo units themselves. The judge in June approved a $1 billion fund for people who lost family members in the collapse, as well as those who suffered physical or mental injuries.
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