Florida collapsed condo’s pool deck failed to comply with building codes and standards, officials say

A preliminary summary of findings regarding Florida’s Surfside condominium collapse was issued on Thursday by investigators with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

On some background information, Champlain Towers South partially collapsed about two years ago, on June 24, 2021, and resulted in 98 people losing their lives.

Furthermore, the investigators said that the pool deck failed to comply with the building codes and standards that were in place at the time of its construction. Characteristically, it was stated that severe strength deficiency was observed in many places around the pool deck, while the Tampa Bay Times said that the structure’s strength was just about half of the required.

The report includes findings of reinforcement corrosion, as well as misplaced reinforcement. In addition to this, heavy plant containers and pavers, which were not included in the original design, were found to be positioned on the swimming pool deck.

Finally, Cornell University professor, Ken Hover said that no evidence of an explosion, car accident or other accidental load that triggered the failure was found, while Abieyuwa Aghayere of Drexel University stated that the collapse seemingly was caused by reasons that were predictable and could have been identified by review of the structure and its design.