[W. K. Lis]

Back in 2012, there was a story about a leaning house in west-end Toronto.

From link.

A home in the Runnymede Road and Dundas Street West area will be demolished after the house visibly tilted during work being done on the house, sparking concerns it may collapse.

Crews at the home at 63 Maria Street were excavating the basement Wednesday when it became apparent late in the afternoon that something was wrong. Firefighters arrived at the scene after a neighbour called 911. The home was then evacuated, as were four neighbouring properties on each side.

A fence has been erected around the house, and demolition will begin as early as Friday. The homeowners, who did not want to speak to CBC News, will not be allowed to return to get their belongings because officials say it's too dangerous.

City officials said contractors were underpinning the basement.

"I don't want to speculate and say it's a contractor error," said Mark Sraga, a building official with the City of Toronto. "We're not sure exactly what occurred...From what we've seen, they did have permits to do the work, which is the first step of a responsible contractor."

A lawn sign indicated that FBR Waterproofing Inc. had been working at the house. The company declined a request for an interview.

Two investigators from Ontario's Ministry of Labour were also at the scene on Thursday.

Gas and power lines were cut as a precaution.

Charlie Gatt, whose parents own the affected home, lives next door.

"Of course I'm worried about them. One, where are they going to go? He has medication in the house that he needs to take," Gatt said.

 

[Northern Light]

Interesting article here:

Repealed Florida law would have required faster repairs at collapsed tower, experts say

If a 2008 Florida law that required condos to plan for repairs had still been in place, "this never would have happened," said the legislator who sponsored the law.

www.nbcnews.com

Gist: A former legislator got a law passed in Florida in 2008 requiring condo boards to have engineers assess buildings every 5 years to instruct on a proper amount of reserves being put aside for repairs.
He is musing about whether that law might have helped prevent what happened................

The law only lasted til 2010 when another legislator led the charge to repeal it. (the repeal sponsor in question........a real estate broker and developer)......

No way to know...........but certainly interesting info.....

 

[W. K. Lis]

I would expect more building "problems" to increase as the sea levels rise. Don't forget that the sea is salty, which would corrode most iron or steel. See link.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Photos appear to show Surfside condo collapse site cleared of rubble​

From link.

Nearly a month since the partial building collapse that killed 97 in Surfside, the site of the collapse looks unrecognizable to those who witnessed rescuers work for weeks on the rubble — and traffic patterns around the site may see a return to normal “in the very near future.”

Sen. Jason Pizzo tweeted images of the site Tuesday night that showed the recovery mission may be almost complete. A Miami-Dade County spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the site of the collapse had been “mostly cleared.”

Surrounded by orange traffic cones and police barricades, the property where the 12-story Champlain Towers South once stood appeared in the photos posted by Pizzo to have been nearly cleared, with almost all debris and building parts moved to off-site locations for forensic analysis. Several pieces of rubble and wires were still visible on the site in the photos, as several recovery workers used a crawler loader to pick up a remaining piece.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1417657635709636613

But despite the original collapse site being cleared, the recovery effort and search continues, the county spokesperson said.

“What’s happening now is that the first responders are conducting additional searches of the debris at the collection site,” the spokesperson said. “They’re continuing to do everything that they can to be as thorough as possible in the search for any additional remains to bring closure to families.”

As of July 15, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that 26 million pounds of concrete and debris had been removed from the site. Officials have recovered 97 victims.

The relocation of debris, and with it the recovery effort, may soon allow Surfside residents to see the blocked off section of Collins Avenue open to traffic.

“I think that in the very near future, we will be able to get Collins Avenue partially open for traffic,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told the Miami Herald. “We’re trying to semi-normalize life in Surfside, however, we’re not doing anything that would jeopardize the investigation into the site. We’re trying to balance those two requirements.”

 

[W. K. Lis]

 

[W. K. Lis]

 

[C-mac]

Photos appear to show Surfside condo collapse site cleared of rubble​

From link.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1417657635709636613

They cleared it pretty fast.

 

[W. K. Lis]

They cleared it pretty fast.

Once they went from "search and rescue" to "recovery and demolition".

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Merica:

Fourth person charged for assuming identity of Florida condo collapse victim

A fourth person has been accused of stealing the identities of victims in the South Florida condominium collapse that killed 98 people, officials said.

www.cp24.com

AoD

 

[christiesplits]

Some positive indications that this could lead to tighter regulations and inspections.

Florida engineers call for more inspections after condo collapse

A coalition of engineers and architects, formed after a Miami-area condominium collapsed in June killing 98 people, is recommending the state of Florida require high-rise buildings near the coast to undergo safety inspections every 20 years.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[W. K. Lis]

Before Florida’s deadly condo collapse, one of the Canadians behind the development faced decades of lawsuits and claims of fraud​

Dozens died when Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., fell apart this summer. By then, its Canadian developers were long dead – but hundreds of records tell the story of dubious tactics used to create a property empire from Toronto to Florida

See link.

From the 1960s to the 1970s, developer Nathan Reiber and investors who worked with him built more than a dozen Southern Ontario apartment towers and townhouse complexes, mostly in the Toronto area.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The aftermath continues - from the Star:

Florida condo collapse settlement leaves survivors, including Canadians, furious: ‘There are grown men crying today’

Judge accepts decision in Surfside tragedy about dividing money between families of those who died and those who survived the collapse. Some in the latter group say the $83-million (U.S.) settlement leaves them in difficult circumstances.

www.thestar.com

AoD

 

[W. K. Lis]

The aftermath continues - from the Star:

Florida condo collapse settlement leaves survivors, including Canadians, furious: ‘There are grown men crying today’

Judge accepts decision in Surfside tragedy about dividing money between families of those who died and those who survived the collapse. Some in the latter group say the $83-million (U.S.) settlement leaves them in difficult circumstances.

www.thestar.com

AoD

Survivors like Rodriguez say the appraisals of the apartments are hundreds of thousands of dollars too low. On the other hand, a group of family members of people who died says surviving condo owners should get nothing — and should be held liable for damages — because they didn’t maintain the building, according to the Miami Herald.

Today, we have condo owners who demand that there be no maintenance fee increases at all. They ignore that it is the maintenance fees that are used to keep the building in a state of good repair. Keeping them low will result in catastrophes like the Florida building collapse. Just wonder how many of the people who died also voted to keep low maintenance fees that led to their own deaths.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Today, we have condo owners who demand that there be no maintenance fee increases at all.

I think many people live on a shoestring budget and believe they can’t afford an increase. A fatal error, but I think that’s part of it. The trick is to properly charge (with inflationary increases) and thus fund sufficient long term condo fees at the onset.

 

[DSC]

I think many people live on a shoestring budget and believe they can’t afford an increase. A fatal error, but I think that’s part of it. The trick is to properly charge (with inflationary increases) and thus fund sufficient long term condo fees at the onset.

Indeed! Though the situation in Ontario is not perfect, it is clearly better regulated and condo corporations must have Reserve Fund Studies carried out by 'qualified people" (usually engineers and/or architects) at least every 3 years (with on-site inspections at least every 6.) If a condo Board does not follow their recommendations they must tell Owners that they are not doing so and that must be noted on all Status Certificates. Section 94 of the Condo Act reads: "The corporation shall conduct periodic studies to determine whether the amount of money in the reserve fund and the amount of contributions collected by the corporation are adequate to provide for the expected costs of major repair and replacement of the common elements and assets of the corporation."