Florida condo building collapse raises building as infrastructure issues

July 1, 2021

Jared Blum

There is some very sobering data that’s coming from the Miami condo collapse. In spite of the Dade County robust code, I must ask the question for us as members of the construction industry as to whether we should:

1. View this as a broad based issue about buildings as infrastructure, but not necessarily a roofing issue per se
2. View this as a specific issue related to 1980 construction practices. Much has been written, due to the huge tax incentives during this time, that there was a explosion of construction that was not always quality controlled
3. Strong indicator of need for building inspection requirements
4. Strong indicator of need for more technical assistance to states on building code enforcement
5. Case study on why the Department of Energy should fund additional assistance for development, adoption, and implementation of building codes including funding more building inspectors and building inspections at state and local levels
6. Consider what if any roof standards could be addressed at ICC or ASHRAE meetings

We will continue to consider these and other important issues.