56°
40º | 57°
54° | 69°
With more than a dozen people killed, and hundreds still missing in the Surfside Condo collapse in Florida, officials with Houston's Building Code Enforcement are talking about their own policies for similar buildings.
This comes as several reports pointed to an engineering report that was dated a month before the building collapsed. The report found "major structural damage" that was in immediate need of repairs.
"The Houston Permitting Center's Building Code Enforcement inspects buildings prior to a Certificate of Occupancy being issued and will address structural concerns when brought to their attention by either the fire marshal or through a 311 complaint," Alanna Reed, director of Communications for the City of Houston, told the Houston Daily.
However, Reed noted that these inspections don't happen yearly.
"Houston's Building Code Enforcement does not perform annual inspections on high-rises or condos after a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued," she said.
Reed did point out that apartment buildings do get checked out on a regular basis.
"Apartment buildings are inspected every four years by a Multi-family Habitability Team," Reed said.
NPR reported that a Surfside official purportedly assured condo residents that the building was safe despite the findings of that engineering report. At this point it's still unknown why the building collapsed, but the month-old engineering report highlighted problems with a deteriorating flat structural slab that allowed for pooling water. The report did suggest that repairs would be costly, but without them the deteriorating concrete would expand quickly.
As of June 30, the number of people killed in the building collapse had risen to 16 with 147 still unaccounted for, according to NPR.
The building, known as Champlain Towers South, was originally 12 stories tall before a part of the structure collapsed the morning of June 24, CNBC reported. Search and rescue teams have been working diligently to help recover the victims.