Beachfront Surfside, Miami FL Condo Collapse Injury Attorney
A 12-story beach condominium building fell down June 24, 2021 in the early morning hours at Surfside community near Miami. This was a terrible accident, which is now characterized as a horrific building collapse. One person was known to be killed, and many residents were trapped in the fallen concrete, steel and structure frame. Many more people may be killed or perish as a result of this loss. There were dozens of people who were saved from the high rise, and more people will be pulled out survivors in the days to follow. Those surviving guests and residents to the high-rise will have serious and life-threatening injuries to be sure.
Half of the building’s 130 units were crumbling down to the ground during this episode, and heavy equipment was used to find more survivors. It was noted that around 15 families walked out of the building on their own power, but that more people upwards of 50 are still missing, believed dead or will be injured.
Aren’t All Buildings Supposed to be Safe?Yes, all buildings are required to be safe for anyone living, working or walking nearby the area where the building is located. Buildings can collapse for a number of reasons. Buildings that house offices or businesses are as vulnerable as a building that is an apartment complex, condominium or hotel. Any building needs to be maintained, checked and reviewed annually, to determine that all areas of the building are safe for the occupants either living or working in that area.
If the building owner does not routinely check the safety of the roof area, work being performed on the roof, the foundation, the presence of any cracks in the building, or any other issues related to the building safety – then the building owner may have a collapsed building as the result of this inattention and negligence of maintenance on the building.
How Are Buildings Made, Aren’t They Built to be Safe from a Collapse?Yes, to be sure high-rise, commercial and residential buildings are supposed to be built to be safe from a partial or total collapse. There are a number of factors that could make a building collapse. It actually doesn’t seem possible that a large high-rise building could just fall down, but it can happen. It does not “just” happen though, unless there are undue stressors on the building, or that the building has not been properly maintained over the years, by the building owner and maintenance department for the building. Alternatively, there may have been undue influences of pressure, forces or weight on the building that the structure was unable to withstand. This second scenario would also account for a building collapse situation.
Buildings in general are built to support a specific load of the building, and not to fall under the pressure forces of that type of load. This means that with the people, furniture, business assets and whatever else is in the building, when it is all in place, the building is built to support all of these things. As the buildings are being built, they are also meant to withstand extreme weather, storms, rain, floods, or even a construction company working with cranes and heavy equipment nearby to the building. If a building is not maintained, the structures that originally made them safe can weaken, which will put the entire building structure at risk of a collapse. When this happens, the building can be a literal death trap for anyone frequenting the building, living inside the four walls of the apartments, or working in the lower floors of the building itself.
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There are five general factors that can affect a building collapsing. These factors are the main factors, and there can be other incidental influences on the building at any time. The factors are:
- Poor maintenance of the building over time
- A fatal flaw design error in the building as originally built
- Poor materials and workmanship used to erect the building
- Natural or manmade phenomenon that tax the building structures
- Excessive loading of the building structure
The job of the construction company and contractor are to erect a building that is safe for anyone living, working or walking near to the building. The materials used in building a building need to be first rate materials, not cut-throat cheap materials for use in the construction of the building. Likewise, once the building is finally erected, the owner of the building needs to provide continuous maintenance on a building.
Maintenance of a Building is the Responsibility of the Building OwnerAny and every time that a building is erected of any size, it needs to be maintained for the rest of the life of the building. There is never the case that a building is erected and it is a “one and done” situation. The building needs to be checked constantly, to know what needs to be repaired to keep it fit for human habitation.
A building can have any number of problems once it is built. Our dear Earth is a wonderful resource for all of our human needs. That being said, the Earth is actually alive, as it is constantly shifting, moving, changing, and even sinking. These are dynamic factors and influences that can make a lofty high-rise condominium a veritable death trap, over the years of the life of the building.
Building Owners Are 100% Responsible for the Safety of Their Building and StructuresBuilding owners are responsible for 100% of what happens at the buildings that they own and maintain. Owning a building is not a convenience, or just a paycheck to get rents from the renters. Owning a building is a big responsibility that needs to be kept, for the safety of the people living, working and walking near to the structure.
Every year, sometimes more than once a year, the following building structures need to be reviewed to keep a building safe for its occupants and guests:
- Stabilization of the structure
- Concrete safe for the building
- Safe building connections
- Load systems are safe
- Structure systems are built properly
- Wind-load effects are considered and calculated
- Core structure elements are tested as safe
If the building owner is an absentee building owner or manager, then some of these systems will not be checked. The building will then be susceptible to collapsing or other problems with safety as a result. If you have been injured in a building that has an absent building owner or maintenance manager for the building, you need to call us immediately. Just call us today at (855) 339-8879. We will discuss your case with you, and get you the recovery compensation that you deserve if a building structure, walls, floors or other areas falls or collapses on you while living there.
Structural Design Errors Are Future Hazards for a BuildingHigh-rise buildings need to be carefully balanced, to maintain structural integrity along the entire length of the building. When the building is first built and constructed, careful consideration needs to be taken to manage and weigh out all of the vertical and horizontal structural designs for the building.
The vertical load of the building needs to be calculated carefully. This area will increase with the height of that structure. There is also the wind-load to consider when building a high-rise building. If this sounds like a physics lesson, in some ways it is! Just know that there are complex calculations that need to be made when designing a high-rise. If the high-rise condominium that just fell in Surfside, Florida is used as an example, then that building needs to have a structural soundness that will defy wind, rain, and workers working in the roof of the building. If these precautions are not taken, then the building will one day collapse. If the building does collapse, it may have been because the loads for the structure were not properly calculated before the building was built.
A structural design that is fatally flawed may not be outwardly present for years to decades, after the building is habituated. That does not excuse the builder of the building collapsing to kill guests and residents later. If a building collapses seemingly for no reason, trust that there definitely IS a reason. That reason may be tied to a faulty structural design error when the building was first erected.
The reason for licensing and contract construction permits and legislation on codes for buildings being in place, is to prevent a “one and done” attitude for a building being erected for human habitation. If a building collapses at any time after it is built, it may be the fault of the construction company for the building, and how they adjusted the loads for the structure.
Poor Use of Resources and Materials Can be Fatal Years After a Building is BuiltWhen apartment buildings and condominium buildings are erected, they need to be built with the best resources for contracting materials possible. The walls, structure, slabs, floors, concrete, and every angle for the building needs to contain the highest quality of materials for the structure. The reason for building with high quality materials, is that the forces of pressure that naturally occur to a building will be able to withstand the pressures and stand tall.
If the foundation of the building is not made with good materials, it will crumble when any unknown pressure is exerted on the building. This will lead to the catastrophe of the building falling down in waves, completely, or in a crumbling of the structure, as is seen locally in the news of the building collapse in Surfside, Florida. If you have been injured in the beachfront Surfside, Florida condominium building collapse, you need to give our offices a call immediately. Just call today at (855) 339-8879. We will be able to handle your case, and bring it to justice for the people responsible for negligently maintaining and owning this building. You have a right to recover compensation from all parties related to the loss, and associated with all related structures that collapsed from poor premises maintenance of the condominium building.
Whether there are weather related winds, rain, or other forces of nature, a building should be able to withstand those pressures. A building is built to withstand general forces of nature, and should not crumble at the slightest poor weather event. If a building loses roofing, flooring, decks, balconies or grounds landscaping during a high wind event, something is wrong with how the building was erected in the first place.
The interior structure of a building is meant to withstand any natural phenomenon that may occur at or near the building. Buildings erected and built today are also generally earthquake protected, to where they are meant to stand even during an earthquake. The reason for high standards and coding related to the building of high-rise structures, is that a building is expected to last for many decades. Some buildings are so well built that they last for centuries! If you have been injured in a building collapse, you need to give us a call today. We are here for you today at (855) 339-8879. We are able to take your case, and bring a lawsuit against the building owners and building maintenance department for their negligence in the maintenance of the building in all relevant conditions.
Buildings Fall Under Excessive or Improper Loads, PeriodBuildings are only able to withstand the amount of weight that they are meant to carry. Not a pound more, in most cases. When residents of a building live in their homes or apartments, they do not need to have the worry about wondering if any work that is being done on the roof of the building will put the building in jeopardy of falling. The owner and maintenance department of a building is responsible for maintaining any work on the roof of the building, that it meets the proper codes to not put extra stress on the building itself.
Along with the requirement of high-level materials being used for a building construction, there also needs to be highest level expertise on how to put these materials into the building as it is being made. No corners can be cut with the materials to build a high-rise building, and no shoddy workmanship will stand when being applied to a high-rise residential building as constructed.
What Is an Example of Poor Workmanship in Building a High-Rise Condo?When a new construction of a high-rise residential building or condominium is taking place, the workmanship at all levels of the high-rise must be first rate at all times. If there are poorly managed or built areas of a building being constructed, those areas may be fatal flaws that could destroy the building years after it has been constructed. The following are examples of poor workmanship that can devastate a building that is being constructed, or has been constructed. These examples include:
- Lack of experience and expertise of the building crew
- Low-cost materials substituted for building the structure
- Poor design flexibility and poor use of resources when building the structure
- Lack of highly-skilled labor
- Unable to understand the engineer and developer’s plans
- Workers not able to understand English
- Lack of quality meeting standards for construction inspections
- Missing milestones for the building project in initial stages, and “hurrying up” building as a result
- Complexity of workers not understanding the seismic load designs or wall performances
- Weakened walls, floors and roof areas from cranes during construction stages
- Walls not being reinforced properly during construction stages
- Concrete balconies badly attached to the building during construction states
If a building that you live in or visited as a guest collapses and you are injured in the accident, you need to call us right now. Just call us today at (855) 339-8879. We will talk to you and you will be working with a lawyer from our firm with experience in premises liability and collapsing buildings. You will win your case with an attorney with expertise in handling negligence of a building owner that resulted in a collapsed building. We will give to you our attorneys who specialize in collapsed building relief for the survivors of the loss and subsequential loss of life that can happen during these types of emergencies.
Zero Fee GuaranteeWe are able to offer to you our zero-fee guarantee. This means that we don’t require any up-front fees to allow you to work with us. We are here when you need us, and we don’t want you to have to pay any retainer or up-front fees to get our experienced attorneys to handle and win your case.
Free Second OpinionYou have the right to talk to anyone you feel the most comfortable with, in the event of a serious injury or fatality because of a building collapse. We are able to offer to you a free second opinion on any case that you call us to discuss. You are able to talk openly with our attorneys, and we will tell you how we can assist you to get the full amount of recovery compensation that you are due in your case. Just call us today at (855) 339-8879. We are here for you and can give to you the peace of mind that you require, while recovering from your personal injuries after a building has collapsed onto you or onto your family.
Call for a Free ConsultationIf you have been injured in a collapsed building, you need to give us a call right away at (855) 339-8879. We are able to bring an action against the at-fault parties, and get you the recovery compensation that you require in this type of horrific and devastating loss. If you have a wrongful death claim for a relative or spouse, call us immediately.
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