Federal Report Details Failures Leading to Surfside Condo Collapse

According to a new federal report, two columns supporting the pool deck of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Fla., began failing several weeks before the tragic collapse in June 2021.

The report, unveiled on Monday, reveals that the building had been deteriorating for weeks due to flawed design and construction practices. Five years after the incident that claimed 98 lives, investigators concluded that the building’s structural design did not comply with building code requirements and the construction was inconsistent with the design. The report also highlighted decades of corrosion and modifications, which added weight to the pool deck, further weakening the structure.

Currently, investigators have not issued safety recommendations. Instead, they are working on a final report to provide more supporting evidence.

The investigation found that two columns supporting the pool deck at Champlain Towers South started to fail in early June 2021. This resulted in cracks spreading and loads being redistributed to other parts of the pool deck. Indicators of stress included visible cracks in a planter box on the pool deck, a jammed gate to the area, and worsening leaks dripping into the parking garage below. Some of these issues are backed by photographs included in the report.

These structural problems escalated until June 24, when the pool deck collapsed onto the underground parking garage during the night, initiating a chain reaction that destroyed a significant portion of the building while residents were asleep.

Judith Mitrani-Reiser, a lead investigator from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, stated that when building structures are designed and constructed to meet required codes and standards, they have margins against failure, allowing them to support more load than is necessary. However, she noted that for Champlain Towers South, these margins were inadequate from the outset.