NYT Finds Lax Enforcement Of FL Building Regulations

The New York Times reports:

Florida’s high-rise building regulations have long been among the strictest in the nation. But after parts of Champlain Towers South tumbled down on June 24, killing at least 24 people and leaving 121 unaccounted for, evidence has mounted that those rules have been enforced unevenly by local governments, and sometimes not at all.

Miami-Dade County officials said last week that they were prioritizing reviews of 24 multistory buildings that either had failed major structural or electrical inspections required after 40 years or had not submitted the reports in the first place.

But the county’s own records show that 17 of those cases had been open for a year or more. Two cases were against properties owned by the county itself. The oldest case had sat unresolved since 2008.

Read the full article. It’s a deep dive with multiple annotated maps of Miami’s many barrier islands.

Florida’s high-rise building regulations have long been among the strictest in the nation. But after parts of Champlain Towers South collapsed, evidence has mounted that those rules have been enforced unevenly by local officials, and sometimes not at all. https://t.co/wLV0Uy8eXJ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 5, 2021