A new report confirms preliminary findings that the 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside likely originated in the pool deck rather than the tower itself.
Acording to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal agency in charge of the investigation, the report also identified signs of distress in the building that were visible in the weeks before the disaster.
It has been more than four years since the building collapse killed 98 people. Federal investigators have yet to make a final determination of the cause. The institute has said it hopes to conclude its full investigation next year.
Most residents were asleep in the 12-story tower when it collapsed into a huge pile of rubble at 1:22 a.m. on June 24, 2021. A Miami judge has since approved a $1 billion-plus settlement for personal injury and wrongful death claims from the disaster.
Meanwhile, a new luxury condo is going up at the site, a few miles north of Miami.
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The latest update on Tuesday was made by lead investigator Judith Mitrani-Reiser and co-lead investigator Glenn Bell at a virtual meeting of the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee.
"This tragic event has revealed flaws in our systems, and quality is at the heart of it," Mitrani-Reiser said in a statement.
Bell explained that the team's ongoing work, including computer simulations and structural testing, has led it to refine its analysis of what led to the collapse. He said these efforts "indicate that it is more likely that the failure started in a pool deck slab-column connection."
Mitrani-Reiser highlighted several indications of the building's distress in the weeks before the collapse, all concentrated in a small area of the pool deck and street-level parking deck. These signs, she said, included a sliding glass door that came off its frame, a previously reported horizontal crack in a planter wall, and a gate that had shifted and could not be opened.
ALSO READ: Legislators tell condo owners not to expect 'bailouts' to cover post-Surfside costs
In addition, water was seen leaking from the garage ceiling the day before the collapse, with the flow dramatically increasing in the hours before the building fell. The pool deck and street-level parking deck have been confirmed to have begun collapsing at least seven minutes before the tower.
The institute is now focused on completing its technical work by the end of this year and drafting reports, which will include a summary and six subject-focused technical reports. The goal is to provide recommendations that will improve building safety for new and existing structures.
After Surfside, state legislators enacted a law in 2022 requiring condo associations to have sufficient reserves to cover major repairs. Some residents were caught off guard by hefty fees imposed to cover years of deferred maintenance expenses required to bring their buildings into compliance.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed new legislation allowing some condo associations to fund reserves through a loan or line of credit. It also gives residents more flexibility to pause payments into reserve funds while they prioritize needed repairs. It extends the deadline for condo associations to complete structural integrity studies and exempts some smaller buildings from those studies.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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