We don’t know what caused Surfside collapse, but we know something else that’s gone wrong | Editorial

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside cracked open Florida’s condominium regulations, once the topic of interest of a few lawyers and association-board volunteers.

In the months since the June tragedy, as committees and tasks forces were created to scrutinize our current laws, we have learned that Florida must do a better job of regulating condos and high-rises.

“It’s a wild, wild West out there, with not a lot of accountability,” state Sen. Lauren Book told the Herald Editorial Board. Book, a Democrat, sits on the Broward County Condominium Structural Issues Committee created to make reform recommendations.

Miami-Dade is one of many counties reviewing their building safety rules. But the broader, more comprehensive reforms will need to happen in the state Legislature, which begins its committee hearings this month and goes into a two-month session in January. That’s where any potential reforms will bump into opposition from Republican leaders wary of anything that might increase regulations and costs on condo boards and lawyers, who hold significant political sway.

We’re prepared to hear the common refrain that we should avoid “knee-jerk reactions” until we know exactly what led to the Champlain incident. In July, Gov. DeSantis wouldn’t commit to state action, telling reporters the tower “had problems from the start,” the Herald reported. We saw another example of that in Broward County recently, when a top building official pushed back against its committee’s proposed changes, saying there’s no evidence to support them, the Sun Sentinel reported.

“A lot of [lawmakers] take direction from the governor, and he went from a very empathetic posture to a let’s-not-jump-to-conclusions posture,” state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat who represents Surfside, told the Editorial Board.

DeSantis might not be entirely wrong. A Herald analysis found that most column designs in the tower did not meet national standards on the ratio of steel to concrete and were too narrow to safely accommodate the needed amount of reinforcing steel.

But a federal investigation could take years to identify the exact cause of the collapse. If more builders skirted industry standards during Miami’s condo boom in the 1970s and ’80s, when building codes were weak and enforcement lax, we need to find out.

More buildings evacuated

Beyond that, this tragedy opened our eyes to gaps in state and local regulations that, regardless of the results of the investigation, deserve a second look. Simple actions in the aftermath of the disaster have already yielded results: Two apartment buildings were evacuated within a day of each other last week because of “significant structural defects” after Bay Harbor Islands ordered inspections.

What else could be uncovered if regulations changed or if a statewide inspection requirement were in place? Probably a lot of inconvenient truths that would cost a lot of money to fix — and that many condo dwellers, lawyers and lawmakers would rather not have to confront.

At the time of the collapse on June 24, only two counties required building recertifications, Miami-Dade and Broward — and even their 40-year requirement is probably too long. Since then, Boca Raton has created its own inspection program, and Palm Beach County is considering one.

Pizzo plans to file a bill to require statewide building inspections based on a scoring system that takes into account the size of the building, location and when it was built. His goal is to zero in on shoddy construction from the ’70s and ’80s. The Florida Bar’s Condominium Law and Policy on Life Safety Task Force also is looking into this and will have a report with recommendations for lawmakers and DeSantis likely at the end of the month, Chair William Sklar, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, told the Editorial Board.

Requiring inspections seems like an easy fix, but who’s doing those inspections? There are different types of engineers, not all of whom have the expertise to perform them.

Florida law should require a structural engineer to sign off on them. A Republican-backed bill that died this year that would’ve prohibited the practice of structural engineering by someone who’s not licensed. It should be reconsidered, but a transitional period likely would be needed, as there are roughly only 650 certified structural engineers in Florida and 27,000 condominium associations, according to Sklar. A sudden requirement would push inspection costs through the roof.

Dangerous lack of reserves

Many condo associations don’t maintain reserves for maintenance repairs because Florida law allows associations to waive them relatively easily. They just need a majority vote by unit owners who attend a meeting where there’s a quorum.

Champlain South had just over $777,000 in reserves to pay for what was estimated by inspectors as a $16.2 million repair bill, the Herald reported. It’s unclear whether more robust reserves might have made a difference, but this points to a pervasive issue in Florida: Many condo boards keep monthly fees artificially low by deferring maintenance, which then can result in hefty assessments when they no longer can ignore needed repairs or, worst-case scenario, unsafe buildings.

The Florida Bar task force might recommend that lawmakers make it harder to waive reserves or limit them to partial waivers. That will not be popular with many condo associations, and the task force is looking at ways to alleviate the financial burden on them. But, as Pizzo told the Board, this is one of the “tough love measures” the Legislature should consider.

Lawmakers should also use some of that tough love on themselves.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Condominiums, Time Shares, and Mobile Homes oversees condo elections and recall disputes and ensures unit owners have access to the association’s financial records, which are often the subject of disputes. But the agency operates on a shoestring budget because the Legislature typically sweeps funding from an annual $4 surtax for other purposes in the state budget, Pizzo said.

Even if the DBPR were properly funded, the Legislature stripped away much of its oversight authority over condo boards in 2008, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

That’s emblematic of Florida’s approach to condo regulations — or lack thereof. The state also used to require a “reserve study” every five years to evaluate what repair needs were imminent. That, too, was repealed in 2010.

The loss of 98 lives in Surfside prompted many groups and lawmakers to begin looking at what needs to change. But nothing will happen without political will and, above all, courage in Tallahassee.

This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 6:00 AM.