In an effort to strengthen structural and building safety inspections in the hopes of preventing a future building collapse similar to the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, legislation was recently passed in the Florida Senate Community Affairs Committee.
SB 1702, sponsored by Senator Jennifer Bradley, largely mirrors more robust structural and building safety measures outlined by the Surfside Working Group’s Florida Building Professionals Recommendations and supported by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida (ACEC Florida) and the Florida Engineering Society (FES).
“By establishing mandatory minimum structural inspections and post-occupancy whole building safety inspections, we can help ensure Florida never experiences another tragic building collapse similar to Surfside,” says Allen Douglas, Executive Director of ACEC Florida and the FES.
The Florida Building Professionals Recommendations were provided to lawmakers in October 2021 to consider establishing mandatory minimum structural inspections and post-occupancy whole building safety inspections. Spearheaded by the ACEC-Florida and the FES, the Surfside Working Group also included a coalition of professionals from the following:
- Florida Structural Engineers Association
- Florida Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers
- International Concrete Repair Institute
- Building Officials Association of Florida
- Florida Association of American Institute of Architects
“We look forward to supporting this important bill through the legislative process,” Douglas says.
