NIST Shares Progress Update on Surfside Condo Investigation

From fires and natural disasters to other unanticipated events, when buildings fail, both people and property are at risk.

One of the most notable recent tragedies occurred in June 2021 when a 12-story condominium complex in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed, claiming the lives of 98 people. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has spent almost four years investigating what happened at the complex, known as Champlain Towers South, to determine the cause and minimize the risk of future tragedies.

Understanding What Happened

NIST recently shared with Congress an update about its investigation, noting that it has completed all experimental work on the physical evidence from the building’s structural elements. More than 600 pieces of concrete (roughly the size and shape of paper towel rolls) and nearly 400 pieces of steel were retrieved from the building.

In a video about the update, NIST associate lead investigator Glenn Bell said that machines were used to crush the concrete and pull the steel. The team wanted to “better understand the strength of the materials, how deformable they are and how their properties may have changed over the life of the building,” he said. Investigators also wanted to measure the amount and causes of corrosion extracted from steel from Champlain Towers South.

NIST hopes the investigation will reveal the likely cause or causes of the incident. Investigators plan to recommend changes to standards, codes and practices as necessary to help prevent future incidents. NIST also intends to recommend research or other appropriate actions that are necessary to improve the structural safety of buildings.

At the same time, the International Code Council has been hard at work finishing Guideline 7, which provides building departments with a guideline for visually assessing the integrity of existing buildings. The Code Council has been closely following NIST’s investigation.

“From a structural perspective, it’s looking for distress, it’s looking for things that have been altered without the right processes in place,” said Kevin McOsker, Government Relations Vice President of Technical Services for the Code Council. “The guideline is a process for a visual assessment of all the building components – structural, fire protection, mechanical, egress, those types of things – to see that it’s still within acceptable norms of compliance or if any unsafe conditions exist.”

A More Proactive Approach to Maintenance

While there are times when a deeper analysis may be necessary, McOsker said that a lot can be learned from a visual inspection. Any areas of distress, such as cracks or sagging beams, may be immediately apparent just by taking a look.

“The visual assessment is pretty powerful. It’s not all encompassing, but it definitely gives you some clues to areas that might need assistance or other actions to take,” said McOsker. “Someone once said to me, ‘Buildings don’t have a ‘use by’ date like you have on food, or a ‘change oil’ light like you have in your car’ – buildings take a more proactive approach to maintenance.”

Lessons Learned from Surfside

Guideline 7 is being developed with a committee of experts from diverse fields, including experts in structural, fire, mechanical and plumbing. The committee also has input from experts in concrete and steel.

“A guideline is not mandatory – it’s a tool that building departments or other authorities having jurisdiction can take and use as a template for their own program, something similar to what Florida has,” said McOsker.

The state now requires condominium and cooperative association buildings with three-plus stories to be inspected when they reach their 30th year, and every 10 years thereafter.

“Guideline 7 would be a guideline so if you were in another city or state that doesn’t have that type of program, and you wanted to do it, you could develop your own local requirements,” McOsker added. “You could do so using the guideline and expand it beyond just the structural components.”

A Formal Process for Assessing Buildings

Now the Code Council is working to convert the once completed Guideline 7 to ICC Standard 1500, Standard for Existing Building Safety Inspections. This transformation will include input from the Existing Building Safety Inspections Consensus Committee (IS-EBSI), as well as two levels of public comment. As a standard, ICC 1500 could be referenced in the 2027 version of the International Codes®.

“As part of this process, we’re going to establish similar characteristics [to the Florida milestone inspections],” said McOsker. “Whether it’s height, occupancy, age – it could be any number of characteristics that the committee might decide is the trigger where a building could be assessed.”

McOsker hopes that ICC 1500 is referenced in the base of the code or the appendix, but the latter means that enforcement would be optional. A building department that’s adopting the code could still choose to adopt that appendix and make it part of their code.

“You have to assess what you need to maintain, so [it’s important] to have a formal process to assess a building,” said McOsker. “I think that is key the takeaway.”

To learn more about the Code Council’s work on existing building safety, click here.