ALL TALK, NO ACTION

Surfside Building Had Been ‘Exposed to Water Intrusion for 40 Years’: 2020 Report

Shoddy waterproofing and overstressed concrete slabs reportedly left the building vulnerable from day one.

Residents of the doomed Champlain Towers South complex were told by the condo board in December 2020 that certain sections of the condo’s underground garage were not protected by any waterproofing whatsoever, a flaw that had “exposed the garage to water intrusion for 40 years,” according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. That was on top of the structural damage an engineer’s report noted two years earlier, much of which had occurred due to shoddy waterproofing around the building’s pool. Protecting the garage from further damage was prioritized in a planned $15 million upgrade, the 2020 documents reportedly stated. Another issue involved repairing concrete slabs under the building grounds that had been “overstressed since the day the building went up.” The board’s presentation said “inadequate slab reinforcing” was in fact noted in the building’s original structural drawings. Most of the repairs had not yet begun when the building collapsed last week, killing at least 18 people with more than 140 still missing.