Monash University: Lessons to learn from Florida building collapse
Following the Florida building collapse and the ongoing investigation into its cause, a Monash University fellow looks at how it happened and how US and Australian authorities can prevent these incidents in the future.
Monash University postdoctoral research fellow, head of the Future Building Initiative, Department of Architecture, Monash Art, Design and Architecture Duncan Maxwell says while the construction industry is fragmented worldwide, America has an additional lack of consistency across states.
“The US has an additional lack of consistency across states, and a bottom-up approach to regulation, whereas Australia has a national code,” he says.
“The Florida building was old and was built under outdated building regulations. There are some cracking issues here in Australia, even with newer builds, such as Sydney’s Mascot Towers in 2019. This raises the need to look at both historic issues and the evolution of current regulations. These are ever-changing, but often too slowly.”
Officials are currently still searching the collapsed Champlain Towers South building in Surfside which happened nearly two weeks ago. The death toll has climbed to 36 per AP.
The issue is compounded by Hurricane Elsa which complicates rescue efforts with its wind and rain.
“Accountability will be potentially very complex. Needless to say, buildings are very large artefacts comprising a huge number of ‘parts’,” Duncan adds.
“The traceability of these parts through the supply chain, as well as documentation of historic design decision making, is an issue. Technology is seeking answers to these challenges but was unfortunately not present in the Florida condos.”