Structural reports after Surfside 3

[McSEpllc]

Hi All,

I am wondering what I should do, or can do.
About 2 years ago I wrote a structural survey report on an old commercial building.
A tenant had asked me to write the report and paid me, not the building owner.
The building has issues.

- Should I pass on the report to the building owner to address the issues?

- Since issuing the report, a new tenant is occupying a problem area. Should I pass on the report to him?

- There is a 44-ft long x 12-ft tall, unreinforced 6" CMU exterior wall, with the top of wall not braced. I don't know why the wall has not fallen over in the last 50 years. It is on the upper floor and I am concerned it could fall on the neighbors parking lot below. Should I inform the neighbors?

- Who owns the report? The client who paid me, or I, who wrote and signed and sealed the report?

I contact my liability insurance carrier, who is in process of getting me in touch with an attorney.

Thanks

 

[BAretired]

The client owns the report. Two years ago, you should have discussed with him what he intended to do with it. The owner should have been notified to give him the opportunity to fix the problem. A dangerous situation has been allowed to exist for two years.

The best you can do now is advise your client that, in the absence of any corrective measures, you intend to notify the owner and the authority having jurisdiction of a dangerous situation.



BA

 

[dik]

or that he notify the Owner and AHJ... and if he doesn't you are obligated to. If an attourney is involved get his 'blessing'.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Ron]

Without regard to the ownership of the report, if you think there is a danger or hazard to the public, you have an obligation to report that to the building official. Since you are concerned about parties other than your client, that means "the public". Apparently you are in North Carolina. In that state your obligation to the public overrides your obligation to your client.

I think it was a mistake to inform your insurance carrier. That could become a strike against you for rating purposes. You do not necessarily have any liability exposure here. In the future, don't notify your carrier until you're about to get slapped!

 

[McSEpllc]

Thanks BAretired, dik, and Ron. I can't believe I got three out of six engineers I have high respect for on eng-tips respond.
There was an evolution to the project. I have learned from this.

 

[McSEpllc]

BAretired, the intent of the report was for my client (the tenant) to gauge whether to buy the building.
I contacted them right after the Surfside collapse to ask whether they had shored and or repaired stuff (the client has a hardware store and do construction.) After some discussion they agreed to pass the report on to the owner.

 

[BAretired]

McSEpllc, I'm happy to hear the issue has been resolved.

BA

 

[dik]

Thanks... glad you resolved it. Ron and I have a slightly different approach. His is more direct. I prefer the person that owns the problem to deal with it, before I do. My approach can be a little more riskier because of a potential time lag... I try to stay on top of it. A slight variation of a similar theme.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[Canuck65]

McSEpllc,

As you have found, very good advice has been provided above by others. After some discussion you say that they agreed to pass on the report to the owner, which is good, but in my opinion may not be enough. What if the new owner decides to ignore or bury the report? You still have a duty to the public. There are various ways to approach the situation, (and I don't know the details), however, given that it has stood for 50 years already I am of the opinion the next reasonable step would be to contact the new owner to see if they have any questions about your report. Perhaps you will even turn it into a new project for your company! But ... if they are dismissive or unwilling to take further action, then I think you would have the duty to report the unsafe condition (albeit 2 years late) to the local building department.

 

[BAretired]

Yes, passing the report to the owner is not the end of the road. If there is a concern about the safety of people and the owner is taking no action to safeguard them, the OP has a further obligation to notify the appropriate authority.

BA

 

[McSEpllc]

This link is to:
"Design Professional Guidance: The do’s and don’ts of structural condition assessments"
July 13, 2021
By Nicole Mangino, Esq.
CPCU, RPLU, Head of Underwriting, Design Professional

https://axaxl.com/fast-fast-forward/articles/design-professional-guidance

 

[dhengr]

McSEpllc:
An inspection and report like that should look a defects and problem areas at several different levels and report and advise/insist on action on those areas and problems which are potential serious safety issues to the public or potential serious structural issues to the bldg’s. stability. These may be broken down into strictly cosmetic defects which are an aesthetic issue, but not a safety issue; problems and issues which will quickly become, or may already be, significant safety and structural issues if not fixed soon; and those issues/findings which must be attended to and fixed immediately (including bldg. evacuation) for current public safety and for the prevention of serious building failure or collapse. For the most part, our responsibility and handling of these reports and our findings has not changed from what our obligations were before the Surfside collapse. Our report should briefly lay out the obligations of all parties, for action and further reporting (distrib. of our report), of the party the report was written for, and of the bldg. owner, and our professional obligations if they don’t take action, once we have become involved, have been brought into the circle. This is not intended as a full legal dissertation on the matter, but rather an explanation of our professional obligations.

I see the big change potentially being, an informed public, that once the parties beyond us have seen our findings, they CAN NOT ignore them, just because the are uncomfortable, inconvenient or costly. That’s their bldg. or structure and it is their responsibility to maintain it in a safe and sound condition. They, too, do have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of public safety. I have seen this before, the home owner, the public bldg. owner, the condo owners think it will cost to much, they don’t have to (they shouldn’t have to) make the corrections, there’s nothing wrong with their units, etc. etc. They do have an obligation to fix/maintain and if they don’t do that in a timely manner, we have an obligation to notify the local AHJ, given what we know. I also think that the Surfside collapse should wake up local communities and AHJs to manage the safety conditions of structures within their area.