No requirement for structural inspection of aging suburban high-rises

This story has been updated to correct the name of the building in Florida.

The suburbs are dotted with multistory residential and office buildings - some even older than the Champlain Towers South condominium that partially collapsed a week ago in Surfside, Florida.

Published reports have pointed to a litany of structural issues identified in 2018 as the Florida building approached its 40th anniversary this year - a point when it was required to undergo structural recertification.

Yet, such re-inspection mandates don't exist anywhere in the contiguous U.S. besides Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties in south Florida, according to the most recent federal data.

There's a good reason for that, say structural engineers in the suburbs. They say buildings in the Chicago area face much less environmental stress and so there's not a need for a re-inspection mandate like the one in Florida, which ultimately failed to prevent the disaster at Chamberlain Towers South.

"Florida has a very harsh climate, especially with all the saltwater, so the buildings are subjected to a lot more deterioration than you would see here," said Zelina Johnson, a structural engineer at Chicago-based Klein and Hoffman. "It's an extremely corrosive environment."

The Chicago area's clay-based soil offers a sturdier and less porous base for large buildings compared to south Florida, experts added.

Engineers, building owners and municipal officials say it will take time to determine the exact cause of the Florida collapse and how that will affect the nation's building codes.

"There's a lot of talk about that in the industry," said Chris Burke, founder of Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. "With Florida, everyone is kind of perplexed. This is very unusual."

Building codes are determined by what type of "climate zone" the county occupies. There are seven climate zones in the contiguous 48 states and the Chicago area is located in Zone 5, which is designated as a cold zone.

"We have situations here, while not common, where roofs collapse because of snow or excessive rains," Burke said, but he said that does not warrant adding inspection requirements for existing buildings. "It is very unusual for something to happen spontaneously."

"We're just in a low-risk zone," said Scott Flanagan, a building official at the village of Schaumburg.

Schaumburg is home to many large, multistory buildings, and officials said it is rare for the village to reinspect older buildings for structural integrity.

"With large-scale structures, the maintenance is the responsibility of the owner," said Julie Fitzgerald, Schaumburg's director of community development.

While suburban building owners aren't required to reinspect buildings for structural integrity, it's still likely happening with some frequency, said Michael Mulcrone, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Suburban Chicago.

"These are buildings rich in amenities and providing office space for corporate headquarters and well-established businesses," he said. "As such, these buildings are seen as assets for their owners, so they are motivated to maintain their buildings to the highest standards."

There are times when a building must undergo an inspection of its structural integrity, municipal officials said. Examples are if the building is changing use, such as converting from a hotel to a condominium, or if an addition is built to it.

Some required annual and semiannual inspections of building systems would provide a glimpse of any structural problems at larger, heavily populated buildings, Flanagan said. Fire suppression systems and elevators are tested annually. There is also a requirement to inspect anchors atop buildings that employ window washers each year, experts said. Facade inspections are required in Chicago and many places in the U.S. to ensure anything attached to a building isn't at risk of falling off and crashing into someone below.

In some suburbs, many of the largest structures are multifamily residential buildings, often for those needing housing assistance. Some housing officials contend the Florida collapse is a good reason to improve safety and quality of public housing nationally.

"In light of the recent tragedy, my hope is that collectively we begin to regard our housing structures as infrastructure that is critical to national interests in addition to roads, bridges, broadband, etc.," said Martell Armstrong, CEO of the Housing Authority of Elgin.

A report this week in Scientific American discussing the Florida building collapse suggests that ultimately design practices and building codes will be updated as has happened in the past, "often in response to advances in technology or hard-won insights from failures."