[Live Webinar] Structural Integrity – How We arrived at the Current Legal State

Recently a change has occurred in the United States because of the collapse of the Champlain tower in Florida in 2021. The natural response was to say that ‘our buildings must not fall down under normal use’. A short period of reflection was quickly changed into legal changes to try to avoid the problems that were clear. Florida’s new laws were quickly followed by a handful of other states. The basic approach has been that there must be adequate integrity to withstand expected loads from the environment and the users of the structure.

The new laws in Florida and 12 other states essentially required good structural integrity and a reserve fund to deal with the ravages of ageing and gradual deterioration. Six states have now legislated whilst the others decided that it needed time to contemplate and consider the  effect of ASCE7 which requires sufficient structural adequacy. The laws which have changed concentrate specifically on condominiums.

This presentation looks at the current state of legislation in the six states that have followed Florida’s example, and the position of those who have relied on the ASCE7 approach, as well as the influence of world-wide history in how we arrived at this situation.