JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Following the deadly partial collapse of a Miami-area condominium building, officials in the city of Jacksonville Beach opted to check in on the aging high-rise structures within its own borders.
“We just wanted to be proactive in the city and go out and meet with our different condominium associations of the older high rises,” Jacksonville Beach Fire Marshal Steve Sciotto told News4Jax.
Sciotto said he and the city’s building inspector contacted the management of the four high-rise buildings that are more than 40 years old within the city limits: Pelican Point Condominiums (1982), Pablo Towers Apartments (1973), Ocean 14 Condominiums (1976) and Seascape Condominiums (1974).
“After making contact with those four condos, they were already on top of things themselves, they already were lining up to have some engineering studies performed of them,” Sciotto said. “Some of them have been doing this on a regular basis anyway. Being out at the beach, there’s a lot of spalling of concrete that occurs on the balconies and things.”
Sciotto said the city requested the most recent structural engineering report on each of the four buildings and that they showed no signs of deterioration.
Outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which have a 40-year recertification program for their high-rise buildings, there are no rules in the Florida Building Code that required structural inspections after a designated period of time.
“The Florida Building Code and Fire Prevention Code require a structural evaluation be performed for any building greater than seventy-five (75) feet in height anytime a major alteration is made to the structure. An alteration is considered major when work is performed in an area greater than 50% of the building. The only other time a structural engineering inspection is required is when additional loads are placed on existing structural members. When the Fire Marshal or Building Official performs inspections, any obvious structural damage found will be noted on the inspection report and the area secured if it is determined to be unsafe. Due to the Surfside Florida event the Fire Marshal has contacted all four (4) high rises built before 1982 requesting a copy of their most recent structural engineering report.”
Jacksonville Beach Fire Marshal Steve Sciotto
Like Jacksonville Beach, the city of Jacksonville doesn’t have any additional building inspection requirements above those contained in the Florida Building Code.
“If a building maintains the same use as its original design and construction, we are not aware of any structural “recertification” program required by the State or jurisdictions outside of Miami-Dade, including Jacksonville,” a city spokesperson told News4Jax. “The only time Florida’s building code would require an existing building have some components reevaluated structurally by an engineer would be if the use of the building changes.”
Users can check what building codes are in force for their district or city via inspecttoprotect.org.