On June 15, 2015 five Irish nationals and 1 American died in the collapse of a balcony in Berkley, California. Another 7 others were injured as 13 students fell from the 5th floor of an apartment called Library Gardens at 2020 Kittredge Street in Berkeley. They were celebrating a 21st birthday party.
In December 2015 the court was told the collapse happened because contractors had cut corners to save costs. The management company Greystar Real Estate Partners ignored a “red flag” when students who rented the a apartment complained that mushrooms were growing on the balcony.
BERKELEY — More than a month after state regulators revoked the license of the general contractor who built a Berkeley apartment complex where six people died and seven were hurt when a balcony collapsed, the agency released 145 pages of supporting materials about the construction failures.
The documents include two expert reports on the construction and engineering of the doomed balcony, which gave way June 16, 2015, as 13 people, mostly Irish students working abroad over the summer, were celebrating a birthday party. The state revoked Pleasanton-based Segue Construction’s license in April, finding it used cheaper, weaker material on the balcony than plans specified. That material then became waterlogged after a sub-subcontractor failed to install a membrane to keep out moisture.
“All that water sitting around on top of the joists was a recipe for disaster,” said Robert Perry in a phone interview Thursday. Perry is a licensed architect and general contractor whose 18-page report on construction flaws at the Library Gardens apartments on Kittredge Street served as the state’s expert analysis. “It’s rare that it’s so catastrophic in nature,” he added.
Perry and another expert said the balcony was designed properly and should have been able to hold the 13 students. He pinpointed the collapse as “dry rot damage which had occurred along the top of the cantilever balcony deck joists,” according to his report.
From October 2005 when the balcony framing was completed, until August 2006 when the structure was waterproofed and sealed, the Berkeley area received more than 38 inches of rain, according to Perry’s report. Instead of using more water-resistant plywood atop the joists, workers used oriented strand board (OSB), which can soak up water like a sponge, even if the surface appears dry.
“There is no mention of framing protection from inclement weather,” Perry notes in his report. The rain likely led to other water infiltration issues on the second floor of the building when 10 units had mold removal and dehumidifying treatments in 2006.
Had it been dry during construction and no rain had infiltrated the wood and been sealed inside, a catastrophic collapse would’ve been “highly unlikely,” Perry said.
Mercury News Staff writer Thomas Peele contributed to this report.
SOURCE: https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/01/berkeley-state-releases-documents-on-cause-of-deadly-balcony-collapse/
Owner Jim Schlagel is a License “B” Contractor and is authorized to perform inspections toward compliance with CA Law SB721 and SB326. Some of the top cities we serve are Fresno, Sacramento, Bakersfield and Los Angeles.