Politics clouds judgment.

Having practical knowledge, experience, and skills in a technical field does not confer the necessary knowledge, experience, skills, or _interest_ in dealing with politics. On the other hand, the lack of such things is not all bad for scenarios as we see here.

If he's not an expert witness already, he's leaving money on the table.

How many balls do you think that Josh can juggle at the same time?

That's the problem here, you guys always assign superhuman powers to people who have skills higher than yourselves. Using factual measures would be a more accurate measure.

Well put, Paul, and accords entirely with my own experience as an architect in Scotland where around 50% of my professional life was spent working and reporting on existing buildings in various states of disrepair. While many architects are shaky on the quantitative aspects of structural and engineering services systems assessment and calculation (I include myself in that group), only architects have an integrated and holistic understanding of the building and the interaction of the parts. The key is knowing when to request the attendance of the specialist investigator or remediator.

I agree and you can tell that was the case at CPT South. They were more concerned about the look of the lobby than the integrity of the building. There has to be laws going forward to prevent that kind of thinking. No more putting off maintenance until the next generation arrives. I flip house's but even I get disappointed when I have to rewire an entire house when I didn't budget for that instead of using it on finishes but safety is paramount to the integrity of my companies name.

But how do you do that? Currently struggling with a board and city that have allowed a leak to go unabated for 2 decades. Hope our time is not running out.

It's also a LOSS for every insurance premium paying person in the state. Because this just opens a new form of insurance scam up where engineers continually demand repairs that aren't needed. Making insurance companies pay for things that aren't needed, and driving up insurance premiums for EVERYONE in the state so they can recoup their losses.

I will look into that, thanks!

What are "PTs".

McGuire Building in the Belltown Seattle story is interesting case of structural failure condition PT - post tension slab is a concrete slab with steel cables running through it that have been placed under 33,000 +/- pounds of tension. Tension makes concrete slab and foundation stronger than concrete without reinforcement and reduces cracking.

me too i am in seattle as well

@@davesmith5656 Post Tension Cables are metal cables placed in a concrete slab to "Tension" the concrete to make it stronger. If you watch the video about the Florida Bridge collapse you'll learn about how impopper tensioning may have lead to that disaster.

Same, but I live in the USA. I still find it intriguing and I’ve been studying it.

One would expect that once these reports start rolling in, and become public record since copies go to local building departments, that the condition of the buildings will indicate whether these time frames are too long.

@@KameraShy I completely agree, further with what happened to CPT South, I don't think (at least for a few years) we will see anyone putting their license on the line.

My building was built in 1991. I have lived here over 8 years. A small but constant leak will mess your structure up fast!

Really, so you're trying to act like being closer to the Pacific ocean isn't an issue? Even though it has the EXACT same salt water corroding everything? SMH.

*spalling *rebar (reinforcing bar)

You can call a 311 in many large cities and report it.

Reporting isn't spotty in FL. Providing a copy to the govt makes the condo board, engineering firm and govt all accountable, to each other, to get the inspection and report

@@JackieBluXO which state do you live in? I live in Florida and the reporting is spotty. The FL government is always doing business, and the issues never get resolved. Also, the associations are scamming people, building crap they don't need and deviating funds.

@@fiore910 I live in FL too. Construction background and former govt employee

Yeah, the reports should be kept at least 21 years so at minimum 2 prior reports are available at all times.

Josh, I sure agree with your reservations about the provision of allowing "arsitects" to do these inspections. I'm sure that my historical bias towards them is showing and it's based on past experience.

Because they're ugly...? I'd put access panels anywhere you might ever need them, imo.

I appreciate that

Most of the families are also the same people in the HOA who put off repairs, and didnt want to pay for anything, Looks like another case of trying to blame others for your own wrongdoings, which is rife in society these days.

Members in the HOA are basically the residents of the building, just like everybody else living there. Board members are often unpaid but have to do a lot of the work like a property manager and carry huge responsibilities. It's another full-time job. Most of the time they get harassed and criticized for every little thing and when an assessment is proposed. Neighbors usually don't appreciate and just know how to complain. Also, in my opinion, the efficiency of the HOA largely depends on the quality and personality of all board members. It's extremely hard to work with board members who don't know and refuse to learn and refuse to be open-minded.

@@KL-kj9ml And that's why I'd never live in a building with an HOA in charge. No thanks.

@@KL-kj9ml I’m an owner of two separate HOAs and you nailed it! Anyone that has been a member of a BOD of an HOA knows exactly what you are talking about

lol yeah, a HOA populated with a bunch of rich people are laser focused on the money 🤑. People are an afterthought, just another messy expense or cost on a spreadsheet. We should never, ever think for once that they give a crap about us.

HOAs would probably agree with you, so if they have to pay someone, they might as well get their money's worth and hire a qualified person (unless they are right up against a deadline and will take anything from anybody that satifies the law).

@@campkohler9131 Problem is going to find those that are qualified to do so. You'll need and entirely new discipline to be given at higher education levels so you can attract more people to get into this field.

They are also doing this in Residential housing too. I believe it has to do with roofing lobbies saying materials older than 10 years can't be trusted.

Well, the gist of it is... The insurance company took your money for 15-20 years on a 25-year warranted life expectancy roof. So, the insurance company is hedging the bet and going to work it out so that at worst, they'll only have to insure a brand-new roof, that carries a risk assessment of zero. You replace the roof five years early under threat of insurance cancellation. If you try to get a new insurance policy, the current insurance company will relay its findings to your new prospective insurer about the roof condition and their reason for canceling the policy. Not only do the "Contractors who make the repairs" play games, but the insurance companies have their own games as well....

Ooh, can you go after the warranty? What happened between Jan-Mar?

@@additudeobx Buying insurance isn't like buying a sandwich from a local shop which will give you a free one after you buy ten. Second, every insurance company as underwriting criteria e.g. not insuring a building that's more than 25 years old unless it's been rewired, replumbed and reroofed. If they've insured you for decades and you haven't updated your building they have the right to walk away even if you've been loss free. Remember, they took on the risk of loss (in exchange for premium) for all those years. Third, insurance companies DO NOT share information between themselves...that's illegal. They do not even give each other loss history. It is only given to the insured or the insured's authorized agent/broker. You have to remember that insurers base their rates and success on the Law Of Large Numbers. They insure a very large number of homogeneous risks and analyze results based on criteria such as age, construction, locale, types and size of losses. If they see that their bad loss ratio is driven by roof claims in FL then they have to deal with it either by raising rates or changing what is an acceptable risk. Not fun when it's you that's impacted but they're for-profit businesses. To see how your insurer is doing just google it and "combined ratio" If its combined loss ratio is under 100% they're making an underwriting profit, e.g. for every dollar in premium coming in less than one dollar is being spent for losses, loss adjustment and underwriting/administrative expenses.

The insurance companies in Florida had a cough up over $1 billion in claims for that building. They have decided that they want to make sure of the properties they are ensuring are in serviceable condition. Apparently there’s a lot of buildings in Florida that are not being maintained properly. Plus that billion dollars is going to end up in everybody’s insurance premiums going forward. Because that’s how insurance works.

And if they're shady they'll do every test in existence to inflate the bill lol

@@contra1124 Same thing with any profession. The good thing is there does not seem to be a requirement that they be the ones doing the tests. Also, shady companies are likely to end up known and avoided.

In theory that education and certification is what a Professional Engineer or PE is. However, in reality, like most certifications, it's just a stupidly difficult test. Which can be sort of dumb. For example, Electrical Engineering can be pretty different between sensitive component low voltage, household voltage, and actually high voltage. The "rules of thumb" are different. Yes EEs are taught about all of those in school, but they're massively different fields with different requirements. Only one test though!

@@arthurmoore9488 I agree. I did ok through my 5 year apprenticeship to become an electrician and my NICET level 2 certification for fire alarm. Others tested far better than I did. But in the field I blew those guys out of the water. I was constantly fixing their work. Rather upsetting and proves the point that a "degree" is just a piece of paper. Local union #26 for almost 30 years until my lung disease. I wish I could put the tools back on. 😪

Because it's not even a new science it's just basically ignoring warning signs in the first place.

Yeah, but it collapsed from the bottom. So that didn't cause it.

Hindsight is 20/20; Foresight is 1,000/20

When I moved my homeowners insurance to a local insurance agency, the woman who worked in the agents office told me I needed to re-roof my house,and she would send her son, a roofer, to give me an estimate. I said thank you no and got an inspection from a respectable contractor, who said my roof was fine. I passed this along to the agent, and she doesn't work there any more. I wonder how many people fell for her crap.

@@Grandpa82547 Amazing that the woman thought she could keep it under the radar. No emails, no phone messages left with collegues, etc.

There's been many roofer scams going on in FL. I'm not sure where you live, but FL is currently going through a Home Owners Insurance crisis from Insurance company going bankrupt from these sort of practices.

Florida's existing laws make it very easy for roofing contractors and their attorneys to get huge sums of money from insurance companies. Roofers will have customers sign an Assignment of Benefits form, essentially giving all control of the claim to the roofing contractor and cutting the homeowner out of the loop. If the insurance company tries to deny a replacement roof as clearly unnecessary, the roofers work with local attorneys to sue the insurance company, and Florida law requires insurers to pay the attorney's fees if they lose. So now a roof that needed $5,000 in repairs or maybe a $30,000 replacement ends up costing the insurance company more like $300,000, since they owe for all the billed hours the contractor's attorney wrote up. As a result, several smaller insurance companies have become insolvent, and most of the major carriers are not writing new homeowner policies and not renewing existing policies. If your roof is 20 years old or older, it's highly likely that your homeowner's insurance will cancel your policy at the next renewal, because it's practically guaranteed to "need replacement," according to the contractors and their attorneys.

I got tired of running roofers/roofer's touts off my doorstep telling me that my roof which, I willingly admit was worn out and life-expired, could be replaced "at no cost to me", by claiming on my insurance. Insurance is for repairing _damage,_ not for things worn out through the passage of time, and what was pitched to me time after time after time was fraud, plain and simple. .... It was also a way to get a cheap and $4!tty roof. I eventually replaced my roof, (which was about 27 years old, was in poor shape, but had never leaked), at a cost of about $9k, with some additional work, and a 25 year m&l warranty backed by the shingle manufacturer. It looks great, and it also stopped roofers ringing my doorbell! 😃

Boy , do I see a scam potential , on top of the original builder's crime. I'm reminded of how Teamster Retirement Funds being used to build mob casinos. These funds will be raided. Most condo boards are in over their heads.

My comments are shadow banned on YT. Ver 2.0

Glad you think so!

Glad you enjoyed it

We've to have a general structural inspection every 10, 20 and 40 years. This year, because of Champlain Towers, all condos were forced to do that inspection. Inspection companies charged more than 30 K per building to conduct this. They banked. All because of the corrupt government of Florida, and they regulations lift.

Legally paying for air, which I find hilarious. You own 0% land.

Well, like in everything...some do it and they do it well, and some don't do it, or do it poorly. Some of it depends on what part of the country it happens in as well...

From what i have heard, the government agencies took structural samples from pretty much every part of the building for testing. With modern equipment it's very much possible to test for that sort of contamination even after decades. First, you can do all kinds of chemical and spectrometry tests in which you can find contaminents in the parts-per-million range. And you can also look at the individual crystals in very much detail (down to individual atoms if required). If something hindered the concrete from curing properly, it's possible to find it. These are the same techniques used by geologists to find out what happened to individual rocks like millions of years ago. 40 years of weathering? Pfff, that's nothing ;-)

@@additudeobx Is that the case today? If we go back in time, we don’t see much history of buildings falling down because of poor quality assurance. Do the words Quality Assurance still have the importance they did once before? Professional Engineers should be able to be in every region as once was the norm, One would think.

Honestly, the trouble might be in the attempt to use concrete for everything. Concrete is not the only construction material available and it has serious flaws which I think people overlook a lot. I live in coastal GA, about 100 miles from the Florida state line, and I can tell you that the salt air and the humidity, etc. are pretty rough on materials. I wouldn't trust a concrete structure near the beach, unless I knew that it had been well maintained. I've seen moisture build up and cause rust underneath an inch or more of fairing compound on the sides of mega yachts with the only symptom being some bubbling underneath the paint. There's so much at stake with a multi-story condo held together with rebar which might similarly rust without anybody's knowledge.

Whence the common expletive, "Oh sugar."

Fortunately everyone in Florida is wise and honest, and always has been and they all work together for the common good, happy to see the world a better place for all.

I'm looking at home in Florida and have been told that insurance companies now require homes to have roofs newer than a certain number of years to be insured - regardless of materials used which seems truly silly. On the flip side I know of people who had contractors appear at their door after most any storm looking to examine their roof and take a cut of the monies from the insurance company to replace the roof. Their abuse is now coming home to roost it seems...

Don't forget that contractors also need to be qualified quickly to do these repairs. There's going to be a lot of money in training (and some shady people doing it),

Come talk to RIBA, in the UK.

You don't train professionals like engineers or architects, you educate them. Certifications are for employment in which you are trained, not educated. It's not a simple thing to do.

@@paulmoir4452 You do both. You educate them, then you educate them. First the theory, then experience. Only then do the UK Professions certify practitioners as competent, My father was in charge of certification and disciplinary control of the UK's Mechanical Engineers for a good few years. You need Professional Bodies under a Council of Professions.

@@JelMain I think it's just matter of terms. Over here in Canada we wouldn't call it a "certificate", we would call it a "professional designation". Here the engineering professional bodies, which are provincial, will not allow anyone to be called "engineer" without actually being one. Hence no "Sanitation Engineers" nor "Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer". You're MCSE certified for which you cannot spell out the acronym.

It's like speeding but for property losses. You underfund & just hope nothing happens. Totally legal here because in the US capitalism matters more than comminuty. The rights of the individual supercede the rights of a community. If the market wasn't rigged, theorhetically, the condos in poor financial shape would be worth less than the condos in good financial shape...but we don't have fair markets.

In the United States there’s different rules in all 50 states. In Florida apparently the board can just decide that they don’t want to keep proper reserves. Some of these laws come into affect because of lobbying by interested parties. Construction companies, lawyers, real estate agents, ECT.

How did they even sell any units? The bank/buyer wouldn't go for that, I wouldn't think.

@@neilkurzman4907 They're that stupid there? How do they even survive? I've seen minor stuff and wouldn't consider it after that. Not having any reserves is a HUGE no-go. I'd be suing for all costs (inspection and such) for not disclosing.

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 that’s the United States libertarian mindset. I can do whatever I want it’s none of your business. Money in my pocket is better than money spent on supporting infrastructure. If I ignore it long enough it won’t be my problem. In many other states you’re required to keep the reserves. In Florida you’re required to keep the reserves unless the board votes not to. I’ve lived in my condominium in New York for about 30 years. Over that time there’s been many assessments. Which pretty much tells me there was insufficient reserves. The last meeting though they said that they did have reserves to cover major items now. The difference is my condo is in the multi story building. Failures were mostly leaking roof and siding.

Possibly, but holy crap is record keeping and integration complicated. If you want to see how much of a mess it is, just look at Electronic Medical Records. People are paid extremely well to just integrate different systems. Plus, this bill just dumped a ludicrous amount of work on his company and every licensed engineering firm in Florida.

Don't you think there should be basic knowledge that people are tested for in case they see it, they can act? The one I dislike most is wiring under the sink. HATE seeing that. Imagine it's for garbage disposal but that's just a way to attract rats to begin with. But basic stuff could save lives. Like, don't cover wiring. Could have levels.

I've seen some stuff. Lol I've seen black mold behind a new set of counters (on that thin MDF backboard by the wall...?) I've seen nonexistent drain pipes. It was rotted out and held together with I guess plumber's tape..?? This was a 400k+ house, btw. I've seen lamp extension cords running thru the drop ceiling. Oh. My FAVORITE of all time? A house old enough to be good ol' copper wiring. With a sticker on the fuse box saying that it's got aluminum in it. WHY??? HOW??? BZZZT! I'm out. 450k house? You're joking lol. If it's that stupid already. I don't want to know the MUCH WORSE crap hiding somewhere. And no point in paying a grand for an inspection to fix obviously STUPID. probably dangerous issues. Oh, the AGENT (NOT a licensed electrician, btw!) Told me it wasn't dangerous. Htf does he know? Lol. Agents are the worst scamming liars of all time. Nope, nope. And Nope.

They are from the 50's. My wife refinished them and changed the shades. I believe the shades are gold foil lined from Ikea, but don't quote me on that. Thanks for watching!

Ha! I've also narrowed down that gorgeous wall color to Mysterious or Hale Navy! 😂

Especially those who didn't buy to live there but bought as an "investment oppoertunity".

Buy into old factories if you must get into ugly condos where you own zero land. They're generally stable AF. Extremely overbuilt for residential and often already HAVE a sprinkler system! Usually have ENORMOUS service elevators, too. I saw the one at Ludwig drums in Chicago. It's bigger than my kitchen. Which is fairly substantial by older building standards. 16 x 12 or so. I've looked at tons of houses for 400k, it's rare to see a kitchen that big.

Cost. Its expensive to keep records that long.

Then your board is failing you! I was on an HOA board during & after the market crash in '08 and I remeber having to argue w retirees about reserve funds for foreclosures. I believe it "paid off" to have sound financial records in the early days of the recovery.

@@mangos2888 Boy , do I see a scam potential , on top of the original builder's crime. I'm reminded of how Teamster Retirement Funds being used to build mob casinos. Fortunately , we don't try to externalize costs and push them onto our children and those who come behind. Most condo boards are in over their heads.

Yep. Engineers liability insurance for this is going to change as well.

A system alarm was called in to 911 just before the collapse, likely triggered by the sprinkler line that was severed. A truck was dispatched and was en route when the building came down. It wouldn't necessarily set off the alarms in the building.

Which is a perfect example of what the engoneers are saying. Surface finish always comes second to the core construction. "preserving the architectural elements" has no place in this debate. You can pretty it up once we're done.

Is that a public speaker? 😂

I have worked in construction in Florida since the early 80's and I can assure you building codes changed drastically after Andrew. It seemed like every year or 2 they were adding more things or changing the way things were built or the materials we could use.

Codes changed again for new builds after the hurricanes of 2004. Florida had blue tarps on roofs for years.