SURFSIDE WORKING GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS

Reacting to the tragedy of the Champlain Tower South collapse in Surfside, Florida on June 24, 2021, Structural Engineers from ACEC Florida and the Florida Engineering Society assembled a coalition of engineers and building professionals from various backgrounds, understanding that changes are needed to Florida’s Building Code and inspection laws to assure the safety of all other existing structures in Florida.

This coalition includes engineers from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida, the Florida Engineering Society, the Florida Structural Engineers Association, the Florida Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and other building professionals from the International Concrete Repair Institute, the Building Officials Association of Florida, and the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects. Together this group presents the following recommendations from the Florida building professionals.

In October 2021, Florida professional engineers and building experts released the Surfside Working Group’s Florida Building Professionals Recommendations, which focus on preserving the long-term health of buildings by assessing environmental and other degradation of structures and their systems over the life of a building.

The recommendations were provided to lawmakers for their consideration in establishing mandatory minimum structural inspections and post-occupancy whole building safety inspections.