The guy who was only recently the top building official in Surfside City is now under a microscope. Three years ago, he told the owners of the collapsed condo building that it seemed to be “in very good shape.” It was in November of the 2018, the same year a building consultant raised the alarm about its structural integrity. The following year, the entire Surfside building inspection department was put under administrative review.
Ross Prieto has a master's in construction construction management, and in about 25 years he has worked professionally for at least six different municipalities in South Florida. In his previous position in Miami Beach, he was known for absenteeism, but he had a warm-but-expert manner that made people happy to work with him. Besides fairly frequent changes of employment, however, Prieto also pursued developments on his own, and filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and 2012.
The reddest flag of all was Prieto's role in overseeing the demolition of a dog track in Miami Shores in 1997. The building collapsed during demolition, killing two people. Prieto said he had visited the building four times in his role as assistant director of building and zoning. The Miami Herald quoted him as saying that said his job was to make sure that the work was done according to schedule, not, the Herald paraphrased, whether workers were using proper procedures. An unlicensed subcontractor was held responsible and paid a fine of $90,000.
Prieto's remark is telling. As it happens, building inspectors do not have fiduciary responsibilities, the way architects, lawyers, and accountants do. "Many residents and laymen naturally assume that a municipality or building inspector that issues a certificate of occupancy should be held liable if they make a mistake or negligently issue the certificate," writes one law firm, commenting in its blog on a case in New Jersey. "However, most people are surprised to learn that, as a matter of law, a municipality is not liable in tort for negligently granting a certificate of occupancy."
While that blog is about a case long ago (ten years) and far away (New Jersey), current Florida building inspectors are merely responsible for making sure a building is up to code, a responsibility with most of its weight on the construction end.
I know little to nothing about these matters, so correct me if I'm wrong. It seems to me, though, that Prieto bears no meaningful responsibility for the disaster. He just has to live with his own conscience.
https://news.yahoo.com/inspector-deemed-florida-tower-good-120851901.html
For the legal info:
No comments:
Post a Comment