Building under construction collapses in George

[Unhappy1]

Nothing wrong with the Building Codes and Regulation. A lot is wrong with implementing the building codes and regulations.

Yes indeed

 

[Unhappy1]

I'm also curious. Does George not have a Building Inspector whose job it is to inspect all construction through the phases?

And you reckon he/she can be present 24/7 at all construction sites?

 

[ShaunSA]

And you reckon he/she can be present 24/7 at all construction sites?

No that's not his/her job

Their job is to conduct inspections at certain phases to make sure everything's been done according to the city/town/village bylaws, building regulations and the approved plans

Or are Building Inspectors now obsolete and ChatGPT is doing all of this?

 

[Unhappy1]

No that's not his/her job

Their job is to conduct inspections at certain phases to make sure everything's been done according to the city/town/village bylaws, building regulations and the approved plans

Or are Building Inspectors now obsolete and ChatGPT is doing all of this?

Yeah but it could be once every month or two, so many things can be done wrong in between. These things do require people to take some of their own responsibility.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Yeah but it could be once every month or two, so many things can be done wrong in between. These things do require people to take some of their own responsibility.

For a commercial project like that Id expect inspections at certain milestones, but I'd also expect engineer sign-off at certain milestones as well to go along with the inspector milestones.

 

[ShaunSA]

Yeah but it could be once every month or two, so many things can be done wrong in between. These things do require people to take some of their own responsibility.

Yeah but I'm thinking this wasn't just one issue but a lot of issues which all added up

 

[longboy]

Yeah but I'm thinking this wasn't just one issue but a lot of issues which all added up

I'm speculating that they might have brought in their friends and relatives probably, and saved money on cheap labour and inspection.

 

[Supervan II]

Liatel's owner seems to be attorney with vast experience in construction law.

Building a case is far removed from building a structure

 

[Unhappy1]

For a commercial project like that Id expect inspections at certain milestones, but I'd also expect engineer sign-off at certain milestones as well to go along with the inspector milestones.

Possibly, perhaps someone with more knowledge can confirm. However those milestones could very well be months apart.

 

[Unhappy1]

I'm speculating

Why?

 

[longboy]

Why?

It's what happened at the collapsed Tongaat Mall according to the owners friends. Shortcuts and cost-saving measures were done,

 

[ShaunSA]

Why?

Because we're all MyBB expits. That's what we do

 

[Supervan II]

Possibly, perhaps someone with more knowledge can confirm. However those milestones could very well be months apart.

If you ever had a house built for you you'd have an idea of what/when the municipal building inspector is inspecting.

For example: I was not even allowed to cast a foundation for a double garage (separate from main dwelling) until the building inspector inspected the trenches for the foundation. He was back when notified that the floor was cast, etc, etc.

For a multi-storey residential complex it is a thousand times more stringent, or was.

 

[upup]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1787817512618397974

Family of mine wanted a bigger "stoep" on top without supports, the engineer was on site, made a few ticks on his hp calculator, and he suggest thicker steel. The builder got it , and it is up. I am sure someone had to design and signed it. And somewhere should be concrete samples with test results and inv's and delivery notes of the metal.

 

[leon.davibe]

Nothing wrong with the Building Codes and Regulation. A lot is wrong with implementing the building codes and regulations.

The nhbrc avg inspection rate was just about 1 per house
Years ago i heard this statistic

I build two homes for myself first one in 2001 2nd 2003 and did not have a single inspection on either

So imagine they arrive to see a floor and then nothing until it is done

Hence everything revolves around engineers signing off structures

 

[leon.davibe]

Family of mine wanted a bigger "stoep" on top without supports, the engineer was on site, made a few ticks on his hp calculator, and he suggest thicker steel. The builder got it , and it is up. I am sure someone had to design and signed it. And somewhere should be concrete samples with test results and inv's and delivery notes of the metal.

Yea but there also another aspect
The props are there ones in The correct spots for the correct amount of time

This could turn out to be a perfect storm event

 

[leon.davibe]

I'm also curious. Does George not have a Building Inspector whose job it is to inspect all construction through the phases?

Yes all municipalities do

But as we know you can't be everywhere

And with bigger structures lots of the responsibility gets shifted to engineers amd other competent person to sign of

But yes the engineer can inspect the steel inspect the pouring ( ie did they vibrate properly etc)

Explain the placement and spacing of props , and then some may get moved cause it is inconvenient for progress

Then who is to blame
Unfortunately there is so many things that could go wrong it is way to early to speculate

Many tests would need to be done and to see if there are photos /invoices to show that formwork/props was up to snuff

I know when i built my home i had to override the brickies cause the ratio they told the helpers to mix wasn't correct

Many moons ago early 2000's

And when it comes to these types of structures you have to have even stronger mix mortar and even the bricks has to be rated of a certain level when they carry a slab

As with many fields in SA
"Specialist" often aren't that just someone that landed in their line of work cause

So you have to have helpers that need to know correct ratios

Stretching a ratio means a bag can be skimmed here and there

So you really have to be on site all the time, which isn't feasible

So mistakes of corruption/incompetence/unintentional negligence (we always did it like this) could have compounded

And since george doesn't really have many high buildings

The experience isn't really plentiful

 

[leon.davibe]

South Africa is very lax with building codes and regulations, im honestly surprised this sort of thing hasnt happened more often.

Actually not

The enforcement maybe

ie building saw tooth corners /joints for perpendicular walls isn't allowed , yet we see it on construction sites every day

 

[leon.davibe]

Possibly, perhaps someone with more knowledge can confirm. However those milestones could very well be months apart.

Normally the engineers inspects the trenches , then the steel completed or both in one go before he give the go ahead to pour

May be on site to make sure the concrete is properly done with pokers

Or inspect the result when formwork is removed before he essentially willing to sign off

Not ideal as you can have air pockets around the steel that isn't visible when you pour even if using a poker but not done properly

But yea normally the actual sign of comes at the end

So yea with multiple stories lots of inspections on each subsequent layer by engineer

And The same again with the roof

Now yes i have no idea on multiple stories how they handle it

Often Building inspectors will just make sure all is according to plan and leave the responsibility taking for the competent person(engineer) for the specific thing ie slab roof etc

ie you hand those in just at the end, ie i dont think the engineers signs of per floor he does structure total

Before occupancy certificate is issued

 

[Dups!]

Yep. Probably picked on their bbbbbbeeeeeee credentials and nothing else

So quick to conclude...

Details have come as to what and who the company owners are.