Residents in a Miami apartment building received a dangerous shock when the floor of their first floor apartments began to cave in on Sunday, August 19. Although no one was harmed, the incident could involve liability for faulty construction resulting in serious injuries.
At around 11:30 p.m., the apartment building’s floor began to loudly tear away from the walls and sink into the ground. Residents reported that furniture fell-one couple jumped off of their couch just a few seconds before an entertainment center crashed down on top of it.
Fortunately, the collapse did not injure or kill any of the building’s residents.
City investigators suspect that water intrusion may have played a role but also discovered that the rest of the units in the building are unsuitably dangerous due to the building’s electrical system.
A number of reasons could explain how water intrusion undermined the apartment building. Although the cause of this collapse is not yet clear, it could very well involve a builder’s failure to properly construct or seal the building to protect against water. Shoddy construction work can create a claim for liability against a builder or its agents. If a defective product contributes to a building’s failure, plaintiffs can also pursue the manufacturer or distributor in some cases.
Source: Miami Herald, “Collapsed floor leaves Miami Beach families in shock,” Veit Medick, Aug. 20, 2012
