They investigate an inspector for the Miami collapse: this collapse was not the first in his career

SURFSIDE, Fla .– José L. Haar continues to suffer from claustrophobia and chronic back pain, ailments left over from the hours he spent trapped under the rubble between his two brothers who died decades ago.

Haar, who had been hired to haul debris from a demolition project, was one of three survivors of the collapse of the Biscayne Kennel Club, a dog racing track near Miami that collapsed in 1997., during demolition carried out by a subcontractor without a license, insurance or registration.

“Everyone started to blame themselves: the owners, the city,” said Haar, who was an employee of a demolition company who worked at the site. “It was a very difficult situation.”

The collapse of a building that killed two men made headlines after it emerged that One city inspector who conducted multiple inspections during the demolition was Ross Prieto, senior building manager in Surfside, Fla., Who told residents of Champlain Towers South that his building looked solid nearly three years before the murderous collapse of the week.

In November 2018, Prieto assured the co-owners that their building appeared to be “in good condition”, despite the concerns of an engineer. consultant, who has become one of many items investigators are likely to examine in their attempt to determine the cause of the June 24 failure, which left at least 18 dead and more than 140 missing.

With little clue as to the cause of the collapse, experts expect investigators to consider a wide variety of factors, including: delays in implementing the consultant’s recommendations for repairs; construction or design failures; basement issues, as well as the possibility that an external force – for example, a vehicle hitting a pole in the underground parking lot – could have affected some critical structural elements of the building.

Across South Florida, cities are inspecting old buildings along the coast – which is famous for the effects of weather on skyscrapers – to determine if any are facing major structural issues.

The town of Doral – where Prieto has worked as a building consulting engineer since May – announced this week that Prieto resigned for reasons that were not disclosed, and that he reviewed the eight projects he had worked on in this city. While there is no indication that there are any problems with his work, a city spokesperson said, the review is being carried out “out of caution.”

Prieto has made no comment since the crash of the Champlain South Towers and has not responded to repeated requests for comment or a note left on his doorstep.

Prieto, 54, has a master’s degree in construction management and over 25 years of experience as a building and roofing inspector in at least six cities in South Florida, including Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah.

In 1997, he was Assistant Director of Construction and Zoning for Miami Shores, where the dog track was located. Before the collapse, he had visited the site four times, he said at the time., and he told the Miami Herald his job was to make sure the job was done on time, “not for workers to use proper procedures.”

“Everything was going according to plan,” Prieto said in a statement to The Associated Press. “From what I know, it was just a construction accident. Accidents can happen, ”he said.

For over seven years Prieto was the Building Manager at Surfside. Emails released by the city indicated that it was aware of a key engineering report which in 2018 warned of damage to the building’s concrete and steel reinforcement in areas that could affect its integrity. structural. When he attended a meeting with the condo board of directors in November, he assured residents that the tower appeared to be “in good condition,” according to the meeting minutes.

Later, when residents of Champlain Towers South wrote to city officials expressing concern about the blasting and construction activity at a nearby location, which “concerned them about the structure of our building,” Prieto refused to send to an inspector, according to emails posted by the city.

“There is nothing to inspect,” he replied in another email.

“The best course of action is to have someone inspect the fence, pool, and adjacent areas for damage or hire a consultant to monitor these areas as they are closest to the ground. construction, ”Prieto wrote. No technical file has been published to suggest a link between the construction and the damage to the Champlain towers.

Surfside officials delivered letters to owners on Thursday saying all oceanfront buildings over 30 years old and over three stories tall must hire engineers to launch certifications required by law at 40. construction, which advances the process by 10 years. . The city is also asking homeowners to hire licensed geotechnical engineers to analyze foundations and underground soils.

Prieto served as a construction inspector for five years in nearby Miami Beach, where city officials agreed to pay him $ 80,000 a year, more than 50% more than his advertised salary, because he held significant licenses. , including one focused on the roof. . Officials who hired him noted that a background check revealed financial problems, including filing for bankruptcy in 2002, shows his employee record.

There is no indication that these issues are related to your competence as a home inspector, but they are topics that often raise suspicion when performing an employment background check.

Prieto became the owner of his own development company and participated in various real estate development projects. Court records show that while working in Miami Beach in 2012, Prieto again declared bankruptcy. This time, he told the court he had accumulated $ 1.7 million in debt. He said he had lost one of his three properties due to foreclosure.

A few years after starting his job in Miami Beach, his bosses complained that he was often late, that he missed more than 20 working days in a year, that he was often unreachable, according to the emails. of his employment file. . Records show Prieto said he did not report sick in time because he had sinus problems. His superiors expressed concern that he often did not answer the phone when they tried to reach him.

Twice he was suspended for reporting bad hours after starting his shift.

Surfside hired him in 2013 as a top construction officer with a salary of $ 110,000 per year.

“I didn’t know there was a problem. On the contrary, there were people who told me that they were very happy with Prieto, ”said the mayor of Surfside, Charles W. Burkett, who pointed out that he had joined the municipality after the hiring of Prieto. “They can review committee meetings and, if I remember correctly, people praised their interest and their treatment for their usefulness.”

Prieto’s personal file at Surfside suggests that city officials closely scrutinized the construction department while he worked there.

In 2019, the Director General submitted his entire service to an administrative review. In a memorandum, Guillermo Olmedillo, who was the city administrator at the time, ordered Prieto to draw up an action plan with weekly reports of all the inspections he carried out.

In an interview, Olmedillo said his goal was to modernize the licensing system to possibly outsource building inspection to the county. He was not complaining about Prieto’s work, he said.

“His car was older than mine, that’s what I can tell you,” Olmedillo said. “In the building services, there are usually a lot of complaints. People are complaining about delays in reviewing plans, delays in inspections. It is typical ”.

Prieto’s record reflects only a performance review, in which Prieto received good marks. He left Surfside in October and joined CAP Government Inc., a company that provides building inspection services to municipalities. Through this company, he served as an Acting Construction Officer for the Town of Doral, paying CAP $ 110 per hour for his services.

CAP said any questions in this regard should be answered by Prieto.

The club’s collapse in 1997 was blamed on the demolition contractor, who had a long history of safety violations and was accused of using dangerous techniques during the construction site. The unlicensed company was fined $ 90,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company which had processed the municipal permit for the subcontractor, and which did not participate in the work, had its permit withdrawn.

At the time, officials and construction experts said the case showed a lack of strict requirements for carrying out and supervising demolition work.

Haar, who moved to North Carolina after the dog race track collapsed, said the Surfside disaster made him think a lot about the construction accident he was one of the victims of.

“You never do too many building inspections,” Haar said. “Companies generally don’t inspect their own projects very well.”

KEEP READING: