The engineering company hired to do a safety check on the Surfside condo that later collapsed is settling lawsuits by the survivors and family members of victims.
Morabito Consultants, whose inspection of the Champlain Towers South Condominium board in 2018 included warning of a “major error” in the building’s construction that left it open to water damage, announced Wednesday that its insurance companies would be compensating the families. The engineering company denied that it was in any way at fault, and said it had performed up to proper standards.
“The families who have suffered from this tragedy deserve compensation so that they may focus on healing,” the company’s statement read. “We therefore applaud the settlement reached by our insurers to resolve these difficult issues fairly and expeditiously.”
About 1:30 a.m. on June 24, 2021, 98 people were killed when a portion of the Champlain Towers South condo on Collins Avenue in Surfside collapsed. A search for survivors went on for nine days, until the remaining portion of the tower was brought down in a controlled demolition because of safety concerns.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse is continuing.
It was unclear Wednesday how many lawsuits were covered by the settlement or how much the insurance companies agreed to pay. After the 12-story beachside building collapsed, dozens of lawsuits were filed against the association and other entities, including one blaming the collapse on work being done on the adjacent Eighty Seven Park tower. A partial settlement of $83 million was proposed earlier this month.
The Morabito settlement appears to resolve a related dispute between the engineering company and its insurers, who argued they should not be responsible for damage caused by a failure to render proper service. While praising the settlement, Morabito denies any failure to adequately warn the condo association about the seriousness of the structural issues.
Morabito Consultants had been hired in 2018 to give the building a safety checkup as the condo was preparing for its 40-year safety inspection.
“Among other things, our report detailed significant cracks and breaks in the concrete, which required repairs to ensure the safety of the residents and the public,” Morabito said in its first statement after the collapse.
But the report did not have the air of urgency. The consultant pointed out that the pool and jacuzzi were leaking, and the plaza and planter on the deck also needed replacing.
In a letter to the condo summarizing the inspection, in October 2018, the firm first addressed balconies and windows, and didn’t get to the “major structural damage” to a slab, and a “major error” in construction of the pool deck, until page seven of the nine-page report.
The work still hadn’t been done in 2020, when the condo hired Morabito again to help with repair plans.
No one knew just how dire the situation was until June of 2021.
“Morabito Consultants has a well-earned reputation and record for thoroughness and safety,” the company said in its Wednesday statement. “The firm performed its work at Champlain Towers South consistent with the highest industry standards and denies that it is, in any way, liable for the collapse or the resulting damages.”
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