Lessons from Surfside - Ontario Building Envelope Council

As building specialists, we are routinely exposed to failures of building systems from leaks to structural deterioration. This builds our knowledge set and helps us prevent similar failures at other buildings. Sharing this knowledge with industry peers is a critical function of OBEC.

The collapse of the condominium at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside Florida on June 24, 2021, which killed 98 people, was one of the largest failures of our lifetimes and deserves serious consideration. This session will explore what has been revealed about the failure and what lessons we can learn from it. While it was structural collapse, some aspects of building envelope maintenance may have contributed to the failure. The presentation will also highlight some Canadian collapses that were eerily similar to the Surfside collapse, keeping us humble and alert to our responsibilities towards public safety.

Presenter

speaker pic

Sally Thompson, M.Sc., LCCI, P.Eng

Managing Principal
Synergy Partners Consulting Limited

Sally is a professional engineer with over 30 years of experience in capital planning, reserve fund studies and building restoration. Sally is a founder and Managing Principal of Synergy Partners Consulting Limited.

Sally’s passion is helping condominiums get on a solid financial footing. Having a properly funded reserve fund is the only way to keep a corporation on the right track financially and physically. It also helps avoid the inevitable wars and community upheaval that arise when there is too much work to be done and too little money to do it.

Sally is an active volunteer in the condominium industry, volunteering with the Canadian Condominium Institute (Past-President of the Toronto Chapter and current Chair of the Ontario Education Committee), Professional Engineers Ontario, (Standards Committee – Guideline for Engineers Conducting Performance Audits and Reserve Fund Studies), the Condo Authority of Ontario, the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario, and Tarion (Construction Performance Guidelines, and Condominium Task Force). Sally is a frequent presenter and author. She focusses her volunteer activities in two areas: educating condominium directors and managers; and influencing government to improve the Condominium Act and the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act to better protect Ontario condominium owners.