SOUTH CAROLINA - BALCONY COLLAPSE

UPDATE: On June 15, 2010 I received the following email of complaint from an email from a person named Sarah regarding the South Carolina deck collapse from February 2008. Following her comments is my response to her email. Below these comments are the various news accounts that brought about her feedback...

Mr sprovero put his stamp of approval on the ORIGINAL plans. The owner then decided to use another engineering firm who then changed the building plans inappropriately. To put blame solely on mr sprovero is a gross inappropriate accusation on your part. My advice is to properly do your homework before documenting such cases. Also, you have failed to included that the owner of the establishment was unaware that the realitor had housed someone on/in his property. Therefore, all liability should be solely placed on the person or persons responisble for the victims accident.. how would you feel if someone hired you for a job, pulled out, replaced you, your plans rearranged, then an unfortunate accident (such as this) happened and responsibilty was placed on your shoulders? Your name, your business, and your lively hood put on the line? My suggestion to you, sir, is if you're going to report on such things, do your homework first. The only thing we have in this world is our name, how would you feel having yours grossly inappropirately dragged throught the muck?

Sarah:

Thanks for responding to the deck collapse articles on my site. Please understand, I live in Utah. This deck failure collapse took place in South Carolina. I personally offered no opinions regarding the collapse on the www.deckfailure.com website. Instead, all I did was compile the available news stories regarding the collapse. I will gladly post your response on the page and highlight your feedback. I will do this in the next few minutes. Keep in mind that it will be your commentary as I have no ability to research what you state as to its veracity.

Please re-read your statements below and consider altering them from an attack upon me and just paint a clear picture of what you feel actually happened. The majority of people visiting my website are looking to learn from the mistakes of others and the various reasons as to why decks are failing. Most could care less about the names of those involved as much as to the errors that possibly could have been avoided. Sometimes it is neglect by engineers, code enforcement officials, builders, and/or the occupants that caused the deck to fail. And sometimes it is just bad luck and nothing really could have been done to avoid the collapse, but those are rare.

So please share what you know and I would be glad to present your side of the story, as all sides should have their chance to be heard.

Michael Leavitt

Man injured in balcony collapse

Published Wed, Feb 13, 2008 12:00 AM

A balcony collapse at the Coastal States Bank office along Paris Avenue in Port Royal caused one man to be rushed to Beaufort Memorial Hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Beaufort Fire Department spokesman Lt. Dan Byrne said the man, who looked to be in his 50s, was standing on a third-floor balcony when it collapsed around 5:50 p.m.

The cause of the collapse was unknown as of 7 p.m. Tuesday. No one else was injured in the collapse.

"Near as we can tell, he was standing or sitting on his porch when it just gave way," Byrne said.

No additional details were available.

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY

A FULLER ACCOUNT

Man still in fair condition after balcony collapse

Published Sat, Feb 16, 2008 12:00 AM

By IAN LESLIE
ileslie@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5527

On Tuesday, Donald Witfield fell more than 22 feet from a third-story balcony that had collapsed under him.

On Friday, Port Royal officials still hadn't heard from the owners of the Paris Avenue building where the collapse took place.

The home is part of Jefferson Commons, four connected units with commercial space on the ground floor and living space above.

Witfield was listed in fair condition in the intensive care unit of Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston on Friday.

Witfield's age and the extent of his injuries have been unavailable this week.

As Witfield recovers, town officials are trying to figure out why the balcony collapsed, and it's an investigation that so far hasn't included the building's owners.

All four Jefferson Commons units are owned by Timothy and Elaine Tantillo of Shamong, N.J., according to Beaufort County's Web site.

The homes were built in 2006 by North Carolina-based Jeff Keever Construction and designed by Port Royal architect Tom Michaels, according to a town building permit.

Reached at her home in New Jersey on Wednesday morning after the collapse, Elaine Tantillo said she was about to leave for Port Royal and wouldn't offer further comment.

But town building official Dan Lemieux on Friday said he still hadn't met with the unit's owners and didn't know if they were in Port Royal.

Calls to a cell phone number provided by Elaine Tantillo weren't returned Thursday or Friday.

"It could be another week or so," Lemieux said of the town's investigation. "I haven't seen the owner of the building yet."

Town manager Van Willis also said he hadn't heard from the owners.

"I have not heard, seen or talked to them," he said.

Once the investigation is completed, Willis said the town will need the Tantillos to take care of cleaning up the area in front of the building.

Debris from the balcony collapse has been left untouched since Tuesday to allow officials to complete their investigation.

Three of the four units in Jefferson Commons have balconies, supported by columns, on the second and third floors.

The unit where the collapse occurred had a balcony on the third floor and an awning on the ground floor.

The town has closed off access to the remaining balconies until the Tantillos can bring in an engineer to study the structures and "address any shortcomings," Willis said.

The Jefferson Commons complex was inspected nine times during construction and passed each review, according to town documents.

An Aug. 16, 2006, inspection is the only one that references the building's balconies or porches.

"Porch rails must support 250 pounds of lateral force," the report states.

Lemieux said the report likely was a typical reminder of standards the balcony rails need to live up to, adding that inspectors test the rails by applying 250 pounds of pressure to them.

The development was granted its certificate of occupancy on Oct. 2, 2006.

FEEDBACK

Shoddy Inspections??? Oh yes!!!

It's unfortunate for this man but hopefully now the head of the town of Port Royal Codes Division will be scrutinized by the law for their part in inspecting and signing off on the collapsed balcony. This codes dept head has been known to be lacking in attention to the building process as can be seen in current town structures which are on record as having passed inspection but are in fact substandard. We are tired of hearing how this department's head is lazy when it comes to his part in the permit process. News Flash: You have to get out from behind the desk if you are going to perform inspections. I know this is an obvious question but otherwise how could this even have been completed?

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY

FOLLOW-UP

Lawyers abound in local case of collapsed balcony

Published Tue, Feb 26, 2008 12:00 AM

By ALEXIS GARROBO
agarrobo@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5539

A pile of rubble rests undisturbed under a clear tarp two weeks after a man fell two stories in a balcony collapse in Jefferson Commons on Paris Avenue.

The man injured and the owners of the townhomes are trying to determine what happened and have hired lawyers, said Port Royal town manager Van Willis.

Donald Whitfield was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina following the 22-foot fall. Karl Twenge, a local attorney, said he is representing Whitfield. Twenge said he did not want to comment on Whitfield's condition but did confirm he was in Roper Hospital in Charleston.

Twenge said Alan Campbell, a structural engineer with Applied Building Sciences of Charleston, was hired to investigate the collapse on Whitfield's behalf.

"Everyone is in the process of evaluating the construction of the deck. I think several parties have hired structural engineers," Twenge said. "We hope to get things moved Wednesday. It's likely that we will file suit or complaint later this week."

Port Royal building inspector, Dan Lemieux, said the town's investigation of the collapse hasn't been completed.

"We are compiling all the records," he said. "Right now, I'm waiting. I'll write a letter to the attorney asking him where they plan to go with this."

He said the town does not have a role until a cause for the accident has been determined. Once the engineers know more about what happened, Lemieux said he will decide what to do.

The owners of the Jefferson Commons units, Timothy and Elaine Tantillo, are represented by Charles Macloskie of Beaufort and Richard Bybee of Mount Pleasant.

Macloskie said two Charleston engineers, Gary Freeman,and Tim Rickborn, were hired to investigate the incident on behalf of the Tantillos.

"What we are interested in at this point is the speedy recovery of Mr. Whitfield," Macloskie said. "Secondly, we want to find out what happened so it doesn't happen again."

Macloskie said the last examination of the site is supposed to be Wednesday.

Lemieux said for now, access has also been denied to the other two balconies on the building until further information can be determined about the cause.

The four connected units in Jefferson Commons were built in 2006 by Jeff Keever Construction. No one with the company could be reached for comment.

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY

LAWSUIT FILED

Lawsuit claims negligence in balcony's collapse

Published Wed, May 14, 2008 12:00 AM

By ALEXIS GARROBO
agarrobo@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5539

A man who fell three stories from a Port Royal balcony in February filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming that the building's contractor, engineer, architect and landlord were negligent by allowing the accident to occur.

On Feb. 12, Donald Witfield, 72, of Montgomery, N.Y., fell 22 feet after the balcony of a Paris Avenue townhouse collapsed under him.

The home Witfield was renting is part of four connecting units called Jefferson Commons that were built in 2006 by Keever Construction in Port Royal.

The lawsuit was filed in the Beaufort County Court of Common Pleas against the general contractor, Jeff Keever and Jeff Keever Construction Inc.; engineer Ronald G. Sprovero and CEMS Engineering Inc.; architect Tom Michaels and the architectural firm that designed the building, Architectonic Inc.; and the home's owners, Timothy and Elaine Tantillo of New Jersey.

Witfield and Edda Rechtorovic, his girlfriend, are seeking actual and punitive damages "in an amount to be determined by (the court)," according to the lawsuit.

Damages listed in the suit include pain and suffering, personal injuries, medical expenses, a "loss of enjoyment of life," changes in body, lost wages and property damage.

Michaels, the Tantillos and Keever could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Sprovero said he did not want to comment because he had not received a summons.

The 21-page lawsuit claims:

Witfield was transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital with "multiple orthopedic fractures and other serious injuries" and was later transferred to the intensive care unit at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

He later was taken to Roper St. Francis Rehabilitation Hospital to undergo physical therapy and to be "re-taught how to walk," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit lists several injuries Witfield suffered in the fall, including fractured vertebra, a right rib fracture, a hip socket fracture, a fracture of facial bones in the sinus cavity and a blockage in a lung artery.

The argument for negligence in the filing cites construction plans that Witfield's lawyer claims did not provide detail on how the balcony was connected to the building.

"Despite these facts, defendant Keever made the choice to disregard the lack of necessary specificity … and continued construction of the balcony without any architectural or engineering approval whatsoever," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims Michaels knew or should have known "the plans were defective and that significant and substantial changes were necessary in order to make the plans safe."

Sprovero's decision to place his engineer's seal and stamp on the architectural plans was "inappropriate, abnormal and below the applicable standard of care," the lawsuit states. It also goes on to say the Tantillos conducted an inspection in 2007 that found "numerous deficiencies in construction" but did not inform tenants.

The lawsuit requests a jury trial.

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY