Infrastructure
Surfside Condominium Collapse
A Tragic Lesson in the Importance of Quality Assurance and Controls
What happened?
On 24 June 2021, Champlain Towers South, a beachfront condominium in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring many others. It is one of the deadliest structural disasters in American history.1 Fifty-five units of the condominium were involved in the collapse, and crews spent over a month of search and recovery identifying every victim of the tragedy.2
Investigations of the cause of the collapse by The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Construction Safety Team are ongoing, with the final investigation report expected in 2026. However, the latest findings indicate that the failure started in the pool deck and that there were indications that the building was in distress in the weeks before the collapse.3
What were the costs?
It’s impossible to quantify the damage such a tragic event inflicts upon the community involved, but the financial investment into the recovery has been significant. “As of June 2023, FEMA had obligated about $106.9 million in response to the Champlain Towers South collapse. These funds provided financial assistance to individuals for housing and other needs and support to state and local response and recovery efforts.”1 Additionally, “a $997 million settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit over the collapse, where all the money was determined to be divided among victims' families and survivors.”2 The total settlement, which was approved in June 2022, was around $1.02 billion. Of course, as attorney Stuart Grossman (who was part of the negotiations) noted, "This money is meant to compensate parents, children, husbands, and wives who lost loved ones in this disaster […] For their mental grief, for their mental pain, and suffering and it isn't probably not even going to be enough to do that."2
The need for building inspections
While the final report from NIST’s investigation is not yet available, this tragedy illustrates the need for thorough and frequent building inspections. As a response to this event, Florida lawmakers explored ways to prevent such an accident in the future, and “In May 2022, Florida Senate Bill 4D was signed into law, which requires structural inspections and more money to be set aside to make potential repairs on condos with the goal to make buildings safer.”2
The completed NIST investigation will also shed light on the steps that need to be taken in ensuring new and existing buildings are structurally sound. As investigative lead Judith Mitrani-Reiser noted, “This tragic event has revealed flaws in our systems, and quality is at the heart of it.”3
Sources
Government Accountability Office. Disaster Resilience: Federal Efforts to Strengthen Building Codes and Mitigate Risks from Natural Hazards. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2020.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/870/865938.pdfCBS Miami. “Surfside Florida Condo Collapse: Champlain Towers South 3 Years Later.” CBS News, June 24, 2024.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/surfside-florida-condo-collapse-champlain-towers-south-3-years-later/National Institute of Standards and Technology. “Champlain Towers South Investigation Nears Completion of Technical Work.” NIST News, September 2025.
https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/09/champlain-towers-south-investigation-nears-completion-technical-work
