by STEVE ALBERTS & JESSICA VESS / KVUE News
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Posted on August 2, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Updated
Monday, Aug 2 at 5:43 PM
City Code Officers are inspecting a Southeast Austin condominium.
A balcony on a unit at the Garden Court Condominium complex off East Oltorf collapsed around 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Nearly two dozen people were injured in the collapse-- most with broken bones. One person broke his jaw, another person broke his back. A woman suffered a lacerated liver. No one was killed. But at least two plan to file a lawsuit.
“This is a case through no fault of their own they are having to miss work, are in severe pain, are getting medical bills mounting so of course whoever is responsible for this they should be compensated,” said Attorney Alfred Ramirez.
Omar Flemming was under the deck when he heard the balcony start to come apart. He ran for cover.
"Just wood cracking a big ole rumbling sound and I was right underneath the stairs man it was crazy," he said.
The balcony still hangs from the condominium. Shards of wood are scattered across the condo lawn.
City crews installed a temporary chain-link fence around the property to keep others from getting too close and possibly injured.
Inspectors say they have uncovered at least two violations on the property including no building permit and no electrical permit. They are also investigating a possible impervious material violation
Inspectors say the builder faces a fine up to $2,000 for each violation and for each day of the violation.
Code officers with the city say according to database records, the only permit awarded to the property is for a deck, not for the multi-level balcony that collapsed.
“Back about 10 years ago it did have a permit for a deck,” said code inspector, Robert Alvarado. “This is much newer, made of different construction. You can tell this was done without permits.”
Inspectors who visited the property Monday morning could not confirm who built the structure. The builder will be responsible for any fines related to the charges.
They city says many homeowners and contractors fail to get necessary permits when they want to make additions or major improvements.
"This is a great example you need to pull a permit follow a building code so things like this don't happen," said Alvarado.
Along with the violations code officers discovered at the condo, there is a warning notice posted on the property citing several hazards including occupancy of illegal use for parties.
