California’s construction industry regulator has moved to suspend or revoke the licence of the company that built a balcony in Berkeley which collapsed in 2015 resulting in the deaths of six students.
Irish students Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Lorcán Miller, Nick Schuster and Eimear Walsh, all 21 years old, and Ms Burke’s cousin Ashley Donohoe (22), from California, died when the fourth-floor balcony they were standing on collapsed during a 21st birthday party in the early hours of June 16th, 2015.
Another seven Irish students – Aoife Beary, Clodagh Cogley, Seán Fahey, Conor Flynn, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Hannah Waters – suffered catastrophic injuries.
The California Contractors State License Board has filed formal papers to “suspend or revoke” the license of Segue Construction.
The papers, filed on Tuesday, allege that Segue “wilfully departed from or disregarded building plans or specifications, and wilfully departed from accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike construction”.
‘Design limits’
It is alleged that design and load analysis of the balcony established that if the balcony had been built as designed, the imposed load of the 13 students was “well within the design limits of the balcony structure”.
The regulator also alleges that it was the decay of the joists that caused the balcony to collapse.
A spokesman for the City of Berkeley, which is responsible for carrying out building inspections, told The Irish Times it would make no comment on a specific contractor, but insisted the city was the safest in the state due to actions taken following the incident.
“We changed all our regulations for buildings in the city in a number of different ways,” he said. “We began that process a week after the collapse. We changed the materials that can be used on these types of structures so they retain less water.
“We now require inspections to be carried out of any elevated structures like balconies, decks, staircases, or whatever it may be.
“This was obviously a very tragic situation and we wanted to do everything we could to make sure we had stronger regulations. We now have the strongest of any city in the state. We wanted to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Segue Construction did not respond to a request for comment.
The regulator said its move to suspend or revoke Segue’s licence was “based upon alleged violations of Business and Professions Code section 7109”.
Segue has 15 days from Tuesday to file a “notice of defence”. Failure to do so usually results in a default revocation of the license. If one is filed, the parties may try to reach a stipulated settlement.
If no settlement is reached, the matter may be scheduled for a hearing before an administrative law judge within the Office of Administrative Hearings.
After a hearing, the judge submits a proposed decision to the Registrar of Contractors, which may include a recommendation for discipline to be imposed.
The Registrar of Contractors, or her designee, usually makes the final decision on any discipline.
New law
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law in September aimed at increasing government oversight over construction companies.
The balcony collapse occurred during a birthday celebration for Ms Beary, who delivered an emotional testimony to the Senate during the process, and implored lawmakers to pass the new law.
The law now requires contractors to disclose past felonies and other crimes to state regulators within 90 days. An earlier version of the bill would have required them to disclose settlements stemming from civil lawsuits as well.
In the aftermath of the deaths, it was discovered that Segue Construction had previously been involved in legal settlements totalling more than $26 million (€23 million).
The US district attorney chose not to bring charges over the matter, closing the door on a criminal prosecution, as she did not believe the case would meet with the requisite burden of proof.
Nancy O’Malley of Alameda County had to find - beyond a reasonable doubt - gross or reckless conduct akin to disregard for human life, and that the deadly consequence of those actions were reasonably foreseeable.
