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26th Apr 2016

Hundreds of Berkeley balconies found to be faulty following tragic collapse

Carl Kinsella

On June 16 last year, five Irish students and one Irish-American lost their lives as a result of a balcony collapse in Berkeley.

The tragic incident led to a mass-inspection of 2,900 properties in the area, which revealed that 604 of those had balconies which were unsafe, according to the Independent.

The acting planning director of Berkeley, Carol Johnson, said that the Berkeley balcony collapse has rewritten the regulations for balcony safety in the area.

Changes to regulation stipulate stricter requirements such as the material used for construction and the design of the structures.

Since these regulations came into force, 91% of of property owners have complied.

It was also revealed, during Monday’s Senate committee hearing, that Segue Construction Company, who constructed the balcony that collapsed, have paid out over $26 million in settlement money to various plaintiffs over the years.

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Berkeley