A friend who was relocating overseas needed a home valuation. The high-end property on a tall building was amazing. Fantastic views, terraces, large open layouts, a truly dream residence. He wanted a quick sale at a bargain price, much lower than the market value and suggested that I should buy it myself. It was a lifetime opportunity.
The block is a mixed use, with open plan restaurants and commercial space on the lower floors. The commercial areas and underlying garages were mainly on columns, creating lower level dangerous ‘soft storeys’. There was a staircase and luxury lifts that are the sole means of access to the block. I wondered how the soft storeys would react during a long tremor or earthquake and how one would exit the building in the case of a fire in the lower floors’ commercial kitchens or car park.
The building aesthetically looked amazing but I was not convinced that I would feel safe in it. During a natural disaster or large fire, I felt that it would be unlikely that anyone on the mid and upper floors would exit in time to survive. This dream home could be a death trap.
On February 6, 2023 an earthquake hit Turkey, thousands of buildings collapsed and 53,000 people were killed in structural failures. In a newly built upmarket resort, similar to the ones being locally built, 300 people died, and an investigation and forensic analysis by The New York Times found a tragic combination of poor design and minimum oversight that left the building vulnerable, ultimately causing its 13 storeys pancaking down on their residents and killing them instantly or trapping them alive in the rubble as the structure smashed into the earth.
The contractor who was arrested in the airport departure lounge said the building was solid, according to the law, and had all the necessary licences and all construction authorities’ signatures, stamps and approvals. I have heard this locally before.
Prosecutors in Turkey have charged over 250 constructors of the collapsed buildings with conscious negligence that caused multiple deaths. They face up to 22 years each in prison.
Turkey learned the hard way. Hundreds of thousands of structures collapsed, many of them built legally during building booms. Legally evidently was not enough.
Malta is heading in the same direction of Turkey.
Unsafe building design is not new, it usually happens when there is a building boom and untrained, unskilled laypersons suddenly become contractors for quick cash.
The first recorded huge construction building boom was in ancient Babylon, Mesopotamia, in 1754 BC. Powerful King Hammurabi, having the largest successful golden kingdom in the history of civilisation, was facing the same problem Malta is facing today; rogue, ruthless, shady, unskilled builders were making quick money constructing unsafe buildings that killed innocent people.
Unlike, modern-day politicians, the king was not in bed with the developers but cared for his people and ordered his experts to write a building code to ensure buildings are safely constructed.
The developer is king here, and lives seem to be allowable collateral damage- Martin de Bono
His code was somewhat primitive but highly effective as, overnight, all construction suddenly became safer. Section 229 states: “If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then the builder shall be put to death. If the owner’s wife is killed then the builder’s wife is put to death”.
This immediately changed everything. ‘Safety’ instead of ‘profit’ became the main priority of the builder.
Why do buildings collapse? There are many reasons: poor planning and structural design instability, construction errors, sub-standard building material, unskilled construction workmanship, earthquakes or long tremors, severe climatic conditions, fire, demolition, excavation flaws or accidents in directly adjacent buildings, weak foundations, excessive loadings, deteriorating structural members, impact loads or explosions.
When buildings collapse, people die from being crushed to death, they suffer internal organ damage and bleeding. They are trapped in rubble, burnt by fire, poisoned by toxic gases and fumes and they jump from heights. They face electrocution, suffocation and cardiac arrest.
A well-constructed building in a European Union state should take all risks into consideration. In Malta, we are compounding the risks by allowing unskilled, untrained contractors to build complex structures, often using construction materials that are not CE approved. The developer is king here and lives seem to be allowable collateral damage.
When buying a property, one needs to be extra vigilant. The architect inspection is usually a visual inspection mainly for bank evaluation purposes. The architect cannot determine if the construction materials such as load bearing concrete bricks were inferior, if the concrete strength was as specified or if the foundations are adequate.
Buyers need to make clever common-sense choices themselves. Unofficial advice can be given by experts exposing high risk or dangerous construction but it is unwise for them to go public because of the fear of repercussions, like in my case.
The family of a good, famous friend of mine found themselves in deep trouble. On their first night in their new Sliema flat, a third-party electric car caught fire in the basement. The family nearly choked trying to exit the staircase through thick fumes of cobalt poisoning that even penetrates the body through the skin. Had the fire taken over the other cars and lower floors it could have made their exit impossible, their dream home a death trap.
Unlike us, Cyprus adopted the Euro codes on all building projects. In Malta, they are only mandatory on government and EU funded projects. Private developers do what they like.
Mandatory Euro codes should be complemented with local Maltese building codes.
Thousands have been spent on the drafted proposed Maltese building codes but possible pressure from shady political donors seem to have placed all the important documentation on the unreachable shelf.
It is clear and evident that the government is not acting correctly. Why should the public pay the cost of this with their taxes and lives?
Martin de Bono is an architect.