When Miriam Pace's family home collapsed on Monday afternoon with tragic consequences, police said construction work was going on next door.

The project at Triq Joseph Abela Scolaro was for a mammoth complex of 59 garages, four retail shops at ground floor level and overlying apartments on four floors.

It has not been officially explained what work was taking place on the site during the time of the collapse that led to the mother-of-two's death. However Times of Malta understands that the workers were removing the soil at the time.

By law MCZMC Developers Ltd had to outline how they planned to carry out the works in what's known as a method statement and how they would ensure the safety of neighbouring buildings.

Here's what they promised:

What did the developers say about the risk?

Both method statements downplayed the “risks involved”, stating that the adjacent properties are “low-lying structures and as a result there are no major loads imposed on the rock surface for the time being”. 

“Consequently, the chance of any unplanned collapse of the third party structures is a minimum,” the project’s architect wrote in the reports.

1. Excavation would 'avoid damage to adjacent properties'

On excavation, the architect said that this would be for 6.5 metres from road level and during the removal procedure, the material would be “pulled away” from party walls to “avoid damage to adjacent third party properties”. 

“Excavation along the party walls shall be carried out using rotating cutter head/trencher,” the report states. 

Proposed excavation methodology

Times of Malta could not establish whether this was the case since the site could not be accessed for inspection as it remains cordoned off pending investigation.

2. Vibrations into party walls would be minimised

As for the demolition, according to the report, any work against party walls was to be done using “hand chain saw or hand jiggers” to “eliminate the transmission of vibrations into the party walls”. 

While heavy machinery could be seen on the site when the collapse occurred, it has yet to be established what it was being used for.

The Pace family home before (left) and after (right) the collapse.

3. Soil would be removed carefully to avoid movement. 

The section of the method statement outlining the description of the ground conditions was brief. Architect Roderick Camilleri noted that the rock level was “currently unknown”. 

He added: “However, we recon [sic] (based on works carried out in the area) that the rock level is below an amount of fill/soil. The fill/soil is to be removed carefully to reduce the chance of movement.”  

Description of ground conditions

4. A wall would be built to avoid damages

The developers had also promised to build a “new party wall” (appoġġ) from basement level up to penthouse level “to avoid damages to the neighbouring property”. It remains unclear whether this was being done.

Photos taken on site before Monday's collapse and shared with Times of Malta by former independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola suggest that a concrete brick retaining wall had been built between the two properties in the past.

It is not known whether the wall was still in place when the building collapsed on Monday. 

A concrete retaining wall separating the two sites.

What does the Planning Authority have to say?

The Planning Authority has so far not answered questions about its role.

Times of Malta sought to establish whether the authority had inspected the site since the works commenced and whether it had received any complaints from neighbours. 

Questions on why the works had started even though a commencement notice was not published for the project also remained unanswered.