Hefty violations found in deck collapse

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The contractor of an outside deck that collapsed at a South Austin condominium early Sunday morning faces a fine that could range up to $2,000 a day for each of the three violations found by Code Compliance officials .

"We found three violations concerned with the deck in the back: electrical, building and possibly impervious cover," said City of Austin Code Enforcement Officer Robert Alvarado. "So once we verify if there are anymore, then we've move forward at that point."

Each of the violations carry a fine of up to $2,000 per day.

KXAN News Monday evening confirmed that Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission enforcement division is investigating the incident. TABC was called in on the case by Austin Police Department.

Residents at the Garden Court Condominiums, located near Oltorf Street  and Sunridge Drive , hosted the party where about 30 of the guests stood on the balcony that later collapsed, according to Austin police .

The incident sent close to two dozen people to area hospitals, most treated at University Medical Center Brackenridge . A handful of victims from the balcony collapse are still at UMCB, all in stable condition.

Three went to St. David's Round Rock Medical Center , where staff treated and released two. Another is still hospitalized but is in good condition.

Code compliance officials began their investigation Monday, which discovered the structure did not have permits. While there was a valid permit 10 years ago, officials said it did not match this particular deck.

"Ten years ago, permits were pulled and passed for a deck and a patio, if I'm not mistaken, definitely a deck," said Alvarado. "Well, that deck is definitely not the deck we see behind us."

City officials have their eye set on finding the contractor to issue a citation, but they must first figure out who that person or company is.

"We're going to want them to make this area safe," said Alvarado. "If they fail to do that, then it falls back on the owner. But ultimately, the owner's responsible for everything that happens on this property."

Officials said they are giving the owner time to come into compliance, which means securing the area and removing the deck. If that isn't done, code compliance officials said they will issue a fine to the owner as well.

However, since the owner is still in the hospital, city officials said they will give him time to get better and address the issues before proceeding to the next step.

Code compliance officials said Monday that the deck wasn't on their radar because it hadn't been permitted, and because nobody had filed a complaint. The department has 35 code compliance investigators who handle a caseload of about 50 complaints at any given time. And because of that huge caseload and the lack of people to seek out structures that might be unsafe, that one-week old deck on a condo that had no complaints wasn't even in anyone's caseload, said Jennifer Herber, spokesperson for the department.

"We investigate on a complaint basis because we don’t have the manpower to proactively look for code violations," Herber said. "So unless someone calls it in, we won’t know about it. ...

"Are we overloaded and do we have more cases than we can handle? Our inspectors sometimes handle more than 50 cases at a time. We try to respond to all valid complaints within two days. So yes, like all city departments across the country, we’re working harder with less. We prioritize the dangerous structures first and then work our way down the list of complaints."