# New construction law following Berkeley disaster passes stage



## mark handler (Aug 13, 2016)

New construction law following Berkeley disaster passes stage
Move to introduce legislation following deaths of six students last summer
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...wing-berkeley-disaster-passes-stage-1.2753436
New laws to enable *greater oversight of the construction industry* following the deaths of six students when a balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California, last summer have passed a crucial stage of enactment.
Five 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, Sean Fahey, Conor Flynn, Jack Halpin, Niall Murray and Hannah Waters – suffered catastrophic injuries.
The bill, which was authored by California state senators Jerry Hill and Loni Hancock, was passed with a unanimous vote by the committee’s Democrats, while the Republican members abstained.
It will now have to pass a vote on the floor of the state assembly before coming back to the state senate for a final vote. It will then go to California governor Jerry Brown to be signed into law.


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## mark handler (Aug 13, 2016)

*"...greater oversight of the construction industry,,,"*
And what does that mean? 
stupid politicians


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## mark handler (Aug 13, 2016)

Better building laws could have prevented Berkeley balcony collapse says survivor
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/...ey-balcony-collapse-says-survivor-749281.html
The Berkeley balcony collapse could have been prevented by better building laws according to one of the survivors.
Aoife Beary (pictured) from Dublin is calling for the safety records of construction companies to be made public.

The 22-year-old was seriously injured in Berkeley last summer, on a balcony built by a firm who had previously paid out millions for defects.
She appeared before a State Assembly hearing in California yesterday to push for new laws offering greater transparency.

Berkeley survivor tells hearing about the effect the balcony collapse tragedy has had on her and the other families


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## cda (Aug 13, 2016)

"Save the balcony bill"

Sounds like California ???


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## mark handler (Sep 4, 2016)

California Senate passes new construction law after Berkeley balcony collapse
http://www.independent.ie/world-new...after-berkeley-balcony-collapse-35012951.html

The California Senate has passed a new law for the construction industry following the devastating Berkeley balcony collapse.

The bill, which passed in the senate last night with an unanimous vote of 37-0, aims to address the accountability gaps revealed by the Berkeley tragedy and will "bring more oversight to the construction contractors' industry".
The balcony collapse, which occurred in June 2015, resulted in the deaths of six students and severe injuries in seven others when the balcony of a Berkeley apartment building plummeted to the ground during a birthday party.

A statement released by the California Government read; "The tragedy reverberated across the Irish community in the United States and abroad as all but one of the students who were killed and injured were visiting from Ireland.

"The sixth fatality was a 22-year-old Irish American student from Rohnert Park, California."

The bill, which was put forward by Senator Jerry Hill and Senator Loni Hancock, will now be reviewed by Governor Jerry Brown.

The governor has until September 30 to act on the Senate Bill.

“SB 465 [the bill] is in response to last year’s tragic balcony collapse in Berkeley that killed six students and severely injured seven others,” Hill said Wednesday evening in asking for his colleagues’ aye vote.

“It ensures that the state agencies tasked with overseeing the construction industry are taking appropriate steps to identify bad actors and improve building standards.”

According to the senator, the legislation requires contractors "convicted of felonies or crimes related to their work" to report that information to the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), which regulates the industry.
The bill also requires the CSLB to determine whether receiving construction defect settlement information would be useful for them to fulfill their mission of protecting the public.

Finally, SB 465 requires the Building Standards Commission to look at improving their safety requirements for balconies and other outdoor structures.
The senate's statement continued: "Shock over the tragedy that struck during a birthday party became outrage when it was discovered that the builder of the apartment complex had a history of construction defect settlements with payouts totaling $26.5 million."

At the moment, state law does not require contractors to report defect settlement cases to their licensing board, even though such disclosures are routine for doctors, engineers and architects.
Earlier this month, survivor Aoife Beary was praised by Senator Jerry Hill for sharing her story at the California State Senate.

He said there "wasn't a dry eye in the room" as the young woman told her story.


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## ICE (Sep 5, 2016)

_The bill also requires the CSLB to determine whether receiving construction defect settlement information would be useful for them to fulfill their mission of protecting the publi_c.

The CSLB does not play a significant role in protecting the public.  A tragedy such as the death and maiming that took place in Berkley gets a flurry of attention but the pedestrian screwing of the populace goes unnoticed.

A balcony falls off a building and up pops a law.  Many thousands forfeit their savings and dignity to rapacious reprobates posing as trustworthy contractors and the CSLB gives the crooks legitimacy.

Politicians are experts at doing nothing with great fanfare.  The law charges the CSLB with this task: _determine whether receiving construction defect settlement information would be useful for them.  _The answer will be no.  Had the CSLB been asked to determine if the said information would be useful to consumers the answer would still be no but then they would be telling a lie.  Either the Legislature can't think for themselves or they want the CSLB to bury it for them.  

_“It ensures that the state agencies tasked with overseeing the construction industry are taking appropriate steps to identify bad actors and improve building standards.”
Roared the paper tiger._


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## conarb (Sep 5, 2016)

The are not addressing the real issues here:

The cities are determining what can be built where,
The cities are mandating the inclusion of money losing mixed use and money losing affordable housing and how much of it is included.
The cities are dictating the design mandating additional features.
If the developer can't crunch the numbers and make it work he cuts quality to meet code minimums.
The construction met all building code requirements yet failed, is anybody even looking at improving codes? 

State contractor licensing, like all professional licensing has become a joke since the Supreme Court in _Griggs vs. Duke Energy_ ruled that you cannot use intelligence testing since it discriminates against some minorities.  





			
				NAACP said:
			
		

> In 1971, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Griggs v. Duke Power, which transformed our nation’s work places.  As a result of LDF’s advocacy, the Supreme Court embraced a powerful legal tool – now known as the “disparate impact” framework – that has proved essential in the fight to eradicate arbitrary and artificial barriers to equal employment opportunity for all individuals, regardless of their race. ¹


 In 1990 with the ADA the state can not discriminate against morons and idiots either, at this point they have to let all in and throw those out who fail. 

¹ http://www.naacpldf.org/case/griggs-v-duke-power-co


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## mark handler (Sep 16, 2016)

Gov. Brown approves new construction oversight in response to fatal 2015 balcony collapse in Berkeley

http://www.latimes.com/politics/ess...es-new-construction-1473966504-htmlstory.html
Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a bill providing more oversight to construction contractors in response to last year’s collapse of a balcony at a Berkeley apartment building that killed six students and injured seven others, many of them Irish exchange students.

The tragedy, which happened during a birthday party, was followed by news that the builder of the apartment complex had paid out $26.5 million to settle claims of construction defects on various other projects.

“This bill is an important step toward preventing another tragedy,” Brown said in a statement.

State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Leandro) authored SB 465.

“It ensures that the state agencies tasked with overseeing the construction industry are taking appropriate steps to identify bad actors and improve building standards,” Hill said.

The bill requires contractors convicted of crimes related to their work to report that information to the Contractors State License Board, which oversees the industry, Hill said.

The measure also mandates that the board determine whether receiving construction defect settlement information would be useful for them to protect the public. In addition, the bill requires the Building Standards Commission to look at improving safety requirements for balconies and other outdoor structures.


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