Not Sturdy Enough

　　Cases of collapsed buildings in recent years have raised concerns about the quality of construction

　　A five-story residential building collapsed on the morning of April 4 in Fenghua of east China’s Zhejiang Province despite being constructed only 20 years ago.

　　The collapse， which involved 15 households in Juding Community， happened at 8：45 am. Before the collapse， some residents had already become concerned by the sound of cracking coming from the building and swarmed downstairs. Unfortunately， seven people ultimately found themselves harmed by the collapse， including a 68-year-old senior， who later died in hospital. The other six survived.

　　Evidence that the building was dangerous had been noticed much earlier. In 2013， residents in the building reported that the walls were coming apart in chunks but they received no help and had to resort to repairing the walls on their own.

　　Things became even worse in October after Typhoon Fitow hit the area. Residents of 29 old buildings in Fenghua—including the one that collapsed—reported the worsening situation of their homes repeatedly. Finally， local authorities conducted a citywide safety inspection on the buildings. The building that eventually collapsed was identified as dangerous and needing reinforcement in December 2013. The reinforcements had not yet been carried out before the collapse， however.

　　Collapse Season

　　The incident in Fenghua has been the latest in a string of similar tragedies involving buildings and bridges throughout China since 2009.

　　A particularly high-profile case occurred in August 2009 when a two-story building built in the 1980s collapsed during a storm， killing 17 people in Shijiazhuang， capital of north China’s Hebei Province. In September 2009， a five-story residential building collapsed in Ningbo， Zhejiang Province and three months later， another two-story building fell down in the same city. In March 2013， a four-story residential building collapsed in Shaoxing， Zhejiang Province.

　　All the buildings were built in the 1980s and 90s.

　　“In the 1980s and 90s， many apartment complexes were erected in a hurry to house the surging number of city dwellers under the country’s vigorous urbanization drive，” said Yang Jianhua， a public policy researcher with the Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

　　According to Yang， lax supervision allowed developers， who wanted everything to be done as soon as possible， to cut corners. The establishment of standards lagged far behind the pace of construction and the use of inferior materials to lower costs also jeopardized the structural integrity of the homes being built.

　　Chen Zairong， General Manager of Zhejiang Dingkun Construction Co. Ltd.， said that during the peak season of construction， a large number of migrant laborers that worked on construction sites didn’t even learn the ABCs of construction before climbing the scaffolding.

　　“Many workers skimped on steel and cement and some even used mud to replace mortar，” said Chen.

　　Zheng Fengtian， Deputy Dean of the Agricultural Economics and Rural Development School at the Renmin University of China said that the Fenghua building collapse is but one example of a wave of such accidents as the buildings constructed in the 1980s and 90s begin to age.

　　“According to the Property Law， a person enjoys property rights over real estate for 70 years， but many residential buildings seem to have a lifespan of only 50 years， after which they become too dangerous to live in. Some experts even say that some of the buildings are only good enough to last 25 years，” said Zheng. “Over the past few years， the public and the media have focused attention on rising housing prices， overlooking the importance of the safety that comes with the use of quality construction materials.”

　　Zheng explained that a real estate project is usually divided into three phases： design， construction and inspection for approval. Experts say quality is compromised mostly during the construction process. The problems， however， should be detected during inspection. But corruption and nepotism play a vital role in ensuring that the potential risks go either undetected or unreported.

　　“The use of inferior materials is not only a safety risk for residents， but also could lead to legal issues，” said Zheng. “With China experiencing a realty boom， it will be difficult for a homeowner to track down the original developer or construction company. In such cases， the family has to bear the loss if a building collapses.”

　　This is what happened with the collapsed Fenghua building. Although the cause of the accident is still under investigation， local government recently claimed it is difficult to find the responsible party because the company had broken up into four separate companies during the 1990s.

　　However， the government still tried to trace the liable parties， which are responsible for paying compensation to the victims. By April 8， two people associated with the construction of the buildings had been taken into custody.

　　“The Fenghua City Government will make sure that every resident receives the deserved compensation， which will be paid by the liable parties，” said Xu Mengting， a Fenghua publicity department official， who also revealed that the government has started legal procedures to ensure that compensation is paid.

　　According to a statement released by local officials， each of the 40 families that had lived in the building will be paid 3，000 yuan ($484)， and each family member will receive another 8，000 yuan ($1，286). No compensation was offered for lost belongings.

　　Furthermore， each family will also receive a monthly subsidy of 20 yuan ($3.12) per square meter of their former apartment’s floor space for one year.

　　This compensation is not acceptable to some residents. “My whole family has been living in a hotel for five days. We ate in restaurants and had to buy clothes to change into. I don’t know whether the subsidy will be enough to cover all the expenses，” said Xu Tianchang， a former resident of the building.

　　Ding Liangen， 72， another former resident， said the compensation did not cover his losses. “To ensure the safety of my grandson， my son has been renting elsewhere for months. This is a huge expense，” said Ding.

　　Along with residents of the collapsed building， residents living in the five surrounding buildings constructed at the same time were also evacuated. They received far less compensation.

　　Inspections

　　Things are not optimistic for buildings put up after 2000 either. Zhu Minfeng from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quality Supervision even warned people not to buy apartments in buildings built in 2007 or 2008 in Guangdong because developers had grossly compromised on the quality of materials and construction.

　　“The problems just need time to show up，” said Zhu. “People should pay attention not only to the buildings that have collapsed， but also to the potential risks that other buildings hide.”

　　He Gaobo， deputy director of the construction management office in Fenghua’s Jinping neighborhood， which is responsible for the safety of the collapsed building， committed suicide on April 9， five days after the collapse.

　　Although it has not been confirmed whether his death is related to the fallen building， it has provoked people’s concern over the corruption involved in low-quality buildings.

　　Information from the Ministry of Supervision reveals that following an anti-graft campaign targeting the construction sector， 5，241 officials received the Party’s disciplinary penalties and 3，058 were transferred to judiciary procedures from the start of July 2009 to the end of April 2010 for corruption or misconduct related to construction projects.

　　The accident has spurred some local governments to pay more attention to their apartment buildings built at the same time.

　　The Shanghai Municipal Government has included the repair and reinforcement of old houses in its government-subsidized housing project and claims to have conducted security checks， structural consolidation and kitchen and toilet inspections in old buildings.

　　According to the government’s plan， by 2015， about 50 million square meters worth of old houses will be repaired and reinforced， and 900，000 square meters worth of old houses will be torn down and replaced by new ones.

　　The Central Government has also shown great resolve in addressing the issue. A landmark urbanization plan unveiled in March stated that quality control on the design， construction， materials and decoration of buildings should be reinforced. It also vowed to crack down on illegal acts during bidding， contracting， material purchase and quality supervision for construction projects， as well as pledging to improve the system of accountability.

　　Analysts suggest that to avoid repeating the Fenghua disaster， there must be a lifelong accountability system for all construction companies， architectural designers and project supervisors. The government should register safety files for all constructions. There should also be a commercial insurance system for the buildings， paid by the construction companies， government and residents together.

　　“A key step should be increasing the cost of lawlessness through suspending the licenses of developers and construction firms with poor records，” said Yu Bohong， a commentator on social affairs from Zhejiang TV Station.

　　By Yuan Yuan