About 60 percent of buildings that have gone through safety checks need to get their exterior walls repaired, Taipei City Councilor Ho Meng-hua (何孟樺) said yesterday, after pieces of a broken concrete canopy fell and hit two cars, injuring two people last month.
The Taipei City Government in 2023 required 1,902 commercial area buildings that were older than 30 years and with 11 floors or more to perform exterior wall safety checks and report the results by the end of next year, she said.
However, only 412 buildings, or 22 percent, have reported their results, Ho said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Of the 412 reports, 233 buildings, or about 60 percent, required repair, she said, adding that some buildings had received the same evaluation results four years ago, but had remained unrepaired.
Building exterior wall safety checks and the reporting system would be useless if buildings reported unsafe are not improved, Ho said, urging the Taipei Construction Management Office to bolster follow-up supervision and examination.
Similarly, up to 2,534 buildings in Taipei are required to report their exterior wall safety check results, in accordance with Regulations Governing Taipei City Building Exterior Wall Safety Examination Reports (台北市建築物外牆安全診斷檢查及申報辦法), but only 475 buildings, or 19 percent, have filed their reports as of last month, she said.
The city government should propose feasible measures to demand better action on safety checks and reports, otherwise public safety might be left in jeopardy, Ho said.
Twenty-one buildings in Taipei have reported exterior wall peeling at least twice over the past five years, and some of those buildings saw peelings multiple times in a year, she said.
As mandatory safety checks apply only to old, high-rise buildings in commercial areas, some buildings whose exterior walls are peeling are not required to report safety check results, Ho said.
The office said that it told management committees on Tuesday last week that buildings have to complete exterior wall repairs and submit reports by June 30.
Those that cannot carry out the procedure by the deadline are required to submit proof about the problem and apply for an extension for the repair, it added.
All 21 buildings with peeling exterior walls have already been listed as potentially dangerous buildings and have been asked to make repairs by a deadline, the office said, adding that 19 have already finished repairs and submitted reports.
Office Director Yu Chi-hsueh (虞積學) said that he has ordered a check of city buildings that have experienced multiple exterior wall peeling incidents.
Office personnel would visit communities and grade buildings to promote safety checks this year, instead of issuing announcements via news releases or online media, he said.
The office said that buildings would be graded based on the width of roads — 70m or wider, 40m to 70m, and 30m to 40m — to enable segmental improvements.
Buildings that are required to report exterior wall safety check results, but fail to complete the procedure by the end of next year would be fined NT$10,000 to NT$50,000, it said, adding that they might be fined consecutively.
Ho said that many old building owners cannot afford repair costs due to strict subsidy requirements and low subsidy amounts.
She suggested that the Taipei Department of Urban Development explore incentives, such as an extra funding program, to encourage owners of potentially dangerous buildings to repair exterior walls.
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