Big Dig: Tip of the iceberg when it comes to public safety and our buildings

[Guest guest]

There can be no excuse. Public Safety must come first in the Commonwealth

The collapse of the concrete ceiling panels in the I-90 Tunnel Connector on

July 10, 2006, was a tragedy that didn't have to happen if public safety was

of paramount concern in the Commonwealth.

The designs for buildings and structures must be prepared by a coordinated

team of engineering professionals that looks at the entire project with the

primary focus of safety as the project goal. A second concern is using common

sense in choosing building materials. Why 3000 pound concrete panels were

chosen to serve as a multi-function ceiling finish material when other products

are available that could potentially serve the same purpose is beyond my

comprehension. As a builder and building code official, I am primarily charged

with putting public safety first. We should all be outraged that problems with

the fastening bolts were raised years ago by inspectors. It appears quite

evident that nothing was done with that information. How could this possibly

be?

We have problems with how we design buildings and structures, particularly

government projects. A typical construction review method used in the " Big

Dig " and other government projects called " Value Engineering " needs to be

questioned as being appropriate when government must put the public’s safety

first. In this method of cost cutting on construction projects, the

designers’

plans and specifications are picked apart by an additional team of " experts " to

reduce costs.

Typically utilizing " Value Engineering " , the sizes of structural members and

other components of buildings and structures are reduced to their absolute

minimum to save money. In commercial buildings for example, office ceilings

are " Value Engineered " to become air ducts instead of using the traditional

metal supply and metal return ducts used for heating, cooling and ventilation.

These ceiling spaces are ripe for contamination. We have seen increased

respiratory problems with building occupants because of “Value Engineeringâ€

cost

cutting in an effort to save property owners money. This method of project

planning must be thrown out the window when it comes to any project where the

public has access. This includes bridges, tunnels, school and all buildings

and structures that are used by the general public.

Where do we look to stop needless death and injury in buildings and

structures that we occupy and use in Massachusetts? The building regulatory

system

is ripe for overhaul. It is unfortunate that the death of innocent people is

what it takes to make us do what we should have been doing all along. State

administrations going back to Governor Weld have turned their backs on

revamping the building regulatory system. The Commonwealth’s building code

dates

back to 1993, which does not adequately reflect the many changes and heightened

understanding of ever evolving construction problems and needs. To the mix,

many state and local inspections agencies are seriously understaffed.

Many of us in the construction industry have brought proposed changes to the

current and prior administrations to adopt modern building codes and create

uniform training for building, electrical, plumbing, health and fire

inspectors. We have been rebuffed many times. We are talking about the adoption

of

modern building standards and methods of construction. We are talking about

making the Commonwealth's front line defense in building and structure safety,

our inspectors, trained fully to understand how the complex puzzle of

construction goes together. The administrations rebuffs, on top of defying

logic, has

Massachusetts property owners paying higher insurance premiums because of

the archaic code we have and lack of uniform training for inspectors and others

in the building community. The state administration knows we are deficient

and does nothing.

It will take new blood and new ideas to move our Commonwealth ahead in a

progressive manner so that we are safe. Public safety should never be placed on

the back burner by those that run the Commonwealth. Our citizens should not

have to travel in a state of apprehension when using any of our facilities.

We are now looking at the death of a fellow citizen who is someone's wife and

mother because of cost cutting, use of inappropriate materials and ignored

inspection reports. What constitutes the greater “value†- the bottom line

or

human life?

Matt Mulvey

Weymouth, MA

(Matthias J. Mulvey, CBO, CET is a licensed builder, a Massachusetts

certified building commissioner, Member of the International Code Council

Reference

Standards Committee, President of the New England Building Code Association,

former President of the Massachusetts Building Commissioners and Inspectors

Association and current Director, A member of the National Fire Protection

Association, serving on the Education and Architects, Engineers and Building

Officials Committees, holds a degree in Building Construction from Wentworth

Institute of Technology and is a Democratic candidate for the Massachusetts

State Senate Plymouth and Norfolk District.)

Matt Mulvey

781-331-0043

Matt Mulvey for State Senate 2006

Matt@...

_http://www.mattmulvey.com_ (http://www.mattmulvey.com/)

July 13, 2006

[Guest guest]

I took a few excerpts from my brother, Matt's letter on the Big Dig

and the problems with engineering the cheapest without regard for

public safety. As he mentions in his letter, our building codes do

not adequately reflect the ever changing knowledge we have about how

to make a building safe. In many instances, we have mold in

buildings because the building codes do not addesss the problem in a

meaningful way. As he mentioned, having ceilings being used for air

ducts to safe money can be a major cause of contamination in a

building. Our building codes need to reflect what we now know about

mold growth and illness in buildings.

Mulvey son

There can be no excuse. Public Safety must come first in the

Commonwealth (of Massachusetts).....

Typically utilizing " Value Engineering " , the sizes of structural

members and other components of buildings and structures are reduced

to their absolute minimum to save money. In commercial buildings for

example, office ceilings are " Value Engineered " to become air ducts

instead of using the traditional metal supply and metal return ducts

used for heating, cooling and ventilation.

These ceiling spaces are ripe for contamination. We have seen

increased respiratory problems with building occupants because

of " Value Engineering " cost cutting in an effort to save property

owners money. This method of project planning must be thrown out

the window when it comes to any project where the public has access.

This includes bridges, tunnels, school and all buildings and

structures that are used by the general public.

Where do we look to stop needless death and injury in buildings and

structures that we occupy and use in Massachusetts? The building

regulatory system is ripe for overhaul. It is unfortunate that the

death of innocent people is what it takes to make us do what we

should have been doing all along....

The Commonwealth's building code dates back to 1993, which does not

adequately reflect the many changes and heightened understanding of

ever evolving construction problems and needs. To the mix,many state

and local inspections agencies are seriously understaffed....

Matt Mulvey