Another balcony collapses in Limassol (Updated)

A second-floor balcony collapsed and fell from an apartment building in Germasogeia early on Friday morning, just over a month after a previous incident, also in the Limassol area.

It emerged later in the day that the apartment management committee had been cautioned about the danger as far back as 2019 while civil engineers warned that something needed to be done before lives were lost.

No one was injured on Friday as the collapse happened just before dawn and the bulk of the balcony fell onto a first-floor roof terrace with some pieces of debris landing on a municipal path leading to a beach area that normally has heavy footfall.

Christos Papamichael a local councillor in Germasogeia posted photos on Facebook.

“Luckily we did not mourn victims as the balcony in question is bordered by a pedestrian path leading to the beach and is used daily by many citizens,” he posted.

“The fall of the balcony highlights again the urgent need to take immediate and drastic measures to ensure the protection of the public with most important of all the implementation of a legislative regulation on the regular inspection of buildings.”

He added that the technical chamber Etek had repeatedly submitted “important and well documented suggestions on this issue and the state should finally take them seriously and take on its responsibilities”.

There have been several incidences of balconies falling in recent years. The last one was on December 13, again in Limassol, prompting more calls from civil engineers for lawmakers to create legislation for regular building inspections.

In statements to the Cyprus News Agency on Friday, the mayor of Germasogeia, Kyriacos Xydias said the municipality had sent two letters to the management committee of the building, the first in 2019, which contained recommendations to shore up the building as the problems were apparent from the exterior.

He said the management committee assured that it would appoint a civil engineer to check the stability of the building and proceed with all appropriate actions.

In May 2022, an inspection found the problems had not been fixed and a second letter was sent.

“Apparently, our appeals were not heard,” Xydias said, adding that the municipality had send a crew to clear up the debris and erect warning signs. A third letter has now been sent

“If in a month they don’t respond, then we will be forced to take legal action against them,” he said but questioned whether a heavy fine would solve the problem, since there was no willingness by the owners to spend €2,000 to €3,000 for repairs.

Xydias said there were around five such buildings identified within the municipality and it was financially impossible for the local authorities to repair them, find accommodation for the tenants and recoup the costs.

The president of the management committee of the apartment building, Andreas Papas also spoke to CNA, saying that for the past four years efforts had been made to renovate and maintain the apartment building, “but we only collected half of the cost [from the apartment owners]”.

“I have been president of the management committee in this apartment building for 35 years,” he added. “Unfortunately, we have both good and bad owners and our laws are such that they do not help in ensuring good maintenance of apartment buildings,”

The Cyprus Civil Engineers Association issued a statement, repeating its call for changes to the law for the maintenance and inspection of buildings because the safety of human lives is at stake.

“The existence of an aging building stock, which is at the same time unmaintained, and the fact that extensions and other interventions continue to be made to buildings without the required study, permissions and supervision of the works, has resulted in recent cases of failures and collapses,” it said. The association said the issue was urgent.

It was also the duty of homeowners of any type to maintain their dwellings, the association said, and to consult a civil engineer when they do so.