Case study: Forensic Engineering and civil responsibility in the collapse of three buildings in Rio de Janeiro

• Autor(a) principal: Mendonça, Beatriz Costa de
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Mounzer, Elie Chahdan
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/18648
• topic: Civil liability; Expert report; Liberdade Building.; Responsabilidad civil; Informe pericial; Edificio Liberdade.; Responsabilidade civil; Laudo pericial; Edifício Liberdade.

The fall of the Liberdade building, a 20-story commercial building, also caused the collapse of the two adjacent buildings, the Colombo and Treze de Maio buildings, located in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Initially, the building had no apparent causes that would lead to its ruin and the focus turned to irregular work carried out on the 9th floor. During the civil and criminal liability process, several causes were found that may have culminated in the accident. Even with the performance of judicial expertise and the opinions of several engineering specialists, all through indirect analysis, to date, the cause of the accident has not been defined. However, the civil liability of the manager allowed several modifications to the building over the decades. Liability in cases of accidents may fall on the engineer or architect of the work and, in his absence, on the owner or manager. The study concludes the importance of direct expertise in accident sites, the role of the city hall and inspection bodies, and the changes in infra-legal norms related to works and renovations after the accident.