http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13145219.htm

It might not be a bad idea to get your windows inspected to make sure they used enough screws if you are closing on a new condo....

At one new building in Miami-Dade, the family watched in horror as Wilma blew out the sliding glass windows of their 18th-floor luxury condo and sucked out the couches, said Continental's Roses. Wilma then tossed the furniture into an eighth-floor apartment.

He says he has found one clue to why some windows failed: They may have been improperly installed in a few pricey new buildings his company manages in Miami-Dade. He refused to identify the buildings.

Workers, for example, didn't drill enough screws in the frames that anchor the windows to walls, Roses says. Some window frames had only one screw drilled every three feet, when the gap was supposed to be 12 to 18 inches.

Thats a reason i wouldnt buy a highrise condo i mean with the way construction companies are being as cheap as possible i mean did they build cookie cutters 20 years ago, not really. This is a low for construction companies highrises should be of highest quality considering the pressure that is put on them this could hurt sales of highrise condos if this gets out to the public enough.

That is crazy. How much money does one save by not putting in a few screws? Screws are cheap and can be bought by the pound. Also it takes seconds to install them so there couldnt be any savings there.

my brother used to work in construction and he would tell me of things the foremens and construction mangers would do to save money by being cheap and using cost cutting dangerous ways.......one in particular that i remember real well was when he told me how they would reuse damaged rebar,and how they would sometimes advance before the cement was fully cured.

Thats a reason i wouldnt buy a highrise condo i mean with the way construction companies are being as cheap as possible i mean did they build cookie cutters 20 years ago, not really. This is a low for construction companies highrises should be of highest quality considering the pressure that is put on them this could hurt sales of highrise condos if this gets out to the public enough.It's a fallacy that construction companies are are being cheap as possible.
Simply not true.

It could be anything....

It could be small-scale like a handful of incompetent contractors who just did lousy work. It happens. Not everyone is great at their jobs. Some people do half-ass work and things fall through the cracks. It'll have to be researched if these missing screws are only in a handful of units per building or it's a more systemic problem.

But to say that it is fallacy and simply not true that construction companies are being as cheap as possible is a pretty bold statement. How can you possibly know that?

This is Miami. Corruption will always be a part of the culture. People are always going to try to skim from the top. I seriously wonder how many Dade County building inspectors were bought off to look the other way before occupancy permits were issued.

It's not like shitty construction and crappy building inspectors is something new in Miami.

Do you remember what happened to communities like Country Walk after Andrew? That whole mess prompted the strict building code we have now but it's not worth anything if the building inspectors don't do their jobs and check up on the work.

Cause knowing human nature, a large percentage of people will always cheat if they know they can get away with it. Always.

It could be small-scale like a handful of incompetent contractors who just did lousy work. It happens. Not everyone is great at their jobs. Some people do half-ass work and things fall through the cracks.This is most likely the case. The Miami Herald would have readers believe that is a widespread problem in new construction condos. This simply not true. Count the windows, then count the number that blew out because of bad screw insertion then come up with the percentage.
But to say that it is fallacy and simply not true that construction companies are being as cheap as possible is a pretty bold statement. How can you possibly know that?Because, I'm in the business. If any windows blew out of one of our buildings because of this "problem" that the Herald has identified, we would give the contractors hell, and they would never work on another of our buildings. The original statement was "all contractors are being as cheap as possible". That is a simple statement to refute. Find one contractor that isn't being cheap as hell. Not really bold at all.This is Miami. Corruption will always be a part of the culture. People are always going to try to skim from the top. I seriously wonder how many Dade County building inspectors were bought off to look the other way before occupancy permits were issued.No, no, no!! ALWAYS?!?! It is not ALWAYS part of the culture. It is pretty disconcerting that you have that perception of your community. Maybe I can't do much about about your perception, but I'll tell you that corruption isn't a part of the way that I do business or with the people that I do business with.
If I am asked for a kickback or anything that isn't above board, I don't do business with that person ever again. I'd ask that you do the same. It's not that difficult.Cause knowing human nature, a large percentage of people will always cheat if they know they can get away with it. Always.That isn't correct. Most people will do the right thing. Please read the dialouge between Glaucon and Plato in "The Republic". Socrates narrates the story of a sheppard that has a ring that grants him invisibility , (google "The Ring of Gyges" and you can probably find a cliff note). They discusss what happens when people can do the wrong thing without being caught.
I'd say that some people will not do the right thing...but that percentage is very low.

I guess it is dependent on your personal experiences. I'm glad you've had mostly great experiences in South Florida. I've had mostly great experiences and some really not so great experiences that has colored my perceptions of the place a bit.

But that's just life. Everyone is going to view things a little differently.

But having literally dozens of publicly elected officials indicted or gone to prison or leaving the country to escape prosecution or blowing themselves away in the herald building doesn't help that perception. Mismanaging billions of tax dollars in transportation funds over the decades and being myopic to urban growth issues so we have gridlock traffic and insane sprawl and a metrorail that is desperately in need of expansion doesn't help things. I can go on and on....but it's not that I hate it here...it's more that I want the bad parts fixed and for the area to reach its potential which is to be one of the handful of greatest cities in the world

but it's not that I hate it here...it's more that I want the bad parts fixed and for the area to reach its potential which is to be one of the handful of greatest cities in the world
May I suggest you get involved in Leadership Miami (www.leadershipmiami.org) or some simlar public service groups? It's a great way to fulfill your desire to fix the bad parts.
I'm with you in respect to wanting it to get better. One thing that would be nice is if more people would get involved to make a difference and less people sat on the sidelines and complained.