California unanimously passes accountability bill following Berkeley tragedy

New laws have been passed in California following last year’s Berkeley balcony collapse, the Irish Independent reports.

A bill was unanimously passed last week by the California Senate which is intended to deal with the gaps in accountability that led to the tragedy and should “bring more oversight to the construction contractors’ industry”.

Six students died and seven others suffered severe injuries in the June 2015 balcony collapse.

It was later discovered the firm that built the complex had a history settling construction defect cases with payouts totalling $26.5 million, unbeknownst to the Contractors State License Board.

In a statement, the Government of California said: “The tragedy reverberated across the Irish community in the United States and abroad as all but one of the students who were killed and injured were visiting from Ireland.

“The sixth fatality was a 22-year-old Irish American student from Rohnert Park, California.”

Governor Jerry Brown has until the end of this month to act on the bill, which was put forward by Senators Jerry Hill and Loni Hancock.

According to Senator Hill, the bill “ensures that the state agencies tasked with overseeing the construction industry are taking appropriate steps to identify bad actors and improve building standards”.

The new laws will force contractors “convicted of felonies or crimes related to their work” to inform the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) of these facts.

It will also require the CSLB to decide if obtaining construction defect settlement information contributes to defending the public.

Lastly, it will require the Building Standards Commission to improve its safety requirements for balconies as well as other outdoor structures.

The statement added: “Shock over the tragedy that struck during a birthday party became outrage when it was discovered that the builder of the apartment complex had a history of construction defect settlements with payouts totalling $26.5m.”