NOT AGAIN! Toronto house collapses while under construction

A home undergoing significant renovation in Toronto fell into a heap late yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, leaving a neighbour shaken and observers scratching their heads at the scene. No injuries were reported after the incident on Glebemount Road, near O’Connor and Woodbine in the city’s east end. The event is under investigation by the City of Toronto building department and the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Little is left standing after this major home renovation project collapsed to the ground in Toronto September 1st (photo: CANADIAN CONTRACTOR Robert Koci)

Ross Simmons, who has been living next door to the construction site, told Canadian Contractor what he knew: “I got a call from one of my neighbors saying I had better get home right away, that I wouldn’t be able to barbecue tonight.”

Simmons had been watching the progress of the construction day by day. “They were attempting to raise the joists up to build the second floor, and were maybe a third of the way through doing that when the side walls of the house blew out,” he said. According to Simmons, the concrete block and brick walls were constructed only “three or four” days earlier.

Building and renovation in many areas of Toronto is at a fever pitch these days, as homeowners and their builders maximise living space in this high-priced urban market. “The flippers are buying up bungalows, building second stories and adding a large addition on the back,” Simmons said. The builder working on this collapsed site has two homes undergoing similar major renovation on the same street and is about to start a third.

The subject of permits, inspections and penalties is a sore point in Toronto. There seems to be little incentive for some builders to play by the rulebook. Some work sites have been the subject of complaints to the City of Toronto’s Committee of Adjustment and the Ministry of Labour and some construction has reportedly been done without permissions and permits. However, fines for such transgressions are small in relation to the project size and market value. Often work continues nevertheless. At this specific site in fact, the Ministry of Labour had stopped work during demolition due to concerns over asbestos.

Simmons’ home itself sustained damage to the brickwork from the collapsing blocks as well as some side windows and a side door.  “We’re waiting for our insurance company to determine if we need to call in a structural engineer.” Various personal belongings in his driveway were also crushed. “Luckily, we had put our dog in the house about an hour before, or he’d have been crushed.”

Canadian Contractor Magazine will be following this story
as more information comes forward.