The rehabilitation of the Ritz Hotel, whose interior structure collapsed in September 2018 during the renovation works carried out by the San José Group, was planned without a previous study that will guarantee the structural safety of the building and without reinforcing these protection measures, as detailed the Municipal Police Unit in the judicial proceedings conducted to investigate the causes of the collapse of the historic building that left a worker dead and seven injured. The agents stress that there is no record that these measures were taken in writing or verbally that would have helped alleviate or avoid the “effort to which the slabs were subjected and the collapsed façade despite knowing that heavy loading platforms were placed and download of the material ». Also, the agents underline another possible error on the part of the company when lifting the floor of the last floor , "so that the upper part of the facade was even more weakened".

It must be remembered that according to the investigation of the Municipal Police, the inner courtyard of the Ritz Hotel collapsed due to the «excessive efforts to which the facade was subjected due to the use of loading and unloading platforms that gradually degraded the brick» , just as EL MUNDO advanced yesterday. The agents consider that the hotel sank by the erroneous installation of the heavy platforms of load and download in the wall of the facade of the inner patio that when collapsing dragged the scaffolding and threw the slabs of the plants second to the sixth.

Agents charge a crime against the right of workers resulting in the death of two of the architects of the San José construction company that was in charge of the management in the rehabilitation of the emblematic hotel. Those responsible are the construction manager and the director of execution of the work that were «at the beginning of the reform since its inception and permanently without noticing the risk that the facade was running due to the installation of the platforms and without realizing the excessive efforts to which a building whose structure dates back to 1908 was being submitted ».

Another aspect that the agents discovered in their investigation was the composition of the load wall of the collapsed facade that could also be decisive in the accident. They warn in their conclusions that it was formed «mainly by solid brick and simple hollow brick (type of brush). In addition, there were niches in the interior wall of the façade that were not under the windows, which contributed to the fact that the façade was weakened at these points, since it was reduced to almost half its thickness ”.

Also, it is discovered by the agents during their analysis in the wrecked building that “part of the collapsed block had been chopped, lifted and removed from the old hearth, exposing the aforementioned metal joists and respecting the strips that were not very deteriorated

Next, they had a new three centimeter thick screed, composed of mortar and mixed with fibers to give it greater consistency. This compound lacked cast metal armor (what is known as mesh).

The agents accuse the chief architect of the work and the director of execution of the work of lack of diligence by not putting solutions to avoid the continuous weakening of the facade and the slabs and consider them participants in a crime against the right of workers with death result, according to the report of the Municipal Police unit that is responsible for investigating work accidents.

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