Condominium ordered to revise architectural design following fatal fall

CEBU CITY – The management of a condominium building in Barangay Lahug here was ordered to revise its architectural design after the fatal fall of a four-year-old boy on Monday, April 8.

Architect Florente Catalan, head of the Office of the Building Official (OBO), announced that operations in the condominium unit where the boy fell were also suspended while the management has yet to submit its revised architectural design.

Catalan, who led the inspection of the building on Thursday, April 11, said the building has 27 floors. The boy fell from the 27th floor.

The building has two designs as some units have terraces while others have none.

The boy fell from the unit which has no terrace and has an awning-type window.

Catalan said that the window has a limiter or a device which prevents it from opening too widely.

He said that the limiter may have malfunctioned and it opened wide enough for the boy to fall through the opening.

“Accident lang jud ang nahitabo (What happened was an accident),” Catalan told reporters.

Catalan said the suspension will only be lifted once the revised architectural design is submitted, checked, and approved by OBO.

Revising the architectural design is a measure that has to be taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again, Catalan said.

Catalan added that the condo unit where the boy fell was closed when the inspection was made as the renters had already moved out.

The management of the condominium building has yet to submit a report of the incident.

“What we have is the report from the police,” said Catalan.

Catalan said the occupants of the unit failed to declare that there would be a child or children that will be living in the place.

Because of the incident, Catalan said a minimal fine will be imposed on the management of the condominium.