Dive Brief:

• An expert witness has testified that the architect overseeing the demolition of a building that collapsed onto a Philadelphia Salvation Army thrift store in 2013 showed a "wanton disregard for public safety," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Architect Robert H. Henderson told the court that it was a mistake for Plato Marinakos Jr. to hire inexperienced demolition contractor Griffin Campbell for the project and that Marinakos did not warn anyone, including the owner, when he saw the dangerous conditions Campbell created.
• The testimony was part of a civil trial in the Common Pleas Court involving the building collapse, which killed six people and injured 13 others.

Dive Insight:

Campbell and one of his independent contractors, Sean Benschop, were ordered to serve prison sentences after they were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the collapse. A jury also found Campbell guilty of aggravated assault and risking a catastrophe. Campbell admitted that he had never performed a demolition job on that scale before and said that Marinakos should bear some responsibility as he directed all the activity on the project. Marinakos received immunity from criminal prosecution in exchange for his testimony against Campbell.

During Campbell's trial, prosecutors alleged that his bid was so low for the project that it forced him to sidestep normal safety procedures. They also said a contributing factor to the instability of the wall that collapsed was Campbell's removal of the support beams and joists while the walls were still in place. Prosecutors said he sold them for salvage. Heavy equipment operator Benschop testified against Campbell and said he should have walked away when he saw the condition of the wall or taken the time to demolish it by hand. Officials said Benschop had a cast on one arm at the time of the collapse and was operating the equipment after having taken marijuana and Percocet that day.

In the wake of the accident, the city of Philadelphia has changed the way it deals with demolition permits and has made the application process more stringent. At the time of the accident, the city issued demolition permits without any plans or information about the demolition contractor hired for the job.