22.05.2008

Court stalls Miami Dade

A federal court has called for a temporary halt to Miami Dade’s plans to tighten up tower crane inspections and certification, just two months after they were given the go ahead.

The decision comes in the wake of disputes between the county, crane company owners, and state lawmakers over who should have jurisdiction over crane safety standards.

Peter Dyga, vice president of government affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors, Florida East Coast Chapter said: ''We came into this hearing very confident that the judge would realise that the construction industry could not function under the current crane ordinance and proper federal procedure was not followed by the county.''

The May 1 lawsuit to suspend the new rules was filed by a coalition of construction and crane industry groups, arguing that under the county's standard none of the 200 tower cranes currently in use would meet the requirements.

In a court order issued Tuesday, United States district court judge Ursula Ungaro agreed with the group, noting that “they presented evidence that their members cannot comply with the crane ordinance and as a result they will be precluded from working in the county.''

Florida state lawmakers for the second year in a row were unsuccessful in passing a proposal to create a statewide crane safety regulation applicable to all 67 Florida counties.

The state measure proposed by Greg Evers was stalled after meeting intense resistance from Miami-Dade commissioners and the Dade legislative delegation, who felt their county version of the law had stricter standards than the proposed state version.

Watch this space