Pleasanton Company Built Balcony That Collapsed in Berkeley

A preliminary investigation into the collapse of a Berkeley apartment balcony early Monday morning points to dry rot as the source of the failure.

The collapse killed six college students and injured seven more, some critically. Five of the dead were from Ireland; the sixth was Irish-American from Rohnert Park.

The builder of the Library Gardens apartment complex, Segue Construction of Pleasanton, has paid $6.5 million in the past two years to settle lawsuits claiming its work caused balconies to rot prematurely and fail, according to SF Gate.

Both projects are in the Bay Area — $3 Million was paid in San Jose and $3.5 million in Millbrae. In both instances, according to court records, balconies were not properly sealed, allowing water to seep in and cause dry rot.

A spokesman for Segue, Sam Singer, downplayed the problems, “They are completely different projects. They are completely different types of balconies…Segue Construction has never had an incident like this in its history.”

A second balcony was removed from the Berkeley apartment building Wednesday. It was directly below the one that collapsed and caught the one from above. An additional two balconies are red tagged, preventing their use until cleared by inspectors.