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Resilience

Disaster & failure studies

Champlain Towers South Collapse

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On June 24, 2021, Champlain Towers South, a 12-floor condominium in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed at approximately 1:30 a.m. EDT. The collapse happened suddenly and has resulted in mass casualties.

On June 25, NIST began deploying a team of six scientists and engineers to collect firsthand information on the collapse. Since then, NIST experts have been working with federal, state and local authorities to identify and preserve materials and information that might be helpful in understanding why the collapse occurred.

NIST encourages members of the public to submit any information, including video, photos or other documentation, that might help the investigation via the NIST Disaster Data Portal

Recent News

NIST Releases Extensive Video Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

June 23, 2025

The update reviews the investigation’s history, shares preliminary findings and highlights potential impacts.

Horizontal concrete slab is visible in a forest of scaffolding and equipment in a large indoor space.

Champlain Towers South Investigation Team Provides Update to Structural Engineers

April 11, 2025

This outreach will help ensure that the team’s findings and recommendations lead to improvements to codes, standards and practices that can prevent similar

NIST Report to Congress Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

February 5, 2025

The report notes that the team has completed all experimental work on the physical evidence from the building’s structural elements.

Media

NCST Champlain Tower South Collapse Investigation | Technical Update (June 2025) — This update provides a summary of the NCST Champlain Towers South investigation’s history and progress, shares preliminary findings, and highlights potential impacts this complex investigation could have on building codes and standards. Investigative lead Judith Mitrani-Reiser and co-lead Glenn Bell explain how the team determined that some of the failure hypotheses are more likely than others. Mitrani-Reiser and Bell describe the extensive planning and coordination that helped the team systematically conduct thorough analyses, testing and modeling to reach their investigation's preliminary findings.

Contacts

NIST Disaster and Failure Studies Program

[email protected]

Created June 30, 2021, Updated June 23, 2025

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