Buildings can be condemned for several reasons, including being damaged beyond repair, posing health hazards, having poor original construction, remaining vacant for long periods of time, or when the government needs to seize private property for public use. Common causes of condemnation are extensive fire or flood damage that compromises structural integrity, contamination from mold or infestations that endanger occupants, and the use of now-banned materials like asbestos. Governments may also condemn buildings to turn the land to public housing or transportation projects.

1. Condemned:
How Buildings Get This Status
By Tal Rappleyea

2. Condemned — just the sound of
the word seems like it’s bad news.
Although most condemned
buildings are often done so for
unsafe or unsanitary reasons, that
is not always the case because
condemned buildings may also
help the environment and
community.

3. In some cases, buildings are
condemned because the property
is in such a state of dilapidation
that repairs cannot be made while
people are living or conducting
business on the property. In other
cases, buildings can be
condemned if private property
needs to be converted to public
use, such as creating additional
housing in times of crises.

4. If you’re curious to see how and
why buildings are condemned,
take a look below!

5. Reasonsto
Condemn
aBuilding
There are many reasons
buildings can be
condemned, but here are
five main reasons.

6. The building is damaged
beyond repair.
Say that a building was gutted by a fire or extensively
flooded by a hurricane. Damage to this extent will
make repairs almost impossible — especially if the
structural integrity of the building is nowhere near up
to code.

7. The building poses a health
hazard to its occupants.
Due to contamination or infestations, a building may
be condemned if the building is too unsafe to be
cleaned. A few examples of this issue may be black
mold, because it causes respiratory and other health
problems, and long-term parasite infestations if the
issue has been attended to but shows no signs of
stopping.

8. The building has poor
construction.
Usually, the only way buildings can be condemned
for this matter is if the building’s materials — most
notably asbestos — have been banned by the
government. In addition, the buildings’ original
construction may not have used key pieces in the
building, such as foundation and support beams.

9. The building hasn’t had any
occupants in quite a long time.
Has the building been vacant for years and fallen into
a state of such disrepair that it’s become an eyesore
and embarrassment to the community? This may be
a reason to condemn the building on behalf of the
community.

10. The government can take
private property to turn it into
public use.
Sometimes local governments can seize private
property for building projects. This often occurs
when the government needs to widen roads due to
too much traffic congestion or if there is a severe
housing shortage and the seized land is turned into
apartment buildings.

11. Visit talrappleyea.net
for more information.