APPA Library

"Lessons Learned From the University of Virginia's Balcony Collapse"
Author: Dillman, Robert P., and Jay W. Klingel
Published In: Facilities Manager
Date: March/April 2002

University of Virginia commencement exercises are conducted outside in an area known as Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, which was built in the early 1800s. On graduation day May 18, 1997, tragedy struck when a balcony on Pavilion I, one of the original Jeffersonian buildings, collapsed, killing one and injuring 24. Legal proceedings proved the value of a comprehensive maintenance program, an ongoing facilities assessment program, senior staff credentials, and knowledge of trades people. Discusses causes of accident and how maintenance program helped them throughout the legal proceedings.

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