Broken Condo Window In San Francisco Prompts Concerns Over Safety

A broken condo window in San Francisco has experts and residents worried about safety.

High Winds, Shattered Window

A 15-story condominium in San Francisco saw a window shatter due to high winds. The window was on the fifth floor of the building located at 1400 Mission Street. But this is not simply a case of bad weather.

This is apparently not the first time windows have broken in the high-rise. The building has a history of prior shatters, causing homeowners to file a lawsuit against the window supplier. According to the lawsuit, the supplier provided the building with faulty windows.

City officials cited owners and ordered an inspection of the window to ensure safety. It remains to be seen what caused the window failure, but it is clear that this is not an isolated case.

In 2019, the Building Homeowners Association already sued their window supplier for supplying “defective and dangerous” windows to the development. Windows that fail easily are a danger to residents and the general public, especially pedestrians simply passing by below.

A Closer Inspection

Bill Thomas, a veteran in the glass industry, consulted for the plaintiffs in the 2019 case. According to Thomas, a close look at the remains of the broken windows indicated that they were made from tempered glass. This is normally fine because, once tempered glass breaks, the pieces are usually harmless.

However, as per the lawsuit, the windows of 1400 Mission Street also received a bluish ceramic coating. This coating aimed to reduce visibility, but it wound up securing the broken pieces together — forming large chunks. It is these very large chunks that pose a threat to the safety of passersby below.

While a thorough inspection would have revealed this hazard, San Francisco has stopped requiring curtain wall inspections for new buildings. And 1400 Mission Street is not the only high-rise building that did not undergo inspection and experienced shattered windows.

Aaron Perskin, the Board of Supervisors President, seeks to change all of that. His proposed legislation would eliminate the exemption for inspections of new buildings. Additionally, Peskin looks to force all newer buildings to undergo window inspections before the end of the year.

Thomas believes completing all those inspections in time for November might not be feasible. But Peskin wants to start with the handful of buildings that experienced a broken condo window.