Corruption caused the collapse of buildings in 2017 Mexico City earthquake, a new report finds

By Kate Linthicum

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An investigation published Tuesday by the nonprofit Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity found that dozens of buildings that collapsed in the quake had been shoddily constructed and wrongly deemed safe by building inspectors.

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Over the last year, journalists, academics and a trade group representing architects have independently highlighted gaps in the permitting and inspection system that have allowed unsafe construction to flourish.

Chief among them is the outsourcing of building inspections to private engineers who are hired and paid by developers, an arrangement that gives engineers an incentive to declare buildings safe, even when they aren’t.

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The study released Tuesday found that in the cases of at least 28 buildings, there was evidence of corruption in the safety inspection process, with developers cutting corners to increase profits and on occasion falsifying documents while inspectors looked the other way. More than 5,000 other buildings in the capital suffered serious damage.

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