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As rescuers sift through the debris of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, Florida, officials are focused on finding survivors but in the days and weeks to come, they will turn their attention to how and why the condominium building collapsed.

As of Wednesday morning, 12 people were confirmed dead, while another 149 were still unaccounted for in the rubble of the 12-story building (shown above), and officials have cautioned that it is too soon to determine an exact cause of the tragedy.

But if past disasters are an indication, the investigation will yield clues to help explain the cause of the accident and to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. The analysis of other multifamily structure failures has given way to new building codes, techniques and best practices that have improved the safety of new buildings and helped to strengthen existing ones.

Here is a look at six multifamily building accidents and the important changes they brought about:

Berkeley balcony collapse

On June 16, 2015, partygoers stepped out onto a fourth-floor apartment balcony in Berkeley, California. However, the birthday celebration turned into a tragedy when the balcony collapsed, killing six people — including five Irish exchange students — and seriously injuring seven others.

After lengthy investigations, dry rot was discovered in the supporting wood underneath the balcony, and experts said they believed this disintegration occurred when workers waterproofed the wood while it was wet. Officials determined that although the plans called for pressure-treated joists that could resist rot, Segue Construction, the contractor, used an engineered wood product not intended to be used for decking or, in this case, a balcony. Investigators reported that the balcony assembly was not properly waterproofed, which allowed water to seep into the balcony assembly. The balcony material then rotted and weakened.

Because of the tragedy, the city of Berkeley launched an inspection of balconies and other outdoor structures and found hundreds in need of repair. In addition, state legislators passed California SB 465, which gave the licensing board more oversight over contractors and mandated two studies — one looking into whether an analysis of past contractor judgment and lawsuit information would add to industry safety, and the other considering necessary changes to state building codes.

The state building code has since been amended to include increased minimum load requirements and new standards for ventilation, waterproofing and drainage slopes for balconies and other load-bearing structures,

Past building disasters have led to enhanced codes and safety improvements for the construction of condos, hotels and other residential structures.

Three construction workers were killed and dozens were injured after the $85 million Hard Rock Hotel project in New Orleans collapsed in October 2019 while under construction. The workers’ bodies were not pulled out of the rubble until nearly a year later, due to the building’s instability, bad weather and problems with the demolition contractor.

One of the claims in the multiple lawsuits that have since been filed against the Hard Rock’s developers and contractors is that there was inadequate support for the concrete being poured on the upper floors, where the building gave way, and that the concrete was not allowed to cure properly. After a months-long investigation, OSHA cited and fined 11 firms in connection with the incident.

In addition, New Orleans city officials suspended two building inspectors amid allegations they falsified inspection reports for the Hard Rock Hotel New Orleans project before the collapse.