The Massachusetts legislature has seen increased support for Senate Bill 548, ‘An act relative to crumbling concrete foundations’, following a hearing by the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture last week. The bill was introduced by Anne Gobi, Eric Lesser, Brian Ashe, Joanne Comerford and other members of the Massachusetts General Court to establish legislation relating to crumbling concrete foundations. It is very similar to the bill passed by the Connecticut legislature in June last year following the discovery that many residential and commercial buildings in the state had been constructed using concrete made from stone aggregate mined from a quarry containing pyrrhotite, a mineral which deteriorates concretes and causes cracks in building foundations. Under the Massachusetts act, any organisation looking to mine or expand a quarry would be required to test the proposed area for the presence of pyrite or pyrrhotite, as well as provide a geological source report, including an operations plan and core samples. A testing laboratory will then perform aggregate testing to measure the total sulphur content and to identify the existence of pyrrhotite. If pyrite or pyrrhotite is detected, a permit may only be issued if the materials mined from the quarry are not then used in aggregate product to make residential or commercial foundations. If they are used, the contractor and quarry owner and operator are liable for property damage, according to the bill. Owners of real property in Massachusetts built on or after 1 January 1983 or within a 50-mile radius of Stafford Springs, Connecticut may apply for a residential property abatement with their board of assessors. The bill reads: “A captive insurance company may operate in Massachusetts for the purpose of providing assistance to owners of residential buildings with concrete foundations that have deteriorated due to the presence of pyrrhotite, including overseeing the evaluation, repair, replacement and reimbursement of qualified residential crumbling foundations.” It adds that this is conditional on the requirements that “any such captive insurer shall comply with the relevant laws and regulations for the offering of homeowner’s insurance coverage; and provided further, that such captive insurer shall register with the state secretary to do business in Massachusetts”. If passed, this bill would see the creation of a captive insurance company similar to the Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, which was signed into a permanent entity last July.
