Slew of permit problems cited in S.F. house collapse

By John Coté : sfgate – excerpt

(02-13) 09:39 PST SAN FRANCISCO — When a politically connected San Francisco developer’s Twin Peaks house collapsed and slid down a hill during renovations in December, it was being supported by three reinforcing towers, rather than the nine required under its approved plans, according to documents provided to city building inspectors.

That, according to two contested reports, was just one problem with the project being done by developer Mel Murphy, a former president of the Building Inspection Commission, which oversees the city department that issues construction permits.

The work on the steep site appears to have been “dramatically different than the approved plan,” according to a report by Department of Building Inspection chief Tom Hui. He found that Murphy “failed to follow and implement the approved plans and the sequence of construction” in his permit… (more)