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A property owner in Huoshan county, East China’s Anhui Province has been detained for illegally digging a basement beneath a residential building and causing cracks in more than 30 apartments in the building, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday. 

According to a statement issued by the joint investigation team in the county on Tuesday, the suspect surnamed Huang was detained by local police on August 21 and was arrested on September 19. The case remains under further investigation, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday. 

On September 1, the building’s foundation reinforcement was completed and passed the inspection by the county’s housing and urban-rural development bureau. As of now, all monitoring data for the structural safety of the building remain within normal parameters, according to the statement. 

Next, the case and the parties held accountable will be handled in accordance with the laws and regulations. In addition, continuous monitoring on the safety of the building will be carried out to safeguard homeowners’ legitimate rights and interests of the homeowners, the statement said. 

On July 3, Huang violated regulations by digging a basement in the property he had purchased without obtaining prior approval or permission. The property, located on the first floor of the building, was designated for commercial use, according to the statement. 

According to Xinhua, a resident discovered in August that the first-floor apartment owner was digging a basement, which led to cracks occurred to over 30 apartments in the building. 

The basement, about 3 to 4 meters deep and covering roughly 300 square meters, caused cracks in a total of 32 apartments in the nine-story building, according to a report from the Xiaoxiang Morning Post. 

A resident surnamed Bao, who lives on the ninth floor said that cracks appeared on the walls of her home, and the windowsill marble has cracked and begun leaking, the Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported. 

According to Bao, the construction team secretly used excavators to dig during the day and transported construction waste out in the late hours of the night. During the digging, the construction site was cordoned off with a fence over three meters high. The workers locked the construction site, making it very difficult for others to see what was happening inside, according to the Xiaoxiang Morning Post. 

After receiving the report, local authorities swiftly formed a joint investigation team consisting of departments such as housing and urban-rural development bureau, urban management and public security. They promptly conducted checks and carried out inspections, reinforced the foundation of the building, conducted structural safety assessments, and investigated the case in accordance with the laws and regulations, Xinhua reported. 

Chen Pingfan, a lawyer from a Furong Law Office, said Huang’s actions violated the Regulation on the Quality Management of Construction Projects by unauthorized changes to the building’s main structure, which may result in rectification orders and fines. If the actions endanger public safety, Huang could face a penalty of three to 10 years of imprisonment according to the Criminal Law, Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported. 

Global Times