Great no one was killed!

Old balcony construction and maintenance is a continuing homeowner problem. Even when the homeowner lives in a condominium community, rather than a large commercial rental property. The Berkeley residential balcony collapse several years ago showed the problem (unfortunately with a loss of life) - and there was a legislative response with a new law.

HOWEVER, it is the condo association (a type of non-profit corporation) that has the legal responsibility to monitor the safety of it's buildings (exterior balconies are 'elements' under the association). This means hard core building inspection and hard core rules enforcement (no large heavy planting pots & posted restrictions on Max # of People). These must be paid for by the association - out of the yearly HOA fees. Many HOAs do not run efficiently or responsibly.

If the HOA in this case did their due diligence (I was on a board where we inspected and replaced external stairways = Lakes of Mountain View on Sterling) then no problem. Otherwise - they should expect the city Building Dept will be all over them (with inspectors and red tape and etc.)

I am so glad everyone got back inside in time!

I've seen plenty of rot in the wood of 20-30 y.o. homes, esp wood exposed to outdoor elements.

Landlords, how old is your building?
*You are liable. Better get an inspection on record for your own protection

Here is a link to the 2018 inspection law (signed by Gov Brown) caused by the Berkely incident.
press www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/california-passes-balcony-inspections-law-in-response-to-berkeley-tragedy-1.3633641
Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_balcony_collapse
It is reported in the Irish Times because 6 Irish students related to UC Berkeley were the ones killed in that (avoidable) accident. I haven't read the law - it casually seems related only to multi-family rentals and not condo associations (HOA).