MONTREAL - The Quebec government says it sent a memo two years ago to building owners warning about the potential for the exact type of parking-lot collapse that killed a Montreal man this week.
A spokeswoman for the provincial building-safety board says owners were issued a warning about the corrosive effects of de-icing salt and the need to perform regular maintenance work on multi-level garages.
The December 2006 memo -- still posted on the Regie du batiment's website -- carries a graphic that bears an eerie resemblance to Wednesday's spectacular collapse.
The illustration shows collapsing slabs of concrete, falling cars, and vehicles being crushed in a scene almost identical to this week's fatal accident.
The memo warns owners that they must ensure their concrete structures remain in good shape, in order to protect people's safety.
The company that owns the complex in west-end Montreal was among those to receive the notice, the government spokeswoman said.
"The property owner has a legal responsibility to maintain his building," Regie spokeswoman Marjolaine Veillette said in an interview Thursday.
"It's up to him to do the necessary maintenance to his building so that its occupants are safe."
She said a government inspector went to check electrical wiring in the building's stairwell, located near the parking garage, after a call from the fire department this past May.
The inspector did not enter the garage.
The real-estate giant that owns the building remained tight-lipped on Thursday. After scheduling interviews with its president Thomas Schwartz, the Cap Reit company cancelled them and issued a terse statement instead.
The company said it was inspecting the accident site with government-appointed engineers.
The Toronto-based company said it would work with the Red Cross to provide food, lodging and even clothing for the 500 people who were forced out of their homes following the accident.
Tenants of the Montreal highrise say there were various complaints about the state of their building long before a deadly floor collapse Wednesday.
A massive chunk of concrete dropped onto parked cars, killing one person inside the building's multi-level garage.
Sally Saade said she used to work as a receptionist for Cap Reit -- a Toronto real-estate firm -- but quit because irate tenants regularly showed up at her office to complain about problems in the building.
Saade said the building manager had received repeated requests to fix rusted-out beams and plug leaky pipes that cause what she called a seemingly perpetual flood in the parking garage.
She lives in the 35-year-old complex and described it as something she'd expect to see in her native Lebanon -- not in Canada.
"The building is going backwards," said a visibly shaken Saade.
"The building needs renovations. . . I don't want to live what I lived 20 years ago in the war in Lebanon. I don't want to see that. We are not in the Third World, we are in Canada."
Eleventh-floor resident Antoine Coderre said he had concerns about the building for years.
Coderre was in the elevator heading down to the garage at the time of the collapse. He said he's thankful to be alive.
"There are lots of things that need to be fixed," said Coderre, who has lived in the building for more than 20 years.
"It's a catastrophe. A floor has fallen -- that's a bad situation."
Oren Aizenstros, another tenant, said the garage floors were riddled with cracks.
"You'd look at the ground, your car would hit some of these cracks and you'd be like, `Maybe this should be taken care of,' " he said.
Tenant Simon Abou-Antoun said he's seen maintenance workers paint over the rusty beams in the parking garage.
He also said water from an adjacent car wash continually seeps into the concrete floors.
Two weeks ago a rusted-out pipe collapsed onto the floor of the garage, Abou-Antoun said.
The company did not respond to an email requesting comment on the tenants' complaints.
