Supervisors Question DBI’s Oversight After Millennium Tower Found to Have Settled and Tilted

SAN FRANCISCO — The Board of Supervisors’ Government Audit & Oversight Committee convened a special hearing on Sept. 22, 2016, to examine why the 58‑story Millennium Tower in the Transbay area has settled far more than engineers originally projected and what the city knew about the problem.

Chair Aaron Peskin opened the hearing saying the committee would “identify who knew what, when they knew it, and what they did about it,” after press reports that the tower had settled roughly 16 inches — well beyond the 4–6 inches originally anticipated — and had developed a two‑inch tilt to the northwest. He noted documents produced by third parties indicate the developer and consultants recorded larger settlement years earlier.

The Department of Building Inspection’s director, Tom Huey, and DBI staff told supervisors that DBI has launched an investigation and asked the building’s owners for records, but stressed the department traditionally relies on engineering reports submitted by owners and their consultants. Ron Tom, DBI’s assistant director, described the department’s role as reviewing plans and conducting inspections to verify construction conformed to approved plans and codes; he said DBI’s field inspectors did not observe…