Finnish authorities have suggested that housing companies should consider prohibiting use of their balconies until confirming their safety.
The Finnish Real Estate Management Federation is urging housing companies to inspect the safety of their apartment balcony barriers.
The message was particularly directed at companies holding flats built between the 1960s and 1980s, when cement fibreboard was commonly used for balcony barriers.
Last month, the Safety Investigation Authority (Otkes) issued a warning against using fibre cement boards as protection barriers on balconies.
That guidance was related to a woman’s fatal fall from a fifth-floor balcony in Helsinki last autumn. Otkes found that the cement fibreboard barrier on the structure was too weak to actually prevent such an accident.
Authorities in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo have also instructed housing companies to inspect their balconies. They have suggested that housing companies should consider prohibiting use of the balconies until confirming their safety.
According to the real estate management group’s legal expert Sara Rinatmo, the responsibility of ensuring the safety of a building is up to its owners.
“If there is a potential safety risk in the structures, it must be addressed without delay,” Rintamo said in a statement.
According to Rintamo, it is impossible for an ordinary apartment resident to visually assess whether the attachment of a balcony barrier is risky or whether it can provide adequate protection.
Authorities are currently investigating the safety of fiber cement boards more broadly, an effort that is expected to be complete in the autumn.
