A 12-story building under construction collapsed onto a house early on Saturday (Sept 12) on Rua Tequici, in the Penha district of eastern São Paulo. Six people died, among them a pregnant woman and a child, and a man and a child were pulled from the rubble alive, according to CNN Brasil. Neighbors had reported cracks in nearby houses before the collapse, witnesses told police. Three days later, City Hall suspended 26 projects linked to New Home and Hastiforme, the construction firms behind the building that fell.

The suspension was ordered by the CGM, São Paulo's municipal controller, the internal watchdog of City Hall, and covers both active construction sites and permit applications still under review, according to news site G1. The city said the measure aims to "safeguard the public interest" while the causes of the accident and the responsibility of those involved are investigated. Of the 26 projects, 18 are tied to New Home and eight to Hastiforme, and two were filed by both companies. Most sit in the East and South zones of the city.

A survey obtained by G1 shows that only five of the 26 projects had an approved building permit, the alvará required in Brazil. The rest were denied, still under review or pending regularization. Even so, there are signs of construction at at least eight addresses, some in advanced stages or even finished. A row of townhouses on Rua Colatina, in Cidade Patriarca, is listed as nearly done without a final permit. A three-story building on Rua Jaborandi, in Penha, appears as concluded with the paperwork still open. And a gated community of "high standard" houses on Avenida Padres Olivetanos, promoted by New Home on social media, had its permit denied even though the city found signs of construction there since June 2023.

What changes for residents and buyers

• 26 projects suspended: active work sites and permit applications from the two firms are frozen until further notice.
• Extra inspections: every active site will be checked by the local subprefectures and the municipal Urbanism and Licensing Department (SMUL); sites that fail structural checks can be shut down.
• Permits: only five of the 26 projects had approval; the rest were denied, under review or pending regularization.

Who answers for the case

The CGM also removed for 120 days the inspector Viviane Rodrigues de Palma, of the Penha subprefecture, who carried out the 2024 inspection that cleared the work on the doomed building to continue. In testimony to the controller, she said the inspection was done only from outside because she could not get in, and that the site seemed abandoned, G1 reported. The report she signed at the time said otherwise: the work was in its final structural stage and the demolition required by the city had been carried out "in its entirety".

The building on Rua Tequici had a record of violations: it was fined (one fine reached R$ 119,000), shut down and targeted by a city lawsuit seeking the demolition of the illegal work, with a court order to stop construction. The permit granted in 2023 authorized a new building, but required the demolition of an old structure of about six floors. The suspicion, under investigation by the CGM and the civil police, is that this condition was never met. The causes of the collapse still await expert reports.

On the criminal side, Ronaldo Vivacqua, identified as a hidden partner in New Home, was placed in temporary custody on Sunday (13), and the São Paulo state court (TJ-SP) upheld the arrest on Monday (14). His son Cristiano Vivacqua, the engineer of record for the project, and the company owner Isis Brandão are on the run with arrest warrants; their lawyers said both intend to turn themselves in. In a statement, New Home said it remains at the authorities' disposal and is supporting the families affected by the tragedy.