Part of Building Collapses in Brookline, Mass. for 2nd Time This Fall

For the second time this fall, part of a building has come crashing down on to a busy street in Brookline, Massachusetts. 

The collapse happened around 4:30 Tuesday morning at 423 Harvard St. 

A major clean-up effort is underway, with crews working to remove the rest of the façade. The work has temporarily closed two restaurants below. 

"It is just deferred maintenance really, it hasn't been done on the building," said Brookline Deputy Building Commissioner Mike Yanovitch. "Owning a building is a lot of responsibility."

"The masonry comes outside of our scope," he added. "If we notice it, yeah, we try to get a hold of it, but there is a level of responsibility with an owner and their contractors, to make sure they are taking care of these types of things."

The extent of the damage won't be known until crews can remove more of the facade. 

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Just a month ago, another building partially collapsed on Egmont Street.

According to town inspectors, there is no building code which requires regular checks of a building's facade, which they fear has allowed some properties to dangerously deteriorate without detection.

While interior inspections are required every five years, exterior checks of the facade are not mandatory unless there is exterior renovation being completed. 

There were no reported injuries in Tuesday's incident.