SURFSIDE, Fla. — The investigation into the deadly collapse of a Surfside, Florida, condominium has determined that the pool deck’s design was to blame for the tragedy.

The collapse of Champlain Towers South happened more than four years ago, on June 24, 2021, and left 98 people dead, WTVJ reported.

The report compiled by federal scientists with the , said the pool deck did not meet strength requirements and it didn’t have the required steel reinforcement in place, WPLG reported.

“The design of the pool deck slab in most places was under or less than the strength required by the code,” associated lead investigator Glenn Bell said. “In some places, the design provided less than half — less than half — the strength required by the code.”

He also said that the slab reinforcements were not where they would normally be found.

Bell said the deck reinforcement was “placed lower in the slab than the design required and the bars over the tops of the columns were spaced wider than required.”

The issues dated back to the construction of Champlain Towers South about 40 years ago, Bell said, according to WPLG.

He said that the building had several issues.

“This is one of the reasons that this investigation has been so difficult,” Bell said. “There were pretty widespread problems with the building both in design and construction. There were a lot of areas in the building, in the pool deck, and the tower. Many, many, lessons to be learned.”

The report indicated that issues were being seen before the collapse, WTVJ reported.

Images of a sliding glass door broke twice, with “stuck in a nearly closed position and (could) not be used for approximately one month before the collapse of the building,” lead investigator Judith Mitrani-Reiser said.

A stuck sliding door doesn’t mean that a building will collapse.

But there were other indications of issues with the building.

“In early June 2021, just three weeks before the failure of Champlain Towers South, severe distress was noted in … a masonry planter wall and planter box supported on the pool deck," an earlier report said.

There was also a gate that became stuck and could not be operated after one side sank as much as an inch before the collapse.

A water drip became a steady flow in the hours before the collapse and a wall in the south end of the property failed just before the building came down.

“There were many events of distress occurring across the pool deck and the street level parking decks for days, weeks, a month and even years before the collapse of Champlain Towers South. These early signs of distress were all concentrated in the pool deck and street level parking deck area with much concentration near previously repaired cracks and along construction joints.” Mitrani-Reiser said, according to WTVJ.

The next report on the deadly collapse is expected to be released in the spring, WPLG reported.

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