Inspector Who Said Florida Tower Appeared in ‘Good Shape’ Is Now Under Scrutiny

The chief building official of Surfside, Fla., had worked in at least six South Florida cities.

SURFSIDE, Fla. — José L. Haar is still claustrophobic and suffers from chronic back pain, lingering effects from the hours he spent trapped under rubble between two dead brothers decades ago. Hired to haul debris from a demolition project, Mr. Haar was one of three survivors of the 1997 collapse of the Biscayne Kennel Club, a dog track near Miami that caved while being wrecked by an unlicensed, uninsured and unregistered subcontractor. “Everyone started throwing blame around: the owners, the city,” said Mr. Haar, who worked for a demolition company at the site. “It was a very difficult situation.”