Japanese buildings fraudulently designed

Japan’s construction industry is being rocked by revelations that buildings have been designed with deliberately underdesigned seismic resistance.
According to a report in Engineering News Record, officials have identified 57 buildings with fraudulent documentation and inadequate seismic designs. So inadequate are some of the buildings, they could not withstand a moderate earthquake. After investigations, at least 12 hotels have had to be closed and condominiums have been condemned, leaving 2,200 people without homes. The defective designs involved reinforced concrete frames ranging from 30 to 70% of what is required, resulting in smaller beams and columns with less reinforcing steel.
The architectural engineer who is responsible for the inadequate designs, Hidetsugu Aneha, has been stripped of his licence. The government is considering implementing stricter controls over building practitioners, such as separating architectural and structural licenses, which are currently combined and given for life.
The problems with the buildings emerged when a concerned contractor called in another architectural engineer to check on one of Aneha’s designs.