WARWICK –– A deck collapse at the Greenbrier Condominiums that badly injured several women on Saturday led to the city’s discovery that all of the decks at the 20-year-old complex appeared to be unsafe.

Two women were still hospitalized yesterday after the deck they were on collapsed, sending the deck above tumbling on top of them. The footings of the two-story deck weren’t anchored properly, said city Building Inspector John Pagliaro, and the lag bolts attaching the decks to the building didn’t appear to be attached to a solid base. Pagliaro said he’d inspected all of the units at the five-building complex over the weekend and found the same problems –– every first- and second-floor deck (about 20) was deteriorating and in serious need of repair.

The city building inspection department has told the residents of the complex on New London Avenue not to use their decks until they hire an engineer to inspect and verify the structures are safe. This has prompted the city to also alert all residents in Warwick to regularly inspect their decks for deterioration, Pagliaro said.

Several friends were enjoying a dinner on a neighbor’s first-floor deck when it suddenly gave way. As the deck pulled away from the building, the second-story deck also crashed down on top of the women –– with only a large air-conditioning unit and porch furniture keeping them from being crushed under the falling wood, Pagliaro said.

Five women, including the president and vice president of the condominium association, were crushed under the rubble and had to be freed by firefighters. All of them suffered bruises and broken bones.

The complex was built in 1987 and 1988 and passed inspection, said Pagliaro, who was not the building inspector at the time. Sometime later, there were makeshift repairs made to all of the decks using metal strapping, he said.

Neither the original deck construction nor the repairs would have met the building code, Pagliaro said. The city Building Department was continuing to investigate, he said.

The condominium association has hired Warwick lawyer Raymond Harrison, who has represented other condominium associations on similar construction issues.

Harrison said last night that the association is hiring an engineering firm to inspect all of the decks.

Harrison said he was familiar with the builder of the Greenbrier Association, James Peskin.

Harrison decried the lack of consumer-protection laws in Rhode Island that would license and hold builders financially responsible for poor construction and defects that are often discovered years later.

“This is the biggest financial investment a person makes, it’s your home, and to have no protection from the government,” Harrison said.

“What we need is licensing where a contractor has to prove he or she is competent, and if they do wrong, there is financial responsibility.

“The problem is, we don’t find out about the problems until after it’s sold.”

amilkovi@projo.com