Warning Had Been Issued on Balcony Site : Tragedy: Building officials sent notice in mid-1970s saying steel beams were corroding at Malibu complex. Two people died when deck fell.

Los Angeles County officials warned in the mid-1970s that steel beams were corroding at a Malibu townhouse complex where two people died when a balcony collapsed into the surf Sunday, a building official said Monday.

Ed Biddlecomb, assistant superintendent of building for the Los Angeles County Division of Building and Safety, said a notice was issued advising that “it would be dangerous” if the beams were not maintained to resist corrosion. Biddlecomb said he was not sure to whom the notice was sent.

“You have to maintain it,” he said of the beam. “It is the individual property owner’s responsibility.”

Landowner Ronald S. Dunas, who developed the buildings on the oceanfront property and sold 99-year leases on the units, said any responsibility rests with the leaseholders. Dunas recalled the warning in the 1970s from the Division of Building and Safety. He said he had recommended that the steel girders beneath the residences be sandblasted and a marine coating applied to resist corrosion. But Dunas said: “I didn’t have the ability to enforce that.”

The leaseholder of the damaged unit could not be reached for comment.

Early Sunday morning, George Hanasab, 36, of Woodland Hills and Farzad Laaly, 28, of Culver City were killed and 29 other party-goers injured when the steel beam gave way. Most of the injured have been treated at area hospitals and released, but at least six people remained hospitalized Monday night.

After visiting the site, Dunas blamed the accident on the overload of 30 to 35 people on a deck designed to support three or four. He said the collapse had nothing to do with the steel girder below.

On Monday, barbecue equipment and smashed bottles still littered the sand and rocks beneath the deck, which hung from the remaining beam, the surface of which was similar to the one that failed--stripped of paint and reduced to flaky rust by the elements.

Bloodstains remained on the stairwell and the doorway of the luxury townhouse where Massoud Sarshar had given the party. Sarshar had contemplated buying the unit--a plan he has abandoned, according to neighbors.

Malibu building official James Guerra said that one of his inspectors went to the neighboring unit in the complex in January after someone complained that unauthorized work was being done underneath it.

The inspector found that contractors had built a support structure of wood beams to shore up the cantilevered deck’s steel beams, which were so rusted that daylight could be seen through them.

Guerra urged oceanfront property owners in Malibu whose homes are supported by cantilevered steel beams to hire licensed civil engineers to inspect the structures.

Steve Duboff, a real estate agent who rents the neighboring unit, said the steel under that unit had dissolved in places. “It’s worn through,” he said. “It’s completely corroded.”

Bracing had been installed under the house, in preparation for replacement of the girders.

Guerra said that the inspector made no note of the condition of the steel beams next door under the deck that collapsed Sunday. The beam that failed is located less than eight feet across a walkway from the beams that were inspected.

Guerra said the owner of the damaged building assumed all responsibility for the structure’s safety in 1963 when county building inspectors approved the two-story, two-unit building for occupancy. At that time, Malibu was an unincorporated part of the county. The seaside community became a city last year.

Guerra said that the building code does not require regular inspections of seafront properties, but the city will investigate complaints about the condition of individual structures. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Guerra said he will consult with City Council members to consider what response, if any, Malibu should take.

“Our primary role is during plan review and inspection of the structure,” he said at a press conference at Malibu’s city offices. “Upon completion . . . at that point, the code clearly transfers responsibility for the building to the property owner.”

After inspecting the property at 20446 Pacific Coast Highway early Sunday, Guerra said the damaged balcony and those around it appeared to have been built in accord with the building code. “I saw no obvious building code violations.”

He said the balcony was approved by county inspectors to handle a full load of people. But he said rust had weakened the cantilevered steel beam construction to the point where it buckled under the weight of more than two dozen people and assorted barbecue equipment.

At the scene, neighbors came to gawk at the bent, rusted beam and the splintered wood supports, and local repairmen slipped their business cards into the door jamb.

One contractor shook his head at the wreckage. “This isn’t like living in the city,” said Mick Mills, part owner of Shore & Shear, a company that specializes in repairing supports under seaside homes. “These people live on boats , they’re like living in a harbor.”

Neighbor Duboff looked at the collapsed deck and observed, “Too many people in the wrong place at the wrong time on a girder that just wasn’t safe.”

Duboff said he heard the collapse, “a tremendous crash,” and rushed outside.

“It was a nightmare, it was like a train wreck,” Duboff said. “I saw people just strewn all over the rocks, and then there were people running down the stairs trying to help. . . . It was just total panic.”