The past year exposed accumulated structural flaws, weaknesses in oversight, and a growing ambition for rapid expansion. At the same time, the Jet Set tragedy marked a turning point toward greater control, new regulations, and more visible oversight.
SANTO DOMINGO – 2025 will be remembered as one of the most challenging years for the construction sector in the Dominican Republic. Despite its strategic importance to the economy, the industry faced a series of structural collapses, administrative closures, and challenges to technical supervision, forcing the government to strengthen its oversight role and rethink the rules of the game.
The series of serious incidents began early. On January 31, 2025, a building under construction collapsed in La Romana, killing three workers, at a site that, according to authorities, lacked proper permits and technical supervision.
The most tragic episode, and the one that would definitively open Pandora's box of accumulated shortcomings , occurred on April 8, 2025, when the roof of the Jet Set in Santo Domingo collapsed during a massive event, with a devastating toll: 236 people dead and more than 180 injured, becoming the biggest structural tragedy recorded in the country in decades.
The case revealed deficiencies in maintenance, structural evaluation and institutional control over buildings in operation, and opened a public debate that, at the end of the year, still persists.
In response, the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED) significantly strengthened its inspection policy, with actions ranging from residential construction to large commercial developments, demonstrating a more active control strategy after years of fragmented supervision.
During the rest of the year, other partial collapses and cave-ins occurred in Santiago, including a shopping plaza, as well as in Azua , where part of the roof of a public hospital construction project collapsed while concrete was being poured, broadening the focus of concern towards the quality of supervision, both private and state-run.
According to data published by El Inmobiliario , more than 40 construction projects were halted or closed in 2025 due to non-compliance related to permits, licenses and structural safety standards.
An analysis by this media outlet highlighted that, in recent years, including collapses that occurred between 2023 and 2024, deficient structures have claimed nearly 250 lives in cities such as La Vega, Santiago, La Romana and San Cristóbal , a trend that 2025 not only confirmed, but deepened.
Chinese businesses under scrutiny
In this process, the temporary closure of several Chinese-owned businesses, mainly large stores and shopping centers, became particularly visible. Inspections detected unauthorized structural modifications, a lack of final certifications, and deficiencies in safety conditions, which led the MIVHED to order the suspension of operations until they were regularized.
In September alone, the ministry ordered the preventative closure of 11 businesses in Greater Santo Domingo, alleging they were operating without building permits or inspection certificates and exhibited apparent structural deficiencies. Among the closed establishments were Suplax, Plaza Hope, Central Depot, Central Point, Ming Sheng, Me Home (Nine Mall), La Rocca, Dulce Hogar, Shopping Center New World, STD Mall, and Yo Me.
three Chinese stores in Santiago, were also ordered closed for failing to meet structural safety requirements.
Although some of these businesses resorted to legal action or claimed to operate as tenants and not as owners responsible for the construction, the closures underscored a key point: the state requirement that all buildings, new or existing, comply with permitting and safety requirements before operating to the public.
Workplace safety and new controls.
In parallel, the Ministry of Labor carried out administrative closures for violations of workplace safety standards , reinforcing the idea that the sector's problems are not limited to structural design, but include unsafe work practices and deficiencies in risk management.
In September 2025, the MIVHED officially presented a new Building Code , which incorporates updated seismic criteria, international technical standards and greater demands for professional supervision, with the aim of correcting historical gaps and raising technical responsibility at all stages of the construction process.
CODIA at the center of the debate
Professional organizations also weighed in. Enrique Rosario García, president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors (CODIA), stated in late December that many of the collapses recorded during the year could be explained by the age of the structures and the lack of adequate maintenance, although he clarified that this does not exclude errors in some constructions, acknowledging shortcomings in construction processes and technical supervision.
Rosario García stressed that the collapse of buildings without effective supervision demonstrates weaknesses in the application of current regulations and motivated the strengthening of the technical evaluation of works before their acceptance by the State or end users.
These warnings had already been anticipated by the professional association itself. In early September, the northern regional branch of CODIA (Dominican College of Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors) warned that nearly 60% of buildings in the Ciba region presented some level of structural vulnerability, making it urgent to advance policies for prevention, maintenance, and reinforcement of infrastructure.
Tensions, changes and warnings
Tensions soon arose in an already challenging environment for the construction sector. Economic reports indicate a contraction in activity in the first half of 2025, with a negative year-on-year change of -2.3%, attributed to high interest rates and external uncertainty, which impacted private investment and demand for new construction.
This scenario heightened concerns in the private sector, which demanded more streamlined and coordinated permitting processes, even as public debate called for stricter controls following collapses and structural failures detected in different parts of the country.
The year 2025 exposed accumulated shortcomings in supervision, permitting, and construction quality, but it also forced a readjustment of regulatory priorities. Increased oversight, stricter enforcement of regulations, and the introduction of the new Building Code marked a turning point for the sector.
Even so, the fundamental issue remains. Real estate development and building safety cannot proceed on separate tracks. The accumulation of collapses, warnings from technical associations, and administrative closures this year have demonstrated that growth, without effective controls and rigorous oversight, amplifies risks rather than mitigating them.
More than a one-off crisis, 2025 exposed long-standing structural weaknesses in the construction sector: informality, oversight failures, and a chaotic ambition for growth. At the same time, the Jet Set scandal marked a turning point.
Looking ahead to 2026, the challenge will be to sustain the sector's dynamism without repeating the mistakes that made 2025 a tragic year of warnings , with structural safety and public trust at the heart of the debate.
Timeline : Construction and supervision in 2025
| Date | Event | Place | Victims | Source / reference |
| January 31, 2025 | Collapse of a building under construction without permits | La Romana | 3 deaths | Official reports / El Inmobiliario |
| April 8, 2025 | Jet Set nightclub roof collapse | Santo Domingo | 236 dead, +180 injured | Official reports |
| May–July 2025 | Closures of shopping centers and large stores (including Chinese stores) due to structural failures | Several provinces | — | El Inmobiliario |
| Sept 2025 | Presentation of the new Building Code | National | — | MIVED / El Inmobiliario |
| Dec 2025 | Partial collapse in public hospital construction | Azua | No fatalities | Official reports |
