On June 5, 2013, a building undergoing demolition collapsed onto the neighboring Salvation Army Thrift Store at the southeast corner of 22nd and Market streets in Center City Philadelphia, trapping a number of people under the rubble.

The new rules will prohibit contractors from using heavy machinery to demolish buildings adjacent to occupied structures, which was done at the 22nd and Market demolition.

[16] Mayor Nutter said City Inspector General Amy Kurlan would begin an investigation of the collapse and government failings that contributed to it.

On May 22, Thomas Simmonds of STB emailed Deputy Mayor Greenberger, whose duties as deputy mayor for economic development included overseeing the city's Department of Licences and Inspections, saying that 2138 Market was in a state of partial demolition that created "a situation that poses a threat to life and limb", and "This nonsense must end before someone is seriously injured or worse: those are headlines none of us want to see or read."

An April 23 email indicated that Plato Marinakos, architect for STB, was getting bids for asphalt so that once demolition was complete, a parking lot could be installed.

An April 29 email indicated that Richard Basciano, the STB owner, had stopped by the site and was "shocked that the buildings were still standing," and demanded progress.

On May 22 Thom Simmonds emailed Alex Wolfington, a consultant to STB, opposing further negotiations with the Salvation Army: "Why?..Waste more time?

[24] On June 10, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams convened a grand jury to investigate the circumstances that led to the collapse, a step that may result in criminal charges against responsible individuals.

[25] On Sunday, June 16, The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an editorial calling for the investigations of the Market Street collapse to look at top officials and property owners.

The Inquirer said, "it was disheartening to hear a former mayor, Ed Rendell, defend Richard Basciano, who owns the building that fell through the thrift shop."

The Inquirer editorial stated that "responsibility goes much higher than Sean Benschop, the excavator operator who allegedly tested positive for drugs and has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and than the city building inspector who apparently killed himself ...[over having] wished he had done more to prevent it.” [26] On November 25, 2013, R. Seth Williams, the district attorney, said based on recommendations from the grand jury, prosecutors had formally charged the contractor, Griffin T. Campbell, 49, with six counts each of third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, 13 counts of reckless endangerment and single counts of criminal conspiracy, risking catastrophe and causing catastrophe.

Richard Basciano, a commercial developer previously dubbed the pornography king of New York's Times Square, owned the three adjacent, long run-down buildings being demolished by Griffin Campbell to make way for redevelopment.

Plato Marinakos the architect who had been retained by STB, had secured the demolition permit from City Hall, testified before the grand jury after he was promised immunity.

[30] On November 16, exactly six months after OSHA inspectors visited the demolition site and noted infractions, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Griffin Campbell, doing business as Campbell Construction, and Sean Benschop, doing business as S&R Contracting, for safety violations, including three willful per-instance violations, following the June 5, 2013, building collapse that killed six people and injured 14.

[31] The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that David Michaels, assistant U.S. secretary of labor for occupational safety and health said "This tragic incident could and should have been prevented," "We should not be here today."

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Michaels also said the agency had begun discussions with the Justice Department about possible prosecutions, on top of a local grand-jury investigation that the District Attorney's Office initiated in June.

OSHA levied the maximum fine possible against the Campbell firm - $70,000 - for each of what regulators determined were three "willful violations" of basic safety requirements: failing to prepare an engineering study for the demolition project; disobeying a rule requiring higher stories to be removed before demolition begins on lower floors; and removing lateral bracing, provided by the floors, to support walls more than one story high.

The couple held a press conference and called for answers, including the creation of an independent blue ribbon panel to investigate the City's Department of Licenses and Inspections.

[35] Marika Plekan, a Ukrainian immigrant who was trapped under rubble in the collapse for 13 hours and survived, but lost both her legs as a result, was awarded $95.6 million for her injuries in a lawsuit.