University officials have temporarily imposed a maximum occupancy for Alumni Square apartments after a floor buckled during a party last semester.

In an e-mail sent to Alumni Square residents in early December, Karen Frank, vice president for facilities and student housing, and Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs, said the university is working with structural engineers “to determine the appropriate safety precautions and load-bearing capacities of Alumni Square apartments.”

The letter also said that no more than 25 students should occupy an Alumni Square apartment at once.

Frank said in an interview that the limit represents a preliminary estimate of safe capacity for the apartments, and that 25 people in one apartment would be safe under all conditions. She added that the new capacity will not be actively enforced by university officials.

“We hope that people heed the advice in a mature manner,” she said. “We will not be inspecting apartments.”

Jessica Torres (SFS ’09), a resident of Alumni Square 22, the apartment where the buckling incident took place, said she and her roommates hosted 40-60 students for a party in early October. During the party she heard a cracking sound, and then saw a large portion of the living room floor sag “a couple of inches.”

“The buckling was caused by a large number of people dancing and jumping in unison during a party,” according to the letter sent by Frank and Olson.

Structural engineers inspected the apartment two days later and found that several beams supporting the floor had cracked during the party, Torres said. The damage was repaired within two weeks and the residents did not have to relocate.

The university was originally going to force the occupants to pay for the damages to the apartment floor, Torres said, but dropped the fine after structural engineers could not determine it was the fault of the dancers that the floor buckled.

Frank said the engineers are still surveying the apartment complex and will not make recommendations on capacities and other safety precautions until later in the semester.

Several other Alumni Square residents have complained of recent problems with their floors or ceilings.

Alexander Farkas (COL ’08) said he has noticed soft spots in his own Alumni Square apartments. “I think that they need to fix the building,” he said. “I think it’s ridiculous that the university lets people live in unsafe housing.”

Farkas said he would consider the new regulation when he plans parties in the future.

Mahdi Shadkamfarrokhi (COL ’07) said university workers repaired his ceiling during the break between semesters, and Laura Koehler (COL ’08) also experienced sagging in the floor of the Alumni Square apartment where she lived last spring and summer. “The floor was definitely sunken in some areas but nothing big,” she said.

Frank said she had no knowledge of any incidents of structural damage in Alumni Square other than the one in October.

Torres said people would probably heed the new rule.

“The parties will have a new feeling,” she said. “They’ll be like dinner parties.”