Florida Condo Milestone Inspections and SIRS: What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know

By LPE Realty Editorial Team

Florida’s condo safety laws change what a buyer receives, what a seller must hand over, and what a building has to spend on its structure. Here is what the statutes say as of October 2026 and how it plays out on a Palm Beach County condo purchase or sale.

Which condo buildings the law covers

Both requirements use the same height test. A milestone inspection applies to a building three habitable stories or more in height, as determined by the Florida Building Code, that is subject in whole or in part to residential condominium or cooperative ownership (s. 553.899(3)(a), F.S.). The SIRS applies to each condominium building three habitable stories or higher (s. 718.112(2)(g)1., F.S.).

Neither applies to single-family through four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground. That puts mid-rise and high-rise condominium towers inside the rules, while two-story garden-style and townhouse condominiums generally fall outside them. Confirm the answer for the specific building. Cooperatives have parallel rules in chapter 719.

Milestone inspections: deadlines, phase one and phase two

A milestone inspection is a structural inspection of the load-bearing elements and primary structural systems by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer, attesting to life safety and the adequacy of the structure. It does not test compliance with the current building or fire codes (s. 553.899(2)(a)).

When it is due. By December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years from its certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. The local enforcement agency may require the first inspection at 25 years where local conditions call for it, including proximity to salt water (s. 553.899(3)(b)). Buildings that turned 30 before July 1, 2022 were due before December 31, 2024; those that turned 30 between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 were due before December 31, 2025. The building official may extend an initial deadline for good cause.

Phase one is a visual examination of the building, including its major structural components. It must be completed within 180 days after the association receives the building official’s written notice. If the inspector finds no signs of substantial structural deterioration, the inspection ends there. Phase two follows only if phase one finds such deterioration; it may involve destructive or nondestructive testing and recommends a repair program, and a progress report is due within 180 days after the phase one report (s. 553.899(6) and (7)).

Repairs and notice. Every county and city must now adopt an ordinance requiring repairs for substantial structural deterioration to be scheduled or started within a set time after a phase two report, and they must start within 365 days (s. 553.899(11)). Within 45 days after receiving a report, the association must send every owner the inspector-prepared summary, post it on the property, and publish the full report on its website if it must have one (s. 553.899(9)). Associations operating a condominium of 25 or more units must post the inspection reports, the most recent SIRS and building permits for planned construction on that website or app (s. 718.111(12)(g)).

The structural integrity reserve study (SIRS)

A SIRS is a reserve study limited to the parts of the building that carry its structural integrity and safety. Section 718.112(2)(g) requires it to cover the roof; the structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural systems; fireproofing and fire protection; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item costing more than $25,000 to replace or maintain whose failure would harm those items. DBPR adjusts that threshold for inflation each year and posts it: $25,675 for 2026.

The study rests on a visual inspection performed or verified by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, or a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst certified by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts. It states each item’s remaining useful life and cost, and recommends a funding schedule that at minimum keeps the reserve balance above zero every year.

Deadlines. At least every 10 years. Unit-owner-controlled associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022 had to complete their first SIRS by December 31, 2025. One whose milestone inspection is due on or before December 31, 2026 may do both together, but no SIRS may be completed after December 31, 2026 (s. 718.112(2)(g)7.). After a milestone inspection, an association may delay a required SIRS for up to two consecutive budget years so its money goes to the milestone repairs first. Within 45 days after receiving the study, the association must give owners a copy or notice of it and report completion to DBPR, which keeps a public SIRS reporting database a buyer can search.

The end of reserve waivers for structural items, and the 2025 changes

Florida condo owners long had the option to vote for partial reserves or none. For any budget adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners of an association that must obtain a SIRS may not vote to provide no reserves or less than required reserves for SIRS items; the only exception is a multicondominium association with a DBPR-approved alternative funding method (s. 718.112(2)(f)2.b.). Reserve funds for those items cannot be redirected to other uses, and the amount must follow the most recent SIRS. Owners can still vote, by a majority of the total voting interests, to waive or reduce reserves for items outside the SIRS list.

Chapter 2025-175, Laws of Florida (CS/CS/HB 913, approved June 23, 2025 and generally effective July 1, 2025), kept that rule and added flexibility:

Key dates and timeframes at a glance

Requirement	Timeframe in the statute	Source
First milestone inspection	By December 31 of the year the building turns 30 (25 where the local building official requires), then every 10 years	s. 553.899(3)
Phase one completed	Within 180 days after the association receives the building official’s notice	s. 553.899(6)
Phase two progress report	Within 180 days after the phase one report	s. 553.899(7)(b)
Structural repairs started	Within 365 days after the phase two report	s. 553.899(11)
Inspection summary to owners	Within 45 days after the association receives the report	s. 553.899(9)
First SIRS (associations existing by July 1, 2022)	December 31, 2025; no later than December 31, 2026 if done with a milestone inspection	s. 718.112(2)(g)7.
Repeat SIRS	At least every 10 years	s. 718.112(2)(g)1.
No waiver of SIRS reserves	Budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024	s. 718.112(2)(f)2.b.
Resale buyer’s right to cancel	7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing and receipt of the documents	s. 718.503(2)(d) and (e)
Estoppel certificate	Issued within 10 business days of a request; effective 30 days (35 if mailed)	s. 718.116(8)

What a buyer must receive with the contract, and the 7-day right to cancel

On a resale, section 718.503(2)(a) entitles the buyer, at the seller’s expense, to current copies of the declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws and rules, the annual financial statement and budget, the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report if applicable, the most recent SIRS or a statement that none has been completed, any turnover inspection report from on or after July 1, 2023, and the “Frequently Asked Questions and Answers” sheet, plus DBPR’s governance form.

For contracts entered into after December 31, 2024, the contract must state in conspicuous type whether the association is not required to have a milestone inspection or SIRS, is required but has not completed one, or has completed one. In the last case it carries two clauses: an acknowledgment that the buyer received the milestone summary, turnover report and SIRS (as applicable) more than 7 days before signing, and a clause making the contract voidable by the buyer’s written notice within 7 days after signing and receiving them, in each case excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. On written request, the buyer may extend closing by up to 7 such days after receiving the documents. Any waiver of the right has no effect, and it ends at closing (s. 718.503(2)(d) and (e)). A purchase from the developer carries a 15-day period instead (s. 718.503(1)).

The statute entitles the buyer to the milestone summary, not the full report. Ask for the full report and read it with the SIRS: a clean phase one and a funded SIRS read very differently from an open phase two and a reserve plan that depends on a loan. For the unit itself, see our guide to what an as-is contract means in Florida.

Special assessments: what to ask the association

A new owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the transfer of title (s. 718.116(1)(a)). Each special assessment must be noticed to owners with its specific purpose, and the money may be used only for that purpose (s. 718.116(10)). The estoppel certificate itemizes what is owed on the unit and what is scheduled to come due during its effective period.

Read the last 12 months of approved board minutes as well. Who pays an assessment approved before closing but due after it is a contract term to settle in writing.

How the rules show up in pricing and financing

The law does not set prices, but it puts a building’s structural costs in front of the buyer. SIRS reserves flow into regular assessments, and repairs may be funded by special assessment or an association loan; any such assessment, loan or credit line must appear in the annual financial statement given to prospective purchasers. Those numbers belong in any carrying-cost comparison. Our comparison of a luxury condo and a single-family home walks through that view, and the master insurance policy belongs in the same review, as covered in our coastal insurance due diligence guide.

Lenders check the building too. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide (topic B4-2.1-03, dated August 5, 2026) makes a condo project needing critical repairs ineligible. Its examples include a project that failed a jurisdictional mandatory inspection specific to structural safety, and unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit that should be done within 12 months (repairs funded by special assessment are excluded from that test). If a structural or mechanical inspection was completed within 3 years of the lender’s review, the lender must obtain and review it, and a special assessment tied to an unremediated critical repair makes the project ineligible. Other programs and portfolio lenders set their own standards, so buyers using jumbo or asset-based financing should ask early which building documents the lender needs.

For sellers: get the paperwork before you list

The buyer’s 7-day window runs from the later of signing and receipt of the documents. Delivering the full package before the contract is signed keeps it to 7 days after signing instead of leaving it open until the last document arrives. Request the declaration, bylaws, rules, budget, financial statement, milestone summary and SIRS (or the association’s statement that none is required or completed) as soon as you decide to sell, and order the estoppel certificate close to closing, since it is effective for only 30 days (35 if mailed). If an assessment is pending, know its purpose and schedule before you price. Our home valuation request is a starting point for a building-specific pricing conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions