Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Florida Statute 553.899 requires condo and co-op buildings 3+ stories to get a structural milestone inspection when they turn 30, or 25 if within 3 miles of the coast, and every 10 years after that. A licensed architect or engineer does Phase 1, and Phase 2 (more invasive testing) if the report flags problems. Local building officials set the exact deadline and can grant extensions.
What is the Florida milestone inspection statute?
The Florida milestone inspection statute is section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes, part of the building safety reforms the legislature passed after the June 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside that killed 98 people [1]. It requires a licensed architect or engineer to physically inspect the structure and load-bearing elements of most condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more in height, on a schedule tied to the building's age and its distance from the coastline. The law took effect through SB 4-D in the 2022 special session and was refined further in 2023 through SB 154 [2]. It sits alongside a companion requirement, the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS), found in section 718.112, which forces associations to fund reserves for the structural components the milestone inspection covers. Here's the plain-language version. If your building is 3 stories or taller, isn't a single-family home, and isn't exempt, you owe the state (through your local building official) a structural inspection at 30 years of age, or 25 years if you're within 3 miles of a coastline, and then again every 10 years after that first one [3]. Miss it, and your board is looking at code enforcement action, potential fines, and a much harder conversation with owners about liability.
Which buildings does the milestone inspection law apply to?
The statute applies to any building that is three stories or more in height, and it covers condominiums, cooperatives, and (as amended) certain other buildings the local government determines pose similar risk. Single-family, two-family, and three-family dwellings are excluded, per the statutory definition of "condominium" and "cooperative" buildings in the law's scope language [3]. Height is measured by number of stories, not overall building height in feet, which matters for older low-slung buildings that might still hit the 3-story threshold. Parking garages attached to a condo structure are commonly included because they're part of the building's load-bearing system, though your engineer of record and local building official make that call, not the association board. A few practical wrinkles come up constantly: - Mixed-use buildings (condo units over retail) are covered the same as pure residential condos.
- Timeshares and cooperatives are explicitly included.
- Buildings that received a certificate of occupancy less than 25 years ago (or 30 inland) simply aren't due yet, but the clock is running from the C.O. date, not the sale closing date or the recording of the declaration. If you're not sure whether your association's building counts, that's a conversation for your association's counsel and your county building department, not a guess. Statutes get amended and local interpretation varies by jurisdiction.
When is the 25-year vs. 30-year deadline, and who decides?
The dividing line is distance from the coast. If a building is located within three miles of a coastline, the first milestone inspection is due when the building turns 25 years old. Everywhere else, it's 30 years [3]. After that first inspection, both categories move to the same cadence: every 10 years. The "coastline" measurement isn't left to board interpretation. Local building officials use the state's official coastal construction control line and mapping data to make the call, and they're the ones who send the notice or otherwise identify which buildings in their jurisdiction owe an inspection and by when [3]. Some counties, Miami-Dade and Broward especially, had their own older recertification programs (40-year and 50-year local schedules) before the state law passed. The state milestone law now layers on top of, and in practice supersedes, those with its own age triggers, though local officials can set the exact deadline date within statutory limits. Don't wait for a letter. Boards that treat the notice as the starting gun tend to get caught short on engineer availability, since a lot of buildings in the same coastal zip codes are hitting their 25-year mark around the same years. Pull your certificate of occupancy date now and do the math yourself.
What happens in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of a milestone inspection?
Phase 1 is a visual examination. A licensed architect or engineer walks the property, looks at accessible structural components (columns, beams, slabs, load-bearing walls, the building envelope), and produces a written report. If the Phase 1 report finds no signs of substantial structural deterioration, that's the end of it for another 10 years. Phase 2 kicks in only if Phase 1 turns up "substantial structural deterioration," a term the statute leaves somewhat open but which building officials and the profession generally read as spalling, corrosion, cracking, or other damage that could affect structural capacity. Phase 2 involves more invasive testing: concrete core sampling, destructive or semi-destructive testing of specific elements, load calculations, whatever the engineer determines is needed to assess the extent of the problem and recommend repairs [3]. The statute requires the inspector to submit a sealed report to the association and, in most jurisdictions, to the local building official as well. That report becomes a document your association is required to maintain and, under the related transparency provisions of chapter 718, generally make available to owners [4]. It also becomes the technical basis for the SIRS reserve study line items, since you can't budget for concrete restoration you haven't identified yet.
What does a milestone inspection cost, and who pays?
Costs vary a lot by building size, age, and whether Phase 2 testing gets triggered. Phase 1 visual inspections for a mid-size condo commonly run in the low tens of thousands of dollars total, though very large or complex buildings can cost more; there's no statutory fee schedule, so pricing is set by the market for licensed architects and engineers in your area. If Phase 2 is required, costs climb meaningfully because core sampling, lab testing, and a more detailed engineering report all add time and specialized labor. The association pays, not individual unit owners directly. That means the money comes out of the operating budget, existing reserves, or a special assessment if neither of those covers it. This is exactly why the SIRS requirement under section 718.112(2)(g) exists in parallel: the legislature wants associations funding for known structural costs before the inspection forces a crisis-mode assessment [5]. A board that hasn't budgeted for the inspection itself, separate from any repairs it might reveal, is already behind. Get a proposal from a licensed engineer early, put the number in next year's budget as a line item, and don't let the first phase get lumped in with reserve funding for repairs that haven't been scoped yet.
What is a reserve study, and what is it for?
A reserve study is a professional assessment of a building's major common-area components (roof, structure, paving, plumbing risers, pool, elevators, and similar) that estimates each component's remaining useful life and the cost to repair or replace it, then builds a funding schedule so the association isn't blindsided by a six-figure roof replacement with no money set aside [5]. It's the financial planning tool; the milestone inspection is the structural safety tool. They inform each other but they aren't the same document. Florida's version for condos, the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS), is narrower than a full reserve study: it's required to cover specific structural and life-safety components (roof, load-bearing walls, primary structural members, fireproofing, electrical wiring, plumbing, and waterproofing, among others listed in the statute) and must be done at least every 10 years by someone qualified under the statute [5]. A broader, voluntary reserve study can cover everything from parking lot resurfacing to clubhouse furniture, but the SIRS components are the ones the law says can't be waived or reduced by owner vote anymore for most condo associations, starting with reports due by December 31, 2024 for buildings meeting the statutory criteria [5]. If your association hasn't done either one recently, get a reserve study scoped correctly the first time. Paying for a generic reserve study that doesn't meet the SIRS component list means paying twice.
How much should an HOA or condo have in reserves?
There's no single dollar figure or percentage that's "right," because it depends entirely on the age, size, and component inventory of your specific building. What matters is whether your reserve funding is tracking the actual replacement cost curve of your roof, structure, paving, and mechanical systems, which is exactly what a reserve study or HOA reserve study is supposed to calculate. For Florida condo associations specifically, the law no longer leaves this to a vote. As of the reporting deadlines under section 718.112, associations must fund reserves for SIRS components at the level the study recommends; owners can no longer vote to waive or underfund reserves for those specific structural items [5]. HOAs governed by chapter 720 have more flexibility and can still vote to waive or reduce reserves in many cases. So the answer to "how much should an HOA have in reserves" really depends on whether you're dealing with a condo (locked in by 718.112) or a homeowners association (governed by 720, with more member discretion) [6]. A rough industry rule of thumb some reserve professionals use is funding to at least 70% of the calculated "fully funded" reserve balance as a reasonably safe threshold, though this isn't a Florida statutory requirement for HOAs and boards should get their own study rather than rely on a rule of thumb. For condos, again, the SIRS components aren't optional anymore regardless of what a rule of thumb says.
What is an HOA assessment, and how is it different from a special assessment?
An HOA assessment is the money a homeowners association or condo association charges owners to fund operations and reserves. It's usually charged monthly or quarterly, sized to cover budgeted expenses like landscaping, insurance, management fees, and reserve contributions, and it's mandatory under the association's governing documents. That's the regular assessment. A special assessment is a separate, one-time (or occasionally installment) charge the board levies outside the regular budget, typically because reserves don't cover an unexpected or newly identified cost, like a milestone inspection Phase 2 repair, storm damage, or a SIRS-driven concrete restoration project. Special assessments are legal in Florida under both chapter 718 (condos) and chapter 720 (HOAs), but boards generally need to follow specific notice and, sometimes, membership approval procedures set by the association's declaration or bylaws [4]. What triggers one, how it's approved, and how it's collected is governed by your specific documents, so that's a question for your association's counsel, not a general statute reading. If a milestone inspection or SIRS report identifies a repair your reserves don't cover, a special assessment is often the mechanism boards use to fund it fast rather than waiting years to build up reserves. See our breakdown of the HOA special assessment process and, separately, condo special assessment insurance options some associations use to spread the cost.
Are HOA special assessments tax deductible?
Generally, no, not for the individual owner in the way you might deduct mortgage interest or property tax. Special assessments paid to your HOA or condo association for repairs, maintenance, or capital improvements are typically treated by the IRS as a personal expense (nondeductible), similar to regular HOA dues, unless the unit is a rental property or used for business, in which case some or all of the assessment may be deductible as a rental expense or added to the property's basis for depreciation purposes. The IRS doesn't have a Florida-specific page on this because it's a federal tax question, not a state one, and the treatment depends heavily on how the assessment is used (repair vs. capital improvement) and whether the property is owner-occupied or a rental. If your association hits you with a milestone-inspection-driven special assessment, this is a conversation for a CPA, not a board member, and definitely not something to rely on internet forum advice for. The dollar amounts involved with structural special assessments (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars per unit) make it worth the fee for a real tax opinion.
What happens if a building misses its milestone inspection deadline?
Consequences run through your local building official, since they're the enforcement authority under the statute, not the state directly. Typically this means code enforcement notices, escalating fines, and in some jurisdictions the building official can require the association to submit a corrective plan or timeline. In the most serious cases involving confirmed unsafe structural conditions, a local government can order a building vacated, which is the outcome every board is trying to avoid by staying ahead of the deadline rather than reacting to it [3]. Beyond regulatory exposure, a missed or ignored milestone inspection is a serious liability problem for board members personally and for the association's insurance and financing. Lenders increasingly ask condo associations for milestone inspection and SIRS documentation before approving mortgages in the building, and some insurers factor it into renewal pricing or will decline to renew at all without it. Buyers' attorneys are asking for this paperwork in due diligence now too. If your building already missed its deadline, the fix isn't to panic. Get a licensed engineer scheduled immediately and document every step your board takes going forward. Local building officials generally respond better to associations that are visibly moving than ones that go quiet.
How do boards actually organize milestone inspection and SIRS compliance?
The paperwork burden is real: engineer contracts, Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports, SIRS reports, board resolutions on reserve waivers or fully funding, owner notices, insurance renewal documentation, and county correspondence, all with different deadlines that don't line up with your fiscal year. Most boards run this off a shared spreadsheet and a lot of email, which works until someone forgets a date or a board member turns over mid-cycle and the next person has no idea what's already been filed. A practical system needs three things: a master calendar with every statutory deadline (milestone inspection due date, SIRS due date, next 10-year cycle date), a document library that survives board turnover, and a communication plan for owners so a $30,000 special assessment doesn't land as a surprise. This is the gap our $199 Building-Specific Board Compliance Kit is built to close: it organizes your building's specific deadlines, milestones, and reserve schedule so your board (and whoever's on it in five years) isn't reconstructing this from old emails. It doesn't replace your licensed engineer or reserve specialist. It organizes what they produce. For a broader look at how the reserve funding rules interact with the inspection schedule, see our guide to Florida condo reserve fund relief and our reserve study for condo association breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
What is a reserve study?
A reserve study is a professional evaluation of a building's major shared components (roof, structure, plumbing, paving, and similar) that estimates remaining useful life and replacement cost, then produces a funding schedule so the association can budget for those costs over time instead of hitting owners with surprise special assessments. Florida's SIRS is a narrower, structurally-focused version required for condos under section 718.112 [5].
What is a reserve study for an HOA?
For an HOA (governed by chapter 720, not condo chapter 718), a reserve study serves the same purpose, projecting replacement costs and timelines for shared components like roofs, pools, and paving, but HOAs generally have more flexibility than condos to vote to waive or reduce reserve funding. There's no statutory SIRS mandate for most HOAs the way there is for condominiums.
What is an HOA assessment?
An HOA assessment is the recurring fee (monthly or quarterly, typically) that a homeowners or condo association charges owners under its governing documents to fund operating expenses and reserves. It's distinct from a special assessment, which is a one-time charge levied outside the regular budget, often to cover an unexpected or newly identified repair cost.
What are HOA assessments used for?
Regular HOA assessments fund day-to-day operating costs (landscaping, insurance, management, utilities for common areas) and contributions to reserve accounts for future big-ticket replacements like roofs and paving. Special assessments, a separate category, typically fund unbudgeted repairs, storm damage, or structural work identified by a milestone inspection or SIRS report.
How much should an HOA have in reserves?
There's no fixed dollar amount or percentage that applies to every association; it depends on your building's age, size, and component list, which is exactly what a professional reserve study calculates. For Florida condos, SIRS components can no longer be underfunded by owner vote under section 718.112; HOAs under chapter 720 retain more flexibility to vote on reserve funding levels.
How much does a reserve study cost?
Costs vary by building size and scope, but a full reserve study or SIRS for a mid-size Florida condo commonly runs from several thousand dollars into the low tens of thousands, depending on the number of components assessed and whether on-site inspection and testing is included. Get quotes from licensed reserve specialists or engineers rather than relying on a single national average.
Are HOA special assessments tax deductible?
Generally no for an owner-occupied home; special assessments are usually treated as a nondeductible personal expense, similar to regular dues. If the property is a rental or used for business, some or all of the assessment may be deductible as an expense or added to basis for depreciation. Confirm your specific situation with a CPA.
What is the Florida milestone inspection statute?
It's Florida Statute 553.899, enacted after the 2021 Surfside condo collapse, requiring licensed architects or engineers to inspect condo and co-op buildings 3 stories or taller at 30 years of age (25 years if within 3 miles of the coast), then every 10 years after that first inspection [3].
Does the milestone inspection law apply to single-family homes or HOAs with no condo units?
No. The statute is written around condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more in height; single-family, two-family, and three-family dwellings are excluded from the milestone inspection requirement entirely, regardless of building age.
What's the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of a milestone inspection?
Phase 1 is a visual structural examination by a licensed architect or engineer. If it finds no substantial structural deterioration, the process ends until the next 10-year cycle. If it does find deterioration, Phase 2 requires more invasive testing, like concrete core sampling, to assess the extent of the damage and recommend repairs [3].
Who decides if my building is within the 25-year coastal deadline?
Local building officials make this determination using official coastal mapping data, not the association itself. They also generally issue the notice identifying which buildings in their jurisdiction owe a milestone inspection and by what date, so confirm your building's specific deadline with your county building department [3].
What happens if my association misses the milestone inspection deadline?
Local building officials can issue code enforcement notices and fines, and in serious cases involving unsafe conditions, can require corrective action or even order a building vacated. It also creates real exposure for lenders and insurers who increasingly require milestone documentation before financing or renewing coverage.
Is a SIRS the same thing as a milestone inspection?
No. The milestone inspection (section 553.899) is a structural safety inspection performed by an architect or engineer. The SIRS (section 718.112) is a reserve funding study covering specific structural components, required for most Florida condo associations, that determines how much money must be reserved and can no longer be waived for those components by owner vote [5].
Sources
- Florida Senate, SB 4-D (2022 Special Session): The milestone inspection and SIRS reforms were passed in response to the June 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside
- Florida Senate, SB 154 (2023): The milestone inspection and SIRS framework was amended and refined in the 2023 legislative session
- Florida Statutes, Section 553.899: Milestone inspection age thresholds (25 years within 3 miles of coastline, 30 years otherwise), the 10-year recurring cycle, and Phase 1/Phase 2 inspection requirements
- Florida Statutes, Section 718.111: Condominium association recordkeeping and owner access to inspection and financial reports
- Florida Statutes, Section 718.112: Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) requirements, covered components, and the prohibition on waiving reserves for SIRS components
- Florida Statutes, Chapter 720: Homeowners associations retain broader authority to vote to waive or reduce reserve funding compared to condo associations under chapter 718
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes: DBPR's regulatory role over condominium associations and related compliance guidance