A simple guide to Florida building compliance
Milestone inspections, 40-year recertification and SIRS — structural safety and funding governed at state and county level. This is your easy-to-read map, with links to the statute or county program — see for yourself. It also answers the question everyone asks first: what a recertification actually costs — most buildings pay $1,500–$8,000 for the engineer’s report.
Three obligations that overlap — and are easy to confuse
Since the 2021 Surfside collapse, Florida has layered three distinct requirements on top of each other. Different laws, different enforcers, different questions. Here's the whole picture.
Milestone inspection
"Is the building structurally safe today?"
40-year recertification
"Is it safe to keep occupying?"
SIRS reserve study
"Will you have the money to keep it safe?"
The Milestone inspection is Florida's statewide structural safety inspection, created by Senate Bill 4-D (2022) and refined by SB 154 (2023) and HB 913 (2025). Its purpose is narrow and important: to attest to the life safety and structural adequacy of an aging building. It is not a check of whether the building meets the current Florida Building Code.
Which buildings need one
A Milestone inspection is required for a building subject, in whole or in part, to the condominium (Chapter 718) or cooperative (Chapter 719) form of ownership that is three or more habitable stories in height. HB 913 introduced the "habitable stories" language — so a three-story building of two living floors over ground-level parking is the classic case. Single-, two-, three- and four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories are excluded.
When it's first due
The trigger is measured from the date of the original certificate of occupancy:
- 30 years — the general trigger. First inspection by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years.
- 25 years — coastal. Under SB 4-D, buildings within three miles of the coast triggered at 25 years. HB 1021 (2024) made this a local determination — the enforcement agency may require 25 years based on environmental conditions such as proximity to salt water. Many South Florida jurisdictions kept the 25-year trigger — confirm with your building department.
- Catch-up deadlines. Buildings that reached 30 before July 1, 2022 were generally due by December 31, 2024; those reaching 30 between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 were due by December 31, 2025.
The two phases
Not sure of your building's trigger year? Use the deadline finder →
Miami-Dade County has run a building recertification program since 1975, and Broward followed. These programs exist only in Miami-Dade and Broward. Since the post-Surfside amendments, the recertification and the state Milestone are the same structural inspection — one signed and sealed structural report satisfies both, filed on the county's forms and deadlines — and the recertification adds an electrical check on top. The historical "40-year" name persists, though the triggers were aligned with the state's.
How the recertification goes beyond the Milestone
- Two disciplines. Recertification covers structural and electrical systems. The Milestone is structural only.
- More building types. Not limited to condos and co-ops — many commercial buildings, hotels and rentals must recertify even though they'd never owe a Milestone.
- County submittal. Reports are filed with the county (Miami-Dade RER) or the municipality, on their forms, with their fees.
Miami-Dade, in practice
After the June 2022 amendment, Miami-Dade generally requires recertification at 30 years (or 25 if within three miles of the coast for qualifying coastal condo/co-op buildings), then every 10 years. Buildings already on the legacy 40-year schedule continue on it. Small structures (roughly 2,000 sq ft or less with an occupant load of 10 or fewer), single-family homes and duplexes are exempt. Owners receive a Notice of Required Recertification and generally have 90 days to submit a signed and sealed report; electrical recertification requires infrared thermography.
Broward, in practice
Broward runs its own Building Safety Inspection Program through the County's Board of Rules and Appeals and the municipalities, generally on a 40-year initial trigger (then every 10 years), also covering structural and electrical. Because it's administered at the municipal level, confirm the exact trigger, forms and fees with your city building department.
Overlap is the norm. In Miami-Dade and Broward, the Milestone and the county recertification are one and the same inspection — the structural recertification satisfies the state Milestone, so a building doesn't undergo both. What still overlaps is the SIRS, which often falls in the same window. One qualified engineer can scope the recertification and SIRS together to cut cost and disruption.
Most of what you read online blurs two very different numbers together. Keep them apart and the picture gets clear fast: there is the county filing fee, there is the engineer’s report, and — only if the inspection finds deterioration — there are repairs, quoted separately.
The report cost, by building size
This is the report only. It scales with size, number of stories, balconies and access, and whether you need both the structural and electrical specialties or just one.
Ranges are typical for South Florida condominium and cooperative buildings; your exact figure depends on the building. Ask us for a fixed number for yours.
The number to watch is the repair number, not the report. A recertification is a few thousand dollars. The repairs it can trigger run into the tens or hundreds of thousands — and structuring that scope to cost less is exactly what we do.
For years, associations could waive or underfund reserves for major structural work — the pattern investigators found at Surfside. The SIRS ends it: a reserve-funding study, informed by a visual inspection from a licensed engineer, that sets how much money must be reserved for the building's critical components.
Who needs one, and how often
Required for condominium and cooperative associations with buildings three or more habitable stories, at least every 10 years — regardless of the building's age. A three-story, twelve-unit building faces the same obligation as a thirty-story tower.
The components a SIRS must cover
HB 913 raised that catch-all threshold from $10,000 to $25,000 (inflation-indexed from February 1, 2026) and requires a baseline funding plan that keeps the reserve cash balance above zero across the funding period.
The deadline
- HB 913 extended the initial SIRS deadline for existing unit-owner-controlled associations to December 31, 2025.
- If a Milestone inspection is due on or before December 31, 2026, the SIRS may be completed simultaneously — but never after December 31, 2026.
- A Milestone inspection performed within the past 5 years that meets the requirements may substitute for the visual-inspection portion of the SIRS.
Funding rules you can't waive away
For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, the budget must fund the SIRS components, and associations generally may not waive or reduce reserves for SIRS-listed items. HB 913 added flexibility in how you fund them:
- Reserves may be funded by regular assessment, special assessment, line of credit or loan, with majority approval.
- Associations may pool SIRS reserves (kept separate from non-SIRS reserves), provided the balance stays above the recommended baseline.
- Funding may be paused up to two budget years after a Milestone to prioritize milestone repairs (budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028), then a SIRS must be obtained before resuming.
- Officers and directors must sign an affidavit acknowledging they received and reviewed the completed SIRS.
Size a funding target for your components → SIRS funding estimator →
| Milestone inspection | 40-year recertification | SIRS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority | State — FS 553.899 | County ordinance | State — FS 718.112(2)(g) |
| Where | All 67 counties | Miami-Dade & Broward only | All 67 counties |
| Applies to | Condo & co-op, 3+ habitable stories | Broad — many building types | Condo & co-op, 3+ habitable stories |
| Scope | Structural safety | Structural + electrical | Reserve funding for major components |
| Answers | Is it safe now? | Safe to stay occupied? | Can you afford to keep it safe? |
| First trigger | 30 yr (25 coastal, by local rule) | 40 yr legacy / 30 or 25 coastal | Not age-based — every 10 yr |
| Recurs | Every 10 years | Every 10 years | Every 10 years |
Everything keys off the building age, then repeats on a 10-year cycle. This is the general picture in a coastal South Florida jurisdiction using the 25-year Milestone trigger:
- 25 yrFirst Milestone (coastal)
- 30 yrMilestone (inland) & recert
- 35 yr2nd milestone cycle
- 40 yrLegacy county recert
- +10 yr…every cycle after
Because the SIRS runs on its own 10-year clock independent of age, and the Milestone / recertification triggers can land within a few years of each other, most associations benefit from mapping every building on a single timeline and scheduling the engineer once for overlapping scopes.
Put in your CO date and county to see the actual dates → Deadline finder →
Reserve studies and inspection reports all circle the same physical problem: reinforced concrete on the South Florida coast deteriorates on a predictable path. Understanding it separates a durable repair from one that fails again in five years.
Why reinforced concrete fails
Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension, so steel bars carry the tension. Healthy concrete is highly alkaline, forming a passive layer that protects the steel. Two things destroy that protection:
- Chloride attack. Salt air, spray and wind-driven rain push chloride ions into the concrete; once they reach the steel in sufficient concentration, the passive layer breaks down and corrosion begins. This dominates on the coast.
- Carbonation. Carbon dioxide reacts with the concrete over decades, lowering its pH from the surface inward. When the front reaches the steel, the passive layer is lost the same way.
Corroding steel expands to several times its volume, generating tensile stress the concrete can't resist — so it cracks, then delaminates, then spalls, exposing rusting bar and losing section. The cycle self-accelerates: once cracked, more chloride and moisture reach the steel. That's why early repair is dramatically cheaper than late repair.
Diagnosis before repair
The repair sequence
- Remove deteriorated concrete — cut away & chip away a square-cut section of damaged concrete exposing corroded steel.
- Clean and restore the steel — mechanically clean the steel; supplement or replace bars that lost section.
- Protect the steel — apply corrosion inhibitor coatings.
- Rebuild the section — form and pour specialized repair concrete.
- Waterproof & seal — primer & paint wall coatings, waterproofing membranes, sealers and joint sealants to keep chloride and water out.
- Maintain — inspect and renew coatings and sealants on schedule so the repair, and the reserve dollars behind it, actually last.
A SIRS is only as good as its service-life assumptions. Coastal exposure shortens the useful life of almost everything versus generic national tables. These ranges are typical for a well-maintained building in a marine, subtropical climate — actual figures depend on exposure, detailing and maintenance.
| Component | Typical service life | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Reinforced concrete structure | 50–100+ yrs | Long-lived, but needs cyclical restoration to get there |
| Balcony / walkway traffic coating | 7–15 yrs | First line of defense for slab edges |
| Elastomeric wall coating / paint | 5–10 yrs | A waterproofing function, not just appearance |
| Exterior sealants & joints | 7–15 yrs | Failed joints are a top water-entry point |
| Flat / modified-bitumen roof | 15–25 yrs | UV and wind-driven rain accelerate wear |
| Tile roof | 20–40+ yrs | Underlayment often fails before the tile |
| Metal roof | 30–50 yrs | Watch fasteners and coastal corrosion |
| Windows & exterior doors | 20–35 yrs | Impact/HVHZ-rated assemblies where required |
| Metal railings | 15–25 yrs | Embedded post bases are a common spall source |
| Domestic copper plumbing | 25–40 yrs | Cast-iron drains: 25–50 yrs |
| Electrical panels & distribution | 30–40 yrs | Recertification checks these directly |
| Elevator (to modernization) | 20–25 yrs | Cab, controls and machine on different clocks |
| Asphalt paving | 15–25 yrs | Seal-coat and crack-fill to reach the top |
| Seawall | 30–50 yrs | Cap and tie-backs often govern remaining life |
Estimate replacement timing and a funding target → Size your SIRS funding →
A condo or co-op three or more habitable stories anywhere in Florida owes a Milestone inspection. In Miami-Dade and Broward, that's met through the county recertification — the same structural inspection, plus an electrical check — so you complete one recertification, not a separate Milestone. Add the SIRS on top, and one engineer can coordinate all of it.
Not automatically statewide anymore. SB 4-D set a 25-year trigger within three miles of the coast; HB 1021 (2024) made it a local determination — the enforcement agency may require 25 years based on environmental conditions. Many coastal South Florida jurisdictions kept it, so confirm with your specific building department.
Generally no. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, associations cannot waive or reduce funding for SIRS-listed components. Very limited exceptions exist (for example, a building declared uninhabitable, or association termination). HB 913 added flexibility in how you fund — special assessment, loan, or line of credit — but not in whether you fund.
Consequences include county code violations, loss of eligibility for Citizens property insurance under HB 913, fiduciary exposure for board members, and in the worst case unsafe-structure findings. Deferring structural repair almost always costs more because deterioration accelerates — starting early lets you phase the work and the funding.
Yes, and it's usually the smart move. In Miami-Dade and Broward the recertification is the Milestone, and a recent structural inspection can stand in for the SIRS visual inspection. (In Palm Beach and elsewhere in Florida it's the Milestone plus the SIRS, combined the same way.) Coordinating them together makes sense, and it's the core of how we work.
It depends entirely on the extent of deterioration, access and repair method — from targeted spall repairs to full facade and balcony restoration. The honest answer needs a condition assessment. For an order-of-magnitude starting point, our restoration cost calculator estimates from dimensions, age and condition — a planning figure, not a bid.
We'd rather you trust the primary sources than take our word for it.
*Broward's program runs through the Board of Rules and Appeals and individual municipalities; confirm your city's requirements.
Turn this into a plan for your building.
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