Following the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse, Florida significantly tightened structural safety and reserve-funding requirements for condominium buildings. Milestone inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS) are now central to evaluating an older Florida condo - and a building with unfunded reserves can mean a large special assessment is coming, whether or not one has been approved yet.
| Milestone inspection | A structural inspection required for condo buildings at a set age threshold, then periodically after - identifies structural issues needing repair |
|---|---|
| Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) | An engineering-based study of specific building components requiring the association to reserve funds for their eventual replacement |
| Reserve funding | UNVERIFIED - associations are commonly described as no longer able to waive or underfund reserves for SIRS-covered components the way some previously could, but this has been an active area of legislative adjustment since the original reform - confirm current rules |
| Buyer disclosure | Reserve study results and funding status are increasingly relevant documents to request before buying into an older building |
The June 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, which prompted the state legislature to overhaul structural inspection and reserve-funding requirements for condominiums, particularly older buildings that had gone years without a full structural review.
A structural inspection, performed by a licensed engineer or architect, required once a condo building reaches a set age and then on a recurring basis afterward. It is specifically aimed at surfacing structural issues - the kind of deterioration that, left unaddressed, contributed to the Surfside collapse.
UNVERIFIED: the exact age threshold and recurrence interval, and whether they vary by a building's distance from the coast, are specific statutory details worth confirming against the current statute rather than assuming from this description.
A milestone inspection asks whether the building is structurally sound right now. A SIRS is forward-looking - it identifies specific structural components (roof, load-bearing walls, waterproofing, and similar) and requires the association to reserve funds for their eventual replacement, rather than deferring that cost indefinitely or special-assessing owners with no warning.
The reform's core financial effect is limiting an association's ability to waive or underfund reserves for these specific components going forward.
A building that has not adequately funded its SIRS-required reserves is a building where a large special assessment is more likely, not less - the reform does not eliminate the cost of aging infrastructure, it forces it to be planned for (through reserves) or paid for suddenly (through a special assessment) if it was not. A buyer evaluating an older building should ask for the SIRS results and current reserve funding status, not just the estoppel letter's snapshot of what is owed today.
The reforms are generally targeted at condominium buildings, with requirements scaled by building height and age rather than applying uniformly to every association. UNVERIFIED: specific size and age thresholds for which buildings are covered are statutory details that should be confirmed against the current version of the law, since this has been an active area of legislative adjustment since the reforms were first passed.
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