Florida Condo Milestone Inspection Requirements: What Property Managers Must Know

On June 24, 2021, the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida partially collapsed, killing 98 people. The collapse was attributed to long-deferred maintenance, inadequate reserve funding, and structural deterioration that had gone uninspected for decades.

Florida's response was SB 4-D, signed into law in May 2022: the most significant condominium safety reform in state history. The law created mandatory structural milestone inspections for Florida condominiums three stories or taller — and it established reserve funding requirements that associations can no longer vote to waive. If you manage condo units or advise condo owners, understanding this law is no longer optional.

Which Buildings Must Comply

The milestone inspection requirement applies to any condominium or cooperative building in Florida that is three stories or taller. One- and two-story condominiums are exempt. Single-family homes, townhomes, and non-condominium multi-family buildings are not subject to SB 4-D.

The age threshold that triggers the first inspection depends on the building's location:

• 30 years old for buildings not within three miles of the coastal construction control line
• 25 years old for buildings located within three miles of the coastal construction control line — which covers the vast majority of high-rise condos along Florida's Atlantic and Gulf coasts

After the first milestone inspection is completed, subsequent inspections are required every 10 years. For buildings that had already reached 30 years (or 25 years for coastal properties) as of July 1, 2022, the initial deadline was December 31, 2024 — meaning most older Florida condos should already have a completed Phase 1 inspection on file. If not, the association is out of compliance.

Phase 1 vs. Phase 2: What Each Inspection Involves

Phase 1: Visual Structural Inspection

A Phase 1 milestone inspection is a visual inspection of the structural components of the building by a licensed engineer or architect. The inspector evaluates the condition of primary structural members including the roof, load-bearing walls, foundation, floors, parking structure, and exterior envelope. The inspection must cover all exterior and interior common areas, parking facilities, and structural systems accessible without destructive testing.

The Phase 1 inspector produces a written report that includes their findings, an assessment of the building's structural condition, and a recommendation on whether Phase 2 is necessary. This report must be provided to the association within 14 days of completion.

Phase 2: Non-Destructive Testing

If the Phase 1 inspection reveals substantial structural deterioration — meaning deterioration that poses a significant threat to the structural integrity of the building — a Phase 2 inspection is required. Phase 2 involves non-destructive structural analysis, additional testing, and a more detailed assessment of the extent and cause of the deterioration.

The Phase 2 report must include a determination of whether the building is in need of repairs to protect the health, safety, and welfare of occupants, and a recommended timeline for completing those repairs. If Phase 2 identifies necessary repairs, the association must begin those repairs within 365 days of the report.

What Happens After the Inspection

The milestone inspection process triggers several required actions from the condominium association:

• The association must provide a copy of the Phase 1 inspection report to all unit owners within 45 days of receipt
• The association must provide a copy to the local building official within 30 days of receipt
• If Phase 2 is required, unit owners must be notified of that determination and its basis
• The completed inspection report must be maintained in the association's records and made available to any unit owner upon request

Failure to comply with reporting requirements exposes the association and its board members to fines from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). In serious cases, individual board members may face personal liability.

The Reserve Funding Change That Matters as Much as the Inspections

SB 4-D also eliminated the longstanding Florida practice of allowing condo unit owners to vote to "waive" or reduce structural reserve funding. Before 2022, a simple majority vote of unit owners could reduce or eliminate reserves — a practice that allowed monthly assessments to stay artificially low at the cost of long-term structural maintenance.

Under the amended statute (effective January 1, 2025), Florida condo associations must fully fund reserves for the following components without exception:

The reserve calculation must be based on a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS), which the law requires associations to complete every 10 years. The SIRS establishes the estimated remaining useful life and replacement cost for each mandatory reserve component, then calculates the required annual contribution needed to fully fund those reserves over the component's remaining life.

For property managers advising condo owner clients: this means monthly assessments at many older Florida condominiums have increased significantly since 2025, and in some buildings, special assessments have been levied to catch up on years of reserve deficits that accumulated when owners routinely voted to waive funding.

What Property Managers Need to Do Now

If you manage properties in condominiums subject to SB 4-D, your role is primarily advisory — the association and its board are legally responsible for compliance, not individual unit owners or their property managers. But failing to understand the law and flag issues to your clients creates professional liability exposure.

The Insurance Implications

Milestone inspection results can affect both the association's master policy and individual unit owner coverage. Carriers that insure older Florida condominiums are increasingly requiring proof of a completed milestone inspection as a condition of coverage or renewal. A building that is out of compliance — or that has a Phase 2 inspection showing significant structural deterioration — may face policy non-renewal, exclusions, or dramatically increased premiums.

For unit owners in those buildings, the association master policy issues cascade: if the master policy is cancelled or non-renewed, the HO-6 unit owner policy's coverage for the unit's structure becomes the first line of protection, and those limits are rarely adequate for major structural claims. Understanding loss assessment coverage is essential for any unit owner in a building with structural compliance questions.

SB 154 (2023) clarified several provisions of SB 4-D and created a certification pathway for buildings that already had recent structural inspections meeting equivalent standards — but those certifications have specific requirements and most older buildings cannot rely on prior inspections to satisfy the new mandate. When in doubt, confirm with the association directly and request documentation from a licensed engineer.

The Bottom Line for Property Managers

Florida's milestone inspection law is not a paperwork exercise. It is a structural safety requirement born from a catastrophic failure that killed 98 people. The mandatory reserve funding requirements are equally serious — they exist to ensure the money is available to fix what inspections find.

Property managers who advise condo owner clients need to understand where their clients' buildings stand on compliance, communicate any concerns clearly and in writing, and document that communication. A condo unit that cannot produce a current milestone inspection report, or whose association has materially underfunded structural reserves, is a liability risk that belongs in the conversation with your client — not discovered after a loss.