Florida Condo Milestone Inspections and Reserve Rules: A Seller's Guide

How Florida's condo safety rules got here

Florida's condo safety rules date to the June 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium in Surfside (DBPR timeline). In 2022, SB 4-D (ch. 2022-269) created milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS) and added both to the documents resale buyers receive.

Laws in 2023 (ch. 2023-203) and 2024 (ch. 2024-244) amended the milestone statute; the 2023 law replaced an automatic earlier inspection for buildings within 3 miles of the coast with a local option. HB 913 (ch. 2025-175), effective July 1, 2025, limited the three-story test to habitable stories, moved the main SIRS deadline to Dec. 31, 2025, and lengthened the buyer's review period from 3 days to 7.

As of October 2026, no 2026 law has changed these rules in substance. The Senate's 2026 table of section changes lists no change to the milestone statute or s. 718.116, and the only 2026 edits to ss. 718.112 and 718.503 were cross-reference fixes in the reviser's bill (ch. 2026-14). The omnibus condo and HOA bill, HB 657, died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026.

Key dates and deadlines at a glance

Milestone inspections: which buildings, when and what owners get

Under s. 553.899, residential condo and co-op buildings three or more habitable stories tall need a milestone inspection. Pinellas County's milestone page explains that habitable space includes areas for living, sleeping, eating or cooking, but not storage or utility space. Single-family through four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories are exempt.

The first inspection is due by Dec. 31 of the year the building turns 30, counted from its certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. A local building department may require it at 25 years because of conditions such as proximity to salt water, though as of October 2026 the St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and Tampa pages describe 30 years. Buildings that turned 30 before Dec. 31, 2024 had catch-up deadlines in 2024 and 2025, which could be extended for good cause.

After the building department's notice, the association must tell owners within 14 days. Phase one, a visual inspection by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer, must be completed within 180 days of the notice, and a phase two inspection, which may involve destructive testing, follows if substantial structural deterioration is found.

Within 45 days after receiving the report, the association must mail or hand-deliver the inspector-prepared summary to every owner, post it on the property and, if it must have a website, publish the full report there. Local ordinances require phase two repairs to begin within 365 days, and if the owner cannot show repairs are scheduled or under way, the building department must decide whether the building is unsafe to occupy.

Structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS) and reserve funding

Under s. 718.112(2)(g), every residential condo association needs a SIRS for each building three habitable stories or higher, at least every 10 years after the condominium's creation. Based on a visual inspection, the study covers the roof, structure, fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and other items above a cost threshold ($25,675 for 2026, per DBPR) whose failure would harm them. It recommends reserve funding and must include, at a minimum, a baseline plan that keeps the reserve cash balance above zero.

Under s. 718.112(2)(f), reserves for SIRS items must follow the most recent study. For budgets adopted on or after Dec. 31, 2024, owners cannot vote to waive or reduce them, apart from narrow exceptions such as terminating the condominium, and a budget that departs from the study's funding plan requires an updated SIRS first. These reserves may be funded by regular or special assessments, lines of credit or loans, and a special assessment, loan or credit line for this purpose needs approval from a majority of the total voting interests.

For budgets adopted on or before Dec. 31, 2028, an association that completed a milestone inspection within the previous 2 calendar years may, with a majority of the total voting interests, pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two consecutive annual budgets to fund the inspection's repairs. It must get a new SIRS before contributions resume, and developer-controlled, newly turned-over and bulk-buyer-controlled associations cannot use this pause.

What a seller must give a buyer

Under s. 718.503(2), a buyer under contract is entitled, at the seller's expense, to current copies of:

• The declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws and rules
• The annual financial statement and annual budget
• The inspector-prepared milestone summary, if applicable
• The most recent SIRS, or a statement that the association has not completed one
• Any turnover inspection report from a turnover inspection on or after July 1, 2023
• The Frequently Asked Questions and Answers document

The seller must also provide DBPR's governance form. Every resale contract must give the buyer 7 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, either to review the documents before signing or to cancel in writing after signing and receiving them. The period has been 7 days since July 1, 2025 and was 3 days before (Senate summary of HB 913), and the right to cancel ends at closing.

Contracts signed after Dec. 31, 2024 must also state in conspicuous type whether the association is required to have, and has completed, a milestone inspection and SIRS, with matching 7-day clauses if they are complete. A contract that does not comply can be voided by the buyer before closing.

Florida's seller flood disclosure also applies. Under s. 689.302, a seller of residential real property must give the buyer a completed flood disclosure at or before signing the contract, and a condo unit is a separate parcel of real property (s. 718.106). Our guide to the Citizens flood rule explains what the form asks.

Any special assessment, loan or credit line used for milestone or SIRS needs must appear in the annual financial statement buyers receive. The standard condo rider also asks the seller to list known special assessments levied or discussed at a board meeting in the prior 12 months; ask a Florida real estate attorney about any other disclosure.

If documents are missing, ask the association in writing. Records must be made available within 10 working days of a written request, and associations with 25 or more units must post the most recent SIRS online (s. 718.111(12)).

The estoppel certificate: what it shows and what it costs

The estoppel certificate is the association's statement of what is owed on the unit. Under s. 718.116(8), it must be issued within 10 business days of a written or electronic request from the owner, a lender or their designee, or the association may not charge for it. It shows:

• The regular assessment, its paid-through date and the next installment
• Itemized assessments, special assessments and other amounts owed on the date of issuance
• Amounts coming due during the certificate's effective period
• Answers on fees, open violations, board approval of the sale and any right of first refusal

It is good for 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically, or 35 days if mailed. The association cannot later collect more than it states from anyone who relied on it in good faith.

The statute's base caps are adjusted every 5 years for inflation. DBPR's published caps are below, and its next update is due by July 1, 2027.

On the standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract (2026 redline preview), estoppel fees are a seller cost. Association application and transfer fees are a buyer cost.

Who pays a special assessment when a condo sells

A special assessment is any assessment other than the one in the annual budget (s. 718.103). Toward the association, each owner owes what comes due while they own the unit. Under s. 718.116, the buyer is jointly and severally liable with the seller for anything unpaid at transfer and must pay it within 30 days after taking title, and the association has a lien on the unit for unpaid assessments.

Between seller and buyer, the split is negotiable. On the standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar Condominium Rider (CR-7, revised June 2025; see the redline preview of the changes), the parties check boxes to choose who pays, and if they leave them blank:

• The seller pays assessments levied before closing in full, at or before closing.
• Exception: if an assessment is payable in installments and the association lets the buyer assume the later ones, the seller pays installments due on or before closing and the buyer pays the rest.

If the association does not allow that assumption, the seller pays the full assessment at or before closing. An assessment counts as levied once it is approved as required for enforcement. Check which rider version your contract uses, and ask the closing agent or a Florida real estate attorney before relying on a default.

Lender reserve rules and the 2026 condo market

Fannie Mae's Selling Guide treats a project that failed a required structural safety inspection as ineligible, and a project with unaddressed critical repairs, including repairs tied to a special assessment, stays ineligible until the work is completed and documented. Routine repairs paid through special assessments within guidelines are not treated as critical, and Freddie Mac has a similar critical-repair rule.

Under Lender Letter LL-2026-03 (March 18, 2026), Fannie Mae's minimum reserve allocation in a full project review rises from 10 to 15 percent of the budget for loan applications dated on or after Jan. 4, 2027. For applications dated on or after Aug. 3, 2026, a lender that relies on a reserve study instead of the budget test can no longer accept the baseline funding method, which is the minimum a Florida SIRS must include.

Florida Realtors' market figures combine condos and townhouses. In August 2026, Florida had 7,291 closed sales at a $298,000 median price and 7.7 months' supply, and 51.0 percent of closings were all cash (summary, data detail).

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro had 949 sales (down 7.9 percent from a year earlier) at a $274,000 median (up 4.1 percent) that month (metro summary). Pinellas County had 6.4 months' supply, down from 8.0 a year earlier, versus 6.0 in Hillsborough and 6.4 in Pasco (Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco reports). If a listing has stalled, see options when a Florida home is not selling.

A short checklist for condo sellers

1. Ask the association in writing for the milestone summary, the latest SIRS (or a statement that none is complete), the budget, the financial statement and any special assessment notice and payment schedule.
2. Check DBPR's SIRS database and your building department's records, such as St. Petersburg's status map, Pinellas County's milestone page or Tampa's program.
3. Confirm the contract has the 7-day clause and the milestone and SIRS status statement.
4. Agree with the buyer on who pays each assessment and check the rider's boxes.
5. Time the estoppel request so its 30- or 35-day period covers closing.
6. Ask whether unfinished critical repairs or thin reserves could block a buyer's loan.

A direct as-is sale is one option alongside listing the unit, waiting for repairs to finish, or paying the assessment. House Buying Solutions buys property directly for cash and as is in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties, including condos with special assessments. Asking for an offer creates no obligation, and every purchase depends on a signed agreement, association requirements, property access and clear title. See how a condo sale with a special assessment or an as-is sale works.

Common questions