Can a Florida Condo Complete Its SIRS and Milestone Inspection Together in 2026?

Short answer: In some cases, yes. Florida law permits a qualifying condominium association that is required to complete a Milestone Inspection on or before December 31, 2026, to complete its Structural Integrity Reserve Study at the same time. The two requirements remain separate, with different purposes, scopes, and deliverables.

A coordinated schedule does not turn a Milestone Inspection into a SIRS or allow one report to replace the other automatically.

Fortis BuildSafe Solutions is a forensic engineering firm serving condominium associations, HOA boards, and property managers across South Florida. Fortis evaluates existing buildings and helps boards understand the building condition, applicable engineering scope, and next steps supported by the available evidence.

A Milestone Inspection is governed primarily by Florida Statute §553.899. It evaluates the structural condition of certain condominium and cooperative buildings and determines whether substantial structural deterioration is present.

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study, or SIRS, is governed by Chapter 718. For qualifying condominium buildings, it evaluates specified structural and life-safety components, their estimated remaining useful lives, estimated replacement or deferred-maintenance costs, and the reserve funding needed to address them.

The questions are related, but they are not the same:

• A Milestone Inspection asks whether the building shows substantial structural deterioration requiring further investigation or repair.
• A SIRS asks what specified components must be planned for financially over time.

Boards should therefore treat coordinated work as coordinated compliance—not as one requirement replacing the other.

Florida Statute §718.112(2)(g) provides that an association required to complete a Milestone Inspection under §553.899 on or before December 31, 2026, may complete its SIRS simultaneously with the Milestone Inspection.

The statute also states that the SIRS may not be completed after December 31, 2026, under this coordination provision.

That does not create a universal December 31 deadline for every condominium. The provision applies only when the association’s Milestone Inspection obligation falls within the statutory condition. The association’s building age, certificate-of-occupancy date, local requirements, prior inspections, and SIRS history all matter.

Confirm the controlling dates from the association’s records and the applicable local enforcement agency before treating December 31 as the project deadline.

The statute allows the two scopes to be completed during the same engagement or general work period. It does not erase the separate requirements.

Some site observations, records, photographs, and component information may support both scopes. The final work should still identify clearly:

• Which work addresses the Milestone Inspection.
• Which work addresses the SIRS.
• Which observations overlap.
• Which additional analysis is required for the SIRS.
• Whether separate reports or clearly separated report sections will be issued.
• Whether additional investigation is needed.

The objective is efficient coordination with precise documentation.

Potentially, yes.

Florida law permits the visual-inspection portion of a SIRS to be satisfied by a Milestone Inspection or other qualifying inspection report that substantially complies with the applicable SIRS visual-inspection requirements and was completed within the preceding five years.

That provision does not replace the complete SIRS. The association must still obtain the required component analysis, estimated remaining useful lives, estimated costs, and reserve-funding schedule.

Boards should provide the engineer with the complete record before the scope is finalized, including prior Milestone Inspection reports, recertification reports, structural evaluations, repair programs, reserve studies, and testing records.

Under §553.899, the statewide Milestone Inspection framework generally applies to buildings that are three stories or more in height and requires inspection by December 31 of the year in which the building reaches 30 years of age, based on the certificate-of-occupancy date, and every 10 years thereafter.

A local enforcement agency may require an earlier inspection, including a 25-year trigger, when the applicable statutory and local conditions support it. A 25-year requirement should not be assumed automatically for every coastal condominium.

The local notice also matters. Phase One must generally be completed within 180 days after the building owner or owners receive written notice from the local enforcement agency. The agency may grant an extension for good cause in circumstances recognized by the statute.

Building age is therefore the starting point—not the entire compliance calendar.

Phase Two is required if substantial structural deterioration is identified during Phase One.

Phase Two may involve destructive or nondestructive testing and a more detailed investigation of the affected structural elements. Minor maintenance issues or cosmetic conditions do not automatically require Phase Two unless the licensed architect or engineer determines that they indicate substantial structural deterioration.

That distinction is important for boards reviewing the possible schedule and cost implications of a Milestone Inspection.

A board considering coordinated completion should confirm:

• Is the building required to complete a Milestone Inspection on or before December 31, 2026?
• What is the building’s certificate-of-occupancy date?
• Does the local enforcement agency impose an earlier trigger?
• When did the association’s current SIRS become due?
• Has the association completed a qualifying inspection within the preceding five years?
• Could that prior inspection satisfy only the SIRS visual-inspection portion?
• What component, cost, useful-life, and reserve-funding analysis remains necessary?
• Are the building’s records complete?
• How would a Phase Two investigation affect the schedule?
• Will the engagement clearly separate the Milestone and SIRS deliverables?

The board should answer those questions before assuming that a December completion date is realistic.

One engineering engagement may address both obligations efficiently. The engineer can review the building’s history, coordinate access, identify compatible fieldwork, and explain where the information overlaps.

The documentation should remain precise.

For Fortis, the governing questions are straightforward:

What does the Milestone Inspection require? What does the SIRS require? Where can the work overlap without blurring the deliverables?

Where the work overlaps, it should overlap intentionally. Where the requirements differ, the final documentation should make that difference transparent.

A qualifying condominium association required to complete a Milestone Inspection on or before December 31, 2026, may complete its SIRS simultaneously with that inspection under F.S. §718.112(2)(g).

A qualifying inspection completed within the preceding five years may also satisfy the visual-inspection portion of a SIRS, but it does not replace the SIRS’s required financial and reserve-funding analysis.

Milestone Inspections and SIRS remain separate legal and engineering requirements. The next step is to confirm the building’s inspection history, applicable local timing, statutory scope, and required deliverables before deciding how the work should be coordinated.

For questions about a Milestone Inspection, SIRS, or an existing-building assessment, contact Fortis BuildSafe Solutions at 954-756-6876 or sales@fortisbss.com.

• Florida Statutes §718.112 — SIRS requirements, simultaneous-completion provision, and five-year visual-inspection provision.
• Florida Statutes §553.899 — Milestone Inspection triggers, local notice, 180-day Phase One timing, and Phase Two requirements.

Source-control note: These sources support the general statements in this article. They do not determine the compliance status or deadline of a particular association. That determination depends on the building’s records, local requirements, prior inspections, and applicable statutory provisions.