Florida Condo Compliance Glossary

A structural and life-safety inspection of a building's load-bearing elements, required by Florida law and performed by a licensed engineer or architect who signs and seals the resulting report. It applies to condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or more at 30 years from the Certificate of Occupancy date, or at 25 years where the local enforcement agency requires it, and every 10 years after. The inspection is keyed to the building's Certificate of Occupancy date rather than to a county timetable, and the sealed report is submitted to the local building department that enforces the statute. §553.899, Florida Statutes

The visual inspection of a building's structural systems that begins a milestone inspection, authored by the licensed engineer or architect and delivered as a sealed report. There is no pass or fail result; the report states the findings, classifies them by severity, and documents them with photographs. Where Phase 1 finds substantial structural deterioration, a Phase 2 inspection is required. §553.899, Florida Statutes

The second stage of a milestone inspection, triggered only when Phase 1 identifies substantial structural deterioration. It may involve destructive or nondestructive testing and more detailed structural analysis, and is required within 180 days of Phase 1 report delivery if substantial structural deterioration is found. If repairs are needed, they must begin within 365 days after the local enforcement agency receives the Phase 2 report. §553.899, Florida Statutes

A professional engineering study that evaluates a condominium building's structural components and projects the cost to repair or replace them over time, which in turn determines how much the association must hold in reserves. Residential condominium associations with buildings three stories or more must complete a SIRS at least every 10 years. The visual inspection portion must be performed by a licensed engineer or architect, and the study must include a funding analysis. Cooperatives are covered by Section 719.106, Florida Statutes. §718.112(2)(g)1, Florida Statutes

The county inspection program in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, covering structural and electrical systems. In those two counties it is how the state milestone inspection requirement under §553.899 is administered and satisfied. Broward County requires recertification at 25 years from the Certificate of Occupancy and every 10 years after. Miami-Dade County requires recertification of buildings of three or more habitable stories: three-story-or-higher condominiums and cooperatives with a Certificate of Occupancy of 1998 or later within Miami-Dade’s 3-mile coastal zone trigger recertification at 25 years; all other qualifying buildings trigger at 30 years, and every 10 years after (Miami-Dade County Code §8-11(f)(ii)(1)). The report must be signed and sealed by a Florida licensed engineer and submitted to the county within the required timeframe.

A board-ready condition assessment of a building used for capital planning, insurance and lender needs, sealed by a Florida professional engineer. Fortis performs condition surveys across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, for condominiums, associations, property managers, and owners of industrial and commercial property.

Engineering services covering repair drawings, contractor selection and construction oversight for condominium restoration, with the engineer of record involved from start to finish. After developing the permit plans and repair quantity documentation, the engineer assists the association with general contractor selection, then oversees repair quality and quantity, responds to RFIs, performs Special Inspections, and prepares progress reports for the board through project close-out.

Root-cause forensic engineering for cracking, spalling, leaks and settlement, documented in sealed reports suitable for insurers and counsel.

The Engineer of Record assigned to your building inspects it, writes the report, seals it, and presents the findings to the board. Every assessment is performed to one documented standard — the Fortis Standard — and sealed by a licensed Florida PE in direct responsible charge.

The document a building department issues when a completed building has passed its final inspections and may be occupied. Its issue date is the fixed reference point for the milestone inspection clock under §553.899: the first inspection is due 30 years from the CO, or 25 years where the Local Enforcement Agency has adopted that trigger, and every 10 years after. §553.899, Florida Statutes

The agency — normally the city or county building department — with authority to enforce the Florida Building Code for a given building. Under §553.899 the LEA receives the milestone inspection report and may adopt the 25-year trigger in place of the 30-year statewide default. Florida keeps no registry of those local adoptions, so the trigger must be confirmed with the LEA that has jurisdiction. §553.899(3), Florida Statutes

The statutory threshold that moves a milestone inspection from Phase 1 to Phase 2: substantial structural distress that negatively affects a building's general structural condition and integrity. Surface imperfections such as cracks, distortion, sagging, deflection, misalignment, signs of leakage or peeling finishes do not meet the definition unless the licensed engineer or architect determines they are signs of substantial structural deterioration. §553.899(2), Florida Statutes

Concrete breaking away from a surface in flakes or chunks, most often because the embedded reinforcing steel has corroded and expanded. In coastal South Florida it is the most common finding on balconies, columns, walkways and parking structures. Spalling is recorded and located in a milestone, recertification or condition report; on its own it is a finding, not a determination of substantial structural deterioration.

Reinforcing steel visible after the concrete covering it has spalled away. Exposed steel corrodes faster once open to air and salt-laden moisture, so it is documented with its location and extent and addressed in a concrete restoration scope rather than patched cosmetically.

The repair of deteriorated reinforced concrete: removing unsound concrete, cleaning and treating or replacing corroded steel, and placing a compatible repair material, followed by waterproofing where the original failure let moisture in. Restoration work is designed, permitted and overseen by an engineer, and is the usual outcome of deficiencies found in a milestone, recertification or condition report.

A building more than three stories or 50 feet in height, or with an assembly occupancy exceeding 5,000 square feet and an occupant content over 500. Florida requires a licensed special inspector to inspect a threshold building’s structural elements during construction and certify them to the building department. §553.71 and §553.79, Florida Statutes

A licensed engineer or architect approved to perform the structural inspections that Florida requires during the construction of a threshold building, at the stages the building code specifies, and to certify that work to the building department before it is covered. §553.79(5), Florida Statutes

The building elements a Structural Integrity Reserve Study must address: the roof; the structure, including load-bearing walls and other primary structural members and systems; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item whose deferred maintenance or replacement cost exceeds $25,000 or the inflation-adjusted amount determined by the Division, whichever is greater, and whose deferred maintenance or replacement would negatively affect the other seven listed components, as determined by the visual inspection. §718.112(2)(g)1, Florida Statutes

A financial study that estimates the remaining life and replacement cost of an association's common elements and recommends how much to set aside each year. A standard reserve study may cover every common element; a Structural Integrity Reserve Study is the narrower, statutory study of the structural components listed in §718.112(2)(g)1. A standard reserve study does not satisfy the SIRS requirement on its own.

The recorded instrument that creates a condominium under Chapter 718 and submits the land and improvements to condominium ownership. The statute times the SIRS cycle from the creation of the condominium; in practice the Declaration’s recording date is the date boards use. §718.104, Florida Statutes

The Florida Board of Professional Engineers’ term for the personal supervision and control a licensed engineer must exercise over engineering work before sealing it. It is the basis on which a Fortis PE seals every assessment: the engineer directed the work, reviewed the findings and accepts professional responsibility for the report. Rule 61G15-18.011, Florida Administrative Code

A report or drawing bearing a Florida professional engineer’s seal, signature and date, which certifies that the engineer was in direct responsible charge of the work and accepts responsibility for it. Milestone inspection, SIRS and recertification reports must be signed and sealed to be accepted by the building department or the association. §471.025, Florida Statutes

The transfer of control of a condominium association from the developer to the unit owners under Chapter 718. As part of turnover the developer must deliver a report, prepared by a licensed engineer or architect, describing the condition of the common elements and the building’s structural, roofing, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. §718.301, Florida Statutes

An engineer engaged by an association or owner to act on its behalf through a construction project: reviewing scope before bidding, comparing bids on equal terms, confirming that billed work matches built work, and documenting the record through close-out. The owner’s representative performs no repair work itself.

A licensed engineer who provides sealed findings, reports and, when engaged for that purpose, testimony in legal proceedings involving building condition, structural distress or compliance disputes. The scope and intended use are agreed at engagement.

The Broward County body that administers the Florida Building Code countywide and sets the rules for Broward's building recertification program, including the 25-year trigger. Recertification reports in Broward are filed with the local building department under BORA's rules.

The Miami-Dade County department whose building division administers the county's building recertification program under Miami-Dade County Code Section 8-11, including the 30-year trigger and the 25-year coastal-zone provision for qualifying condominium and cooperative buildings.

The historical name of the Miami-Dade and Broward building recertification programs, which originally applied when a building reached 40 years of age. Both counties shortened the trigger after the 2021 Surfside collapse — Miami-Dade to 30 years, with 25 in its coastal zone, and Broward to 25 years — but the older name is still widely used by boards, managers and vendors.

The area within three miles of the coastline defined in Miami-Dade County Code Section 8-11. Condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more habitable stories with a Certificate of Occupancy issued in 1998 or later that stand inside this zone are on the 25-year recertification and milestone trigger; other buildings in the county are on the 30-year trigger. Miami Beach lies entirely within the zone.

The Florida law enacted after the Surfside collapse that created the statewide milestone inspection requirement in §553.899 and the Structural Integrity Reserve Study requirement in §718.112(2)(g). Its original automatic 25-year trigger for buildings within three miles of the coast was later repealed by SB 154. Chapter 2022-269, Laws of Florida

The 2023 amendment that revised SB 4-D. It removed the automatic 25-year coastal milestone trigger, set 30 years from the Certificate of Occupancy as the statewide default, and gave each Local Enforcement Agency the option to adopt 25 years instead. Chapter 2023-203, Laws of Florida

The 2025 Florida law that amended the SIRS and reserve provisions of Chapter 718. Effective July 1, 2025, it moved the one-time initial SIRS deadline to December 31, 2025 (with a limited accommodation for associations whose milestone inspection falls due by December 31, 2026), added written conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for inspection and repair professionals under F.S. §553.899(12), and updated meeting and electronic-voting procedures under F.S. §718.112.

The division of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation that regulates condominium and cooperative associations. Associations must report milestone inspection and SIRS information to the division under §718.501(1)(o). §718.501(1)(o), Florida Statutes