Milestone inspections and SIRS, for a condo buyer
Two Florida requirements decide whether the condo you are buying is about to be assessed: the milestone inspection (§553.899) and the structural integrity reserve study (§718.112(2)(g)). Both apply to buildings three habitable storeys or higher.
The short version: ask the association for three documents before you are committed — the milestone inspection report, the structural integrity reserve study, and the current budget. What you are looking for is the gap between what the study says the building must save and what the budget actually collects. That gap is the special assessment, whether or not anyone has voted on it yet.
What the law actually requires
Quoted from the 2025 Florida Statutes. These are the same rule texts our Condo Assessment Risk report is built from — it does not paraphrase them, and neither does this page.
Florida Statutes §553.899 (2025)
Milestone inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or more: by 31 December of the year the building reaches 30 years of age (the local enforcement agency may require it at 25 years where local circumstances such as proximity to salt water warrant), and every 10 years thereafter. Transition: a building that reached 30 years before 1 July 2022 needed its initial inspection before 31 December 2024; one that reached 30 on or after 1 July 2022 and before 31 December 2024, before 31 December 2025. Phase one is a visual examination, phase two testing where substantial deterioration is found.
Official text: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/553.899
Florida Statutes §718.112(2)(g) (2025)
Structural integrity reserve study for each building three habitable stories or higher, at least every 10 years; associations existing on or before 1 July 2022 by 31 December 2025, except that an association whose milestone inspection is due on or before 31 December 2026 may complete the study with that inspection, and in no event after 31 December 2026; for budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024 owners may not vote to provide no or less reserves than required for the study's items; for budgets adopted on or before 31 December 2028, reserve contributions may be paused or reduced for no more than two consecutive annual budgets to fund repairs the milestone inspection recommends.
Official text: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/718.112
Three documents, before you are committed
- The milestone inspection report, both phases. Phase one is a visual examination. If it found substantial structural deterioration there is a phase two, with testing — and phase two is the document that matters. An association that has not had one, for a building past 30 years, is itself the finding.
- The structural integrity reserve study. It prices the structural items and states what must be reserved for each. For budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024, owners may no longer vote to fund less than the study requires for those items.
- The current budget, and the reserve balance. Compare what the study says is required against what is actually held and collected. The shortfall, divided by your unit's share, is the number you are buying into.
- Then ask two questions in writing: has any special assessment been discussed or approved, and has the association paused or reduced reserve contributions to fund milestone repairs? The statute allows that pause, for no more than two consecutive budgets, for budgets adopted on or before 31 December 2028 — which means a budget that looks affordable now can be a deferral.
What this guide can't tell you
- It is not legal advice, and a summary is never the statute. Where this page and the linked official text differ, the official text governs.
- The statutes change. The text above is the 2025 Florida Statutes as published at the links given. Check the year before relying on a deadline.
- Local rules can be stricter. §553.899 lets a local enforcement agency require a milestone inspection at 25 years rather than 30 where local circumstances such as proximity to salt water warrant it. Your building's county or city may have done exactly that.
- Nobody can predict a special assessment, and our reports do not try. What can be stated is the funding gap the documents themselves show, and what the building's year built implies about when its inspections fall due.
- Public records don't hold association documents. The milestone report, the study and the budget come from the association, not from a county file, and an association that will not produce them is telling you something.
The Condo Assessment Risk report works the milestone and SIRS schedules out from the building's year built, pulls the county's violation, permit and recertification records for the building folio, and computes the reserve gap and your unit's share only from amounts your documents actually state. It makes no score and no prediction.
Every figure on this page, and where it came from
Every number above is recomputed from the loaded records each time this page is built. Last rebuilt 2026-09-28.
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Questions people ask
What is a milestone inspection in Florida?
A structural inspection required by Florida Statutes §553.899 for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable storeys or more, due by 31 December of the year the building reaches 30 years of age and every 10 years after that — earlier where a local enforcement agency requires it. The official text is at flsenate.gov.
What is a SIRS and when is it due?
A structural integrity reserve study, required by §718.112(2)(g) for each building three habitable storeys or higher at least every 10 years. Associations existing on or before 1 July 2022 were required to complete one by 31 December 2025, with a narrow extension to 31 December 2026 where the milestone inspection falls due on or before that date. Official text: flsenate.gov.
Can a condo association choose not to fund its reserves?
Not for the items a structural integrity reserve study covers. For budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024, owners may not vote to provide no reserves, or less than the study requires, for those items. A separate provision allows contributions to be paused or reduced for no more than two consecutive annual budgets, for budgets adopted on or before 31 December 2028, to fund repairs the milestone inspection recommends.
What should a condo buyer ask for before closing?
The milestone inspection report including phase two if there was one, the structural integrity reserve study, the current budget and reserve balance, and a written answer on whether any special assessment has been discussed or approved. The gap between the study's requirement and the budget's collection is the exposure.