Condo milestone inspections: how an owner’s rep protects the board

Florida’s milestone inspection law, passed as Senate Bill 4-D in 2022, requires structural inspections of older condominium and cooperative buildings, structural integrity reserve studies and funded reserves for critical components. For many South Florida associations, this means the largest construction project the board will oversee, run by volunteers and paid for by neighbors.

Note: The law has been amended more than once since 2022, and local programs vary. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current deadlines with association counsel and your engineer.

Which buildings are covered

The milestone requirements apply to condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or more. The first inspection is generally due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, counted from the certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. Local building officials can require it at 25 years based on local conditions such as nearness to salt water.

Miami-Dade and Broward also have long-standing recertification programs for older buildings, which continue alongside the state rules. The deadlines don’t always match.

Phase 1 and Phase 2

Phase 1 is a visual examination of the building’s habitable and non-habitable areas, including major structural components, by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer. If there are no signs of substantial structural deterioration, the milestone inspection can end there.

Phase 2 is required when Phase 1 finds substantial structural deterioration. It can include destructive or nondestructive testing and ends in recommendations: whether the building is safe for continued use, what repairs are needed and how urgent they are.

The association must share the inspector’s summary with unit owners, and the law sets deadlines for starting the repairs. In practice, the Phase 2 report is the start of a restoration project.

Structural integrity reserve studies

A structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) evaluates reserves for the building’s critical components. It applies to buildings three stories or more and must be redone at least every 10 years. Components include the roof, load-bearing walls and other primary structural members, floors, foundation, fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and other items whose deferred maintenance would affect them. The study estimates remaining life and replacement cost and sets a funding plan.

The law limits how associations can waive or reduce reserve funding for these components, which ties the SIRS to budgets, assessments and how fast a board must act.

From report to repair

1. Engage a repair design engineer. Often the inspecting engineer. Include repair drawings and specifications, bidding support, site observation and quantity verification in the scope.
2. Investigate before bidding. Targeted testing and exploratory openings reduce unknowns that become change orders.
3. Build a proper bid package: drawings, specifications, a bid form with unit prices and estimated quantities, phasing and access, insurance and bonding requirements, and the proposed contract.
4. Prequalify restoration contractors: Florida license, insurance, finances, occupied-building experience, safety record and association references.
5. Level the bids. Compare unit prices, quantities, general conditions, access and shoring, and exclusions line by line.
6. Negotiate the contract: unit prices and quantity adjustments, retainage, schedule and phasing, resident protections, warranties and closeout.
7. Permit and notify: building permit, Notice of Commencement, and a resident plan for schedule, noise and unit access.

Unit prices and quantity growth

Concrete restoration is priced mostly in unit prices, because nobody knows the true quantity until the concrete is opened. Quantity tracking is the board’s main financial control.

Example only: a bid carries 1,500 square feet of partial-depth concrete repair at $150 per square foot, or $225,000. Once balconies and slab edges are opened, the quantity is 2,400 square feet. At the same unit price, the line becomes $360,000, which is $135,000 over the bid on one item. The growth may be legitimate. The board needs each repair area measured, marked and verified by the engineer before it’s patched, and logged against the bid quantity.

Funding and owner communication

Restoration is usually funded by special assessments, an association loan or both. Unit owners will ask why the work is needed, what it costs, how long it takes and how it affects their units. Clear scope, leveled bids, regular reports and a current cost-to-complete answer those questions.

How an owner’s representative protects the board

Board members owe a fiduciary duty to the association, and most are not construction professionals. An owner’s representative gives the board an experienced construction manager who works for it:

• Independence: no contract with the engineer or contractor, and nothing taken from either
• Bid packages and bid leveling that unit owners can follow
• Contract terms negotiated with association counsel: unit prices, retainage, change-order rules, schedule and resident protections
• Monthly pay application review against measured quantities and work in place, with lien waivers
• Change-order review and negotiation
• Schedule tracking, unit access and resident communication
• Monthly board reports in plain language

The engineer is responsible for the repair design. The contractor does the work. The owner’s rep manages the business of the project for the board.

How Monster Project Group supports associations

MPG works with condo boards and property managers across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach from the first engineering report through closeout. We help engage the engineer, build and bid the restoration package, negotiate the contract, review every pay application and change order, and report to the board monthly. Osher Dyce has led more than 20 major renovations of existing buildings for investors, landlords and developers.