Condo Due Diligence, Part 1: Florida Milestone Inspections Explained

Florida Statute 553.899 requires a structural milestone inspection for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more habitable stories. The first is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years. A local building department can move the trigger to 25 years where conditions such as proximity to salt water call for it. Miami-Dade's recertification rules do that for condo and co-op buildings of three or more stories within three miles of the coastline built in 1998 or later.

Buildings that were already older got catch-up dates. A building that reached 30 before July 1, 2022 had to finish its first inspection before December 31, 2024. One that reached 30 from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024 had until December 31, 2025. So the December 31, 2026 date you see quoted is the deadline for buildings that turn 30 this year, or 25 under a coastal rule. It is not one deadline for every older building.

Phase one, phase two, repairs

• Phase one is a visual examination of habitable and nonhabitable areas by a licensed architect or engineer, completed within 180 days of the association receiving written notice.
• Phase two happens only if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration, which the statute defines as substantial structural distress or weakness. It may include destructive or nondestructive testing, and a progress report is due within 180 days of the phase one report.
• Repairs flagged by phase two must begin within 365 days of the report. If they do not, the local agency must review whether the building is unsafe to occupy.
• Owners must see the summary. Within 45 days of receiving a report, the association must send the inspector's summary to every unit owner, post it on the property, and publish the full report on its website if it has one.

What a buyer should hold before going firm

On a resale, Florida Statute 718.503 makes the seller give you the inspector's milestone summary, if the building needed an inspection, along with the declaration, bylaws, budget, financial statement and the reserve study. For contracts signed after December 31, 2024, the contract must also say whether the building needed a milestone inspection and whether it was done. You then have 7 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays, to cancel after receiving those documents, unless you received them more than 7 days before signing.

My read

In an older Miami building, the inspection file tells you more than the listing photos. A phase one with no findings is a clean start. A phase two finding is not a reason to walk away by itself, but it is a reason to ask what the repairs cost, how the board is paying for them, and whether a special assessment is coming. Get those answers in writing from the association, not from the seller. Part 2 of this guide covers the reserve study, which is where the money question lives.