Condo special assessments, milestone inspections and SIRS
The special assessments arriving across Florida are not mismanagement. They are the direct result of one legal change: reserves for SIRS components may no longer be waived or reduced†. For decades associations voted to waive them and kept fees low. That option is gone, and the arithmetic caught up all at once.
After the Surfside collapse, Florida required older multi-storey buildings to be structurally inspected and to actually fund reserves for the components that keep them standing. Both requirements are reasonable in isolation. Arriving together, on buildings that had waived reserves for twenty years, they produced assessments that owners experience as sudden — even though the underlying deferral built up over decades.
Two different requirements, constantly confused
| Milestone inspection | Structural Integrity Reserve Study | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A structural inspection of the building | A funding study for structural components |
| Question it answers | Is the building sound? | How much must be set aside, and when? |
| Applies to | Buildings of three or more storeys† | Buildings of three or more storeys† |
| Trigger | 30 years from the certificate of occupancy†, or 25 years if within three miles of the coastline† | On a fixed statutory cycle |
| Repeats | every 10 years thereafter† | Every ten years |
| Produces | A structural report, possibly with required repairs | A reserve funding schedule you cannot waive |
The milestone inspection tells you what is wrong. The SIRS tells you what it will cost to keep it from going wrong. An association can pass a milestone inspection cleanly and still face a large assessment, because the SIRS is about funding the future rather than fixing the present.
What the SIRS actually covers
It studies eight structural components† — roof, load-bearing structure, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows and exterior doors, plus any other item above $25,000† that affects those systems. Note what is missing: pools, lobbies, gyms and landscaping are not on that list. The law is about the building standing up, not about amenities.
If you own a unit
- Read the milestone report and the SIRS, not the summary. Boards summarise; the documents contain the reasoning and the numbers. You are entitled to them.
- Find out the current reserve balance against the SIRS schedule. The gap between those two is your future assessment, and it is knowable now rather than a surprise later.
- Attend the budget meeting. Reserve funding is set there, and it is one of the few moments owners genuinely influence the number.
- Expect the fee increase to be permanent, not a one-off. Funding reserves properly is an ongoing cost, and the buildings where fees stayed lowest longest have the furthest to travel.
If you are buying a condo
A unit can look well priced precisely because the market has already worked out that an assessment is coming. Buying without reading the milestone report, the SIRS and the reserve balance means the seller is transferring a known liability to you at a price that reflects it — and you are the only one who does not know.
- Ask for the milestone inspection report and any phase-two findings. A phase two means substantial deterioration was identified.
- Ask for the SIRS and the current reserve balance. Underfunded against the schedule means an assessment is arithmetic, not speculation.
- Ask for board minutes for the last two years. Assessments are discussed long before they are levied.
- Ask whether an assessment has been approved, discussed, or is pending. An approved one is usually the seller’s liability; a pending one usually becomes yours.
- Read the estoppel certificate carefully. Its fee is capped at $299† and the association has 10 business days† to produce it. It states what is owed on the unit — which is not the same as what is coming.
Lending is affected too. Mortgage availability tightened for buildings with unresolved structural findings or failed reserve requirements, so a unit that is hard to finance is hard to resell — which is a resale problem as much as a purchase one.
If you are selling
A known or pending assessment is disclosable, and it is exactly the kind of fact that produces litigation when it surfaces after closing. It is also increasingly hard to conceal, since buyers now know to ask for these documents. Disclosing it and pricing it in costs you a negotiation; concealing it costs you a lawsuit after the asset that would have paid for it is gone.
Related
Common questions
Why are Florida condo fees and assessments rising so much?
Because reserves for structural components can no longer be waived or reduced. Associations spent decades voting to waive them and keeping fees low; that option was removed, so the deferred funding arrived at once.
What is a milestone inspection in Florida?
A structural inspection required for buildings of three or more storeys at 30 years from the certificate of occupancy, or 25 years if within three miles of the coastline, then every ten years after that.
What is a SIRS?
A Structural Integrity Reserve Study. It studies eight structural components — roof, load-bearing structure, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows and doors, plus any related item over $25,000 — and sets a reserve funding schedule the association may not waive.
What should I check before buying a Florida condo?
The milestone inspection report including any phase-two findings, the SIRS, the current reserve balance against its schedule, two years of board minutes, and whether an assessment is approved, discussed or pending.
Who pays a special assessment, buyer or seller?
An assessment already approved before closing is usually the seller’s liability, while one merely pending typically becomes the buyer’s. It turns on contract terms and timing, so establish it in writing rather than assuming.
Milestone inspection and SIRS requirements sit in Florida Statutes §553.899 and Chapter 718, and have been amended repeatedly since 2022 — most recently by HB 913, effective 1 July 2025. Confirm current obligations with your association and its counsel.