Florida Condo Milestone Inspection and SIRS Rules | Port Realty Group

Do Florida's condo milestone inspection and reserve rules apply to the condo I want to buy on the Forgotten Coast?

By Billy Joe Smiley | September 8, 2026

Condo buyers have been asking me about this all year, and I understand why. The headlines out of South Florida about assessments and reserve studies have been loud, and if you are looking at a place in Mexico Beach or on St. George Island, it is fair to wonder whether the same thing is about to land in your lap.

Here is what I tell people, and it is the honest read: these rules were written to give buyers information, and that is exactly what they do. Once you know which buildings the rules cover and which documents to ask for, a condo purchase on this coast gets clearer, not scarier. Let me walk you through it the way I would if we were sitting at my desk with a listing pulled up.

First Question: Is the Building Even Covered?

Florida Statute 553.899 sets the milestone inspection requirement, and it applies to condominium and cooperative buildings that are three habitable stories or more in height. The statute goes on to say plainly that it does not apply to a single-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family dwelling with three or fewer habitable stories above ground. The Structural Integrity Reserve Study requirement uses the same three-story trigger.

That single line matters more on this coast than it does in Miami. A lot of what we call condos here are two-story buildings, duplex-style units, and small townhome clusters. Those sit outside both requirements. When a building does clear three habitable stories, here is the timing:

Notice that the 25-year coastal timeline is discretionary, not automatic. You will still see articles online stating that any building within three miles of a coastline is on a 25-year clock. That was an earlier version of the law. Today the statute gives the local enforcement agency the option, which means the real answer for a specific building comes from the county or city building official, not from a blog post. I make that call for my buyers.

What a Milestone Inspection Actually Produces

A milestone inspection is a structural inspection performed by a Florida licensed engineer or architect. Phase one is a visual examination of the building's major structural components and a qualitative assessment of their condition. If the engineer finds no signs of substantial structural deterioration, the inspection is done. Phase two only happens if phase one turns something up, and it goes deeper, sometimes with testing, to define the extent of the problem and recommend repairs.

Here is the part buyers love once they hear it. Within 45 days of receiving the report, the association has to send every unit owner a copy of the inspector's summary, post it in a conspicuous spot on the property, and publish the full report on the association website if the association is required to have one. That means the findings are not buried. They are distributed by law, and as a prospective buyer you can ask for them.

A completed phase one report with no substantial deterioration is one of the more reassuring documents you can read before buying into a building. It is a licensed engineer putting a seal on the structure.

The Reserve Study, and Why Condo Budgets Changed

The Structural Integrity Reserve Study is the money side of the same idea. It inspects the building's major components and then builds a funding plan for them. The components it has to cover are the roof, the load-bearing walls and other primary structural members, the floor, the foundation, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above $25,000.

That $25,000 threshold was raised from $10,000 by House Bill 913, which took effect July 1, 2025, and it now adjusts for inflation each year. The same bill gave boards real flexibility on how they fund reserves, including pooling reserve funds across multiple components instead of maintaining a separate account for each one, and using a loan, a line of credit, or a special assessment with the proper approvals.

What did not change is the core requirement: starting with budgets adopted for 2025, associations have to fully fund the structural components identified in the SIRS, and owners cannot vote to waive or reduce that funding. In practical terms, a building that has been through this process is a building that is now paying for its own maintenance on a schedule. Monthly dues in a fully funded association are often higher than they were three years ago, and that is the point. You are trading a lower monthly number for a much lower chance of a surprise bill.

When I compare two similar units for a buyer, I would rather hand you the one with higher dues and a funded reserve plan than the one with cheap dues and no study on file. That first building has told you what it costs to own. The second one has not told you yet.

The Due Diligence List I Run on Every Condo Purchase

Your contract's condominium rider gives you a defined window to review the association documents and to cancel if what you read does not work for you. That window is your friend, and I use every day of it. Here is the list I work through:

• Confirm the building's habitable story count and certificate of occupancy date with the county or city building official. This one answer determines whether the milestone and SIRS rules apply at all.
• Request the milestone inspection report and the SIRS if the building qualifies, along with the association's response to any findings.
• Order the estoppel certificate. Under Florida Statute 718.116, a condominium association has 10 business days to deliver it, and it is good for 30 days. It confirms the current balance, any outstanding assessments, and any violations tied to the unit.
• Read the last 12 months of board and member meeting minutes. This is where a coming assessment shows up first, usually as a discussion long before it becomes a line item. If I only got to read one document, it would be this one.
• Pull the current budget, the reserve balances, and the last two years of financials so you can see the funding trend rather than a single snapshot.
• Get your insurance quotes during this same period. Your association's master policy covers the building, and your unit owner policy covers the interior and your contents. Because the split between the two varies by association, I have buyers get a live quote from an agent who has read the declaration, not a rough estimate. I cover the coastal side of this in more depth in my piece on wind insurance on a Forgotten Coast beach home.
• Check the rental rules against your plans if you intend to rent the unit. Rental policies vary from building to building, the same way they vary across our subdivisions, which I broke down in HOA fees and rental rules in Ovation, WindMark Beach, and Secluded Dunes.

One more thing worth saying out loud: the current market gives you room to do this properly. With inventory where it is across Port St. Joe, Cape San Blas, and the Mexico Beach corridor, buyers are not being rushed into waiving review periods the way they were a few years back. I laid out what that room to negotiate looks like in Is Now a Good Time to Buy on Florida's Forgotten Coast?

Condos on this coast are still one of the easier ways to own a place near the water, and the rules that came in after 2022 have made them more transparent than they have ever been. If you are looking at a specific building and want to know whether it falls under these requirements, what its documents say, and what your real monthly number looks like, call or text me. I will pull the records and give you a straight read before you commit to anything.