Building Safety Inspection Program

Regarding building safety inspections, Senate bill 4-D:

• Requires condominium and cooperative association buildings that are three or more stories in height to have a “milestone inspection” of the buildings’ structural integrity by an architect or engineer when a building reaches:
  • 30 years of age and every 10 years thereafter, or
  • 25 years of age and every 10 years thereafter if the building is located within three miles of a coastline.
• Requires, if a milestone inspection is required and the building’s certificate of occupancy was issued on or before July 1, 1992, the building’s initial milestone inspection to be performed before December 31, 2024.
• Requires that a phase one milestone inspection must commence within 180 days after an association receives a written notice from the local enforcement agency.
• Requires a phase two milestone inspection if there is evidence of “substantial structural deterioration” as determined by a phase one inspection.
• Specifies the minimum contents of a milestone inspection report.
• Requires inspection report results to be provided to local building officials and the associations, and requires an inspector-prepared summary to be provided to unit owners by mail and by email to unit owners who have consented to receive notices by email.
• Requires that the contract between an association that is subject to the milestone inspection requirement and a community association manager (CAM) or CAM firm must require compliance with those requirements as directed by the board.
• Requires the local enforcement agency to review and determine if a building is safe for human occupancy if an association fails to submit proof that repairs for substantial deterioration have been scheduled or begun within at least 365 days after the local enforcement agency receives a phase two inspection report.
• Requires the Florida Building Commission to make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature regarding the inspection requirements in the bill and inspection for other types of buildings and structures that are three stories or more.
• Provides that a willful and knowing failure by an officer or director of an association to have a milestone inspection performed is a breach of the officer’s and director’s fiduciary relationship to the unit owners.
• Gives unit owners the right to inspect and copy, as official records, the milestone inspection report and all other inspection reports relating to structural or life safety, and gives renters the right to inspect the milestone inspection reports.
• Requires the developer’s turnover inspection report to comply with the milestone inspection requirements.
• Requires associations to report to the Florida Division of Condominiums, Timeshare, and Mobile Homes (division) the number of buildings that are three stories or higher in height and the total number of units in such buildings on or before January 1, 2023, and requires the division to publish that information on its website.
• Requires developer and non-developer unit owners to give prospective buyers of a unit a copy of the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report.
• Extends the jurisdiction of the division to investigate complaints to include complaints related to the procedural completion of milestone inspections.