What is a Milestone Inspection in Florida?

A “Milestone Inspection” is the structural inspection of a building performed by a licensed architect or engineer. The purpose of a Milestone Inspection is to ensure a building’s safety through an assessment of its structural components and general structural condition.

It came about on May 26, 2022; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill SB 4-D: Building Safety. This statute states that all condominium or cooperative buildings that are 25 or 30 years of age, with three or more floors in height must conduct structural integrity assessments known as Milestone Inspections. All Phase One Milestone Inspections for buildings in Florida must be filed with the local building departments by the end of 2024. The bill goes on to require that buildings have a follow up inspection every ten years thereafter.

Miami Dade and Broward counties have had building inspection requirements in place for quite some time, generally referred to as the “40 year inspections”. In the aftermath of the tragedy at the Surfside building collapse, which many are speculating may have been avoided by a more rigorous inspection requirement, legislation was enacted to now have all buildings in Florida inspected when they reach a certain “Milestone”. Thus the name “Milestone Inspection”.

Despite the singular term “Building Inspection”, the process can actually require multiple inspections. The first is called the phase one inspection. If no issues with the building are found then a report is submitted to the regulating body and recertification can take place. But if any issues are discovered in the phase one, then remediation must be completed to address those issues and then a Phase II inspection must be done. As long as that inspection comes out clean then all is good for another the years. If anything is found to be still not right though, then the process could need to be repeated.

One other piece of the Milestone Inspection requirement, that is causing a bit of controversy right now, is a requirement that is called the “SIRS Report” which stands for Structural Integrity Reserve Study. It must identify the common areas being visually inspected, state the estimated remaining useful life and the estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense of the common areas being visually inspected.

The controversy is over the requirement that Condo HOA’s must show they are setting aside reserves to cover those replacement costs. The reserve amount they have to show is based on another requirement of the report. The report must also provide a recommended annual reserve amount that achieves the estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense of each common area being visually inspected by the end of the estimated remaining useful life of each common area. ?An example of this would be; if a building has a roof that is 10 years old with an expected life of 20 years and a replacement cost of $100,000, the building will need to show they are setting aside $10,000 per year to cover the $100,000 cost of the new roof that will be needed in another 10 years.

One other area of controversy is the extent of what the SIRS Report is required to include reserves for, which includes:

·????????Roof

·????????Load-bearing walls or other primary structural members

·????????Floor

·????????Foundation

·????????Fireproofing and fire protection systems

·????????Plumbing

·????????Electrical Systems

·????????Waterproofing and exterior paint

·????????Windows

·????????Any other item that has a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost that exceeds $10,000 and the failure to replace or maintain such item negatively affects the 9 items previously listed, as determined by the licensed engineer or architect performing the visual inspection portion of the structural integrity reserve study.

The controversy is in what setting aside theses reserves may cost some condo buildings and what that cost is going to do their monthly HOA assessments. An older building may require a lot of work and a lot of the residences in those building may be on fixed incomes, not able to afford a gigantic increase in their monthly expenses. Some say the list of required reserve items should be shortened to include only critical items. Still others are saying that a building that need repairs can always do a special assessment so there is no need to have the reserves set aside anyway.

It's hard to say who may be right and It’s safe to say that the debate may go on for some time. But this this is now the law. When you look at what happened to the Champlain Towers in Surfside with 98 lives lost, and you consider that this may have been avoided, it’s clear that something had to be done.

Florida has been & will be prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes & tornados. This, combined with being surrounded by salt water, can all have a detrimental effect on buildings. It is vital that we keep our buildings in ship shape to weather these disasters in spite of the deteriorating effects of the salt water. So despite where anyone stands on the controversies, it would seem that the “Milestone Inspections” are going to always be a part of what living in Florida is all about.

If you are an owner, HOA member, or property manager of a building that is ready for its required milestone inspection & recertification, be sure to call or email HomeCore Inspections. We are experts, here to help you through what can be a daunting process.

HomeCore Inspections – www.homecoreinspections.com????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Chris Johndrow – Inspection Coordinator: (954) 224-8422 / [email protected]

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