Milestone inspection or SIRS? Two different questions about your Florida condo building

If you own a condo in a Florida building three stories or taller, you have probably seen two terms in board notices: "milestone inspection" and "SIRS." Both involve a licensed professional looking at the building.

They are not. A milestone inspection asks one question: is the structure of this building sound, or is it deteriorating? A SIRS asks a different question: how much money should the association save each year to repair and replace the big parts of the building over time? One is about safety. The other is about the budget.

The milestone inspection: is the building safe?

The milestone inspection law is section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes. It covers buildings that are three habitable stories or more and are wholly or partly condominium or co-op property. The first inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, counted from its certificate of occupancy. It repeats every 10 years. Your local building department can move the first one up to 25 years, for example for buildings near salt water.

The inspection comes in two parts. Phase 1 is a visual look at the building, including its major structural parts. If the architect or engineer sees no signs of "substantial structural deterioration," the inspection stops there. The law defines that term as serious structural distress or weakness that hurts the building's overall structural condition. Ordinary cracks, peeling paint or signs of leaks do not count by themselves, unless the inspector decides they point to that kind of deterioration.

If Phase 1 does find substantial structural deterioration, Phase 2 is required. That is a closer look, which can include testing. If repairs are needed, the law says they must be started within 365 days after the local building department receives the Phase 2 report.

Who sees the report: the inspector sends it to the association and to the local building official, not to the state condo division. Within 45 days of getting it, the association must send every owner the inspector's summary, post it in a visible spot on the property, and put the full report on the association website if it is required to have one.

The SIRS: how much should the building save?

The SIRS rules are in section 718.112(2)(g) of the Florida Statutes, the condo law. A residential condo association must have a SIRS for each building three habitable stories or higher, at least every 10 years. It must cover eight items:

• Roof
• Structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural members
• Fireproofing and fire protection systems
• Plumbing
• Electrical systems
• Waterproofing and exterior painting
• Windows and exterior doors
• Any other item whose repair or replacement cost is more than $25,000 (adjusted each year for inflation) and that affects the items above

A SIRS can be done or verified by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, or by a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst certified by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts. For each item it must estimate the remaining useful life and the replacement cost, and give a funding plan with a recommended yearly reserve amount. At a minimum, the plan must keep the reserve balance above zero.

The SIRS goes to the owners and the state, not the building department. Within 45 days of getting it, the association must give each owner a copy, or a notice that it is available on written request, and file a statement with the state's Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes on the division's form.

How the two connect

The law lets the two work together in a few ways. A milestone inspection done in the past five years can be used in place of the visual inspection part of the SIRS. Most associations owed their first SIRS by December 31, 2025. If a building's milestone inspection was also due by December 31, 2026, the SIRS could be done at the same time, but the law says no SIRS may be completed after December 31, 2026.

There is also some breathing room for repairs. After a milestone inspection, an association may delay its required SIRS for up to the two budget years right after the inspection. And for budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028, a board that finished a milestone inspection in the previous two calendar years may pause or reduce reserve contributions to pay for the repairs it recommended, for no more than two budgets in a row, but only with the approval of a majority of the total voting interests. That means more than half of all the votes in the association, not just half of the owners who show up. A SIRS must be done before contributions start again.

One more rule: a design professional or contractor who bids to do the SIRS must say in writing if they plan to bid on the repair or replacement work too.

What to do

If you are an owner:

• Ask your manager or board, in writing, when the building's last milestone inspection was done and whether a Phase 2 was needed.
• Ask for the milestone inspection summary and the SIRS. Both should have reached you, and if your association has a website, the milestone report belongs there too.
• Look at the SIRS funding plan. That yearly reserve number shows up in your assessments.
• Questions the board can't answer? The association attorney and the engineer are the right people for the board to ask. Owners with questions can call the state condo division at (954) 202-6831, the number on its inspections page.

If you are on the board:

• Keep two calendars: the milestone dates set by your local building department, and the 10-year SIRS cycle.
• Track both 45-day clocks: the milestone summary to owners, and the SIRS notice to owners plus the filing with the state.
• If a Phase 2 report calls for repairs, note the 365-day start date and talk with your engineer and association attorney early.
• Before using the reserve pause or SIRS delay, ask your association attorney how the rules apply to your building and what vote is needed.