Florida’s last SIRS deadline is December 31, 2026: who it applies to and what happens next

If you own a condo in a Florida building three stories or taller, you have probably heard the letters SIRS at an owners’ meeting. A SIRS is a structural integrity reserve study. It is one of the two big safety-and-money rules Florida passed after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside in 2021. For most associations the first SIRS was due by December 31, 2025. One group of buildings got an extra year. That year ends December 31, 2026, and the law says no SIRS may be completed after that date.

What a SIRS is, in plain words

A SIRS is a study of the big, expensive parts of the building and how much money the association needs to save to repair or replace them. The law lists the items it must cover, including the roof, the structure (load-bearing walls and other primary structural members), fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and any other item over $25,000 whose failure would hurt those parts. For each item it estimates how long it will last and what it will cost, and then sets a yearly savings amount.

It must be done by a qualified professional — a licensed engineer or architect, or a reserve specialist or analyst with the credentials the law lists — and it must be repeated at least every 10 years.

Who has until December 31, 2026

The general deadline for associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022 was December 31, 2025. The statute makes one exception: an association that also has a milestone inspection due by December 31, 2026 may do the milestone inspection and the SIRS at the same time. The statute then says a SIRS may not be completed after December 31, 2026. If your building is in that group and the study is not finished, this is the last runway the law gives you.

After the study: 45 days to report it

Once the SIRS is complete, the association must report it to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) within 45 days, using DBPR’s online reporting system. The association also keeps the study in its official records, and owners have a right to see it.

Why it reaches your wallet

For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners can no longer vote to waive or reduce the reserves a SIRS calls for. That means the savings amount in the study flows straight into the budget, and from there into every owner’s monthly assessment. The few exceptions are narrow: termination of the condominium, a two-year pause allowed after a milestone inspection when the owners approve it by a majority of all voting interests, and a pause when a building has been declared uninhabitable after a natural emergency.

The law does not set an automatic fine for a late SIRS. But a director who willfully and knowingly fails to get one done breaches their fiduciary duty to the owners, DBPR can bring civil penalties, and a budget built without a required SIRS is not a lawful budget.

What to do this month

• Owners: ask your manager or board in writing whether the SIRS is finished and whether it has been reported to DBPR. Ask for a copy.
• Board members: if your building’s milestone inspection is due by December 31, 2026 and the SIRS is not done, call your engineer and your association attorney this week. Studies take weeks to schedule.
• Everyone: put the SIRS savings amount next to the proposed 2027 budget and check that the two match.