Who Needs One, and When

A milestone inspection is required for condominium and co-operative buildings three stories or more in height, at 30 years from the certificate of occupancy — or 25 years if the building is within three miles of the coastline — and every 10 years afterwards. Those thresholds were set by SB 4-D in 2022 and amended by SB 154 in 2023.

What that means in practice is that two buildings on the same street can have different deadlines, because the clock runs from each building's own certificate of occupancy rather than from any common date. Boards frequently assume they are on the same schedule as a neighboring association and discover otherwise when a notice arrives.

The statewide milestone inspection requirement was introduced in 2022 following the collapse of a residential building in Surfside the previous year. Before that, Miami-Dade and Broward operated county recertification programs and most of the state had no equivalent requirement at all.

Understanding that history explains the shape of the law: it is aimed at structural deterioration in older coastal buildings, which is why the trigger is earlier within three miles of the coastline, and why the inspection is structural rather than a general condition survey.

1. 01We do not perform the inspection. A licensed engineer or architect does.
2. 02We can price and build the repairs the report identifies.
3. 03We can attend board meetings to explain scope and cost.
4. 04We work to the engineer's specification, not to our own opinion of it.

Miami-Dade and Broward have operated their own recertification programs for decades, and those continue alongside the statewide requirement. If your building is in either county, you may have more than one obligation running, and your attorney should confirm which applies and when.

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