Buying a Condo in Miami After Surfside: milestone inspections, reserves and what to ask

What changed, and why it matters to a buyer

Before June 2021, a Florida condominium could go decades without a structural inspection, and owners could vote every year to put nothing into reserves. After Champlain Towers South, the Legislature passed a series of laws, in 2022, 2023 and again in 2025, that turned both of those habits into violations. For a buyer, the result is a building that now has to produce a paper trail: an engineer’s report, a funded reserve plan and a set of disclosures you are entitled to see before the contract binds you.

The practical shift is this. A low monthly fee used to look like a bargain. Today it can be a warning that the building has not yet caught up with the law, and that the bill is coming as a special assessment. This guide explains the inspections, the reserve rules, Miami-Dade’s own program, and the exact documents to demand.

Milestone inspections: the state’s structural check

Who must be inspected and when

Section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes requires a milestone inspection for any building that is three habitable stories or more and is subject, in whole or in part, to condominium or cooperative ownership. The 2025 law narrowed the trigger from “three stories” to “three habitable stories,” which took some low-rise buildings with parking levels out of the program.

The clock runs from the certificate of occupancy:

• The first inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years of age.
• A local building department may require it at 25 years instead, based on conditions such as proximity to salt water. Much of Miami-Dade’s coastline falls in that category, so ask which deadline applies.
• After the first one, the inspection repeats every 10 years.
• Buildings that were already 30 or older before July 1, 2022 had to complete their first inspection by December 31, 2024.

Phase one and phase two

A licensed architect or engineer performs phase one: a visual examination of habitable and non-habitable areas and a qualitative assessment of the structural condition. If that identifies substantial structural deterioration, phase two follows and may involve destructive or non-destructive testing. The owner has 180 days from the local agency’s notice to submit the phase one report, and the statute requires repairs for substantial structural deterioration to begin within 365 days after the phase two report is received.

What the association must do with the report

Within 45 days of receiving a report, the association must send every unit owner the inspector-prepared summary, post it in a conspicuous place on the property and publish the full report and summary on its website. That means a seller or manager who says the report “is not available” is describing a compliance problem, not a paperwork delay.

The Structural Integrity Reserve Study

What a SIRS covers

The second pillar is money. Section 718.112(2)(g) requires a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) for residential condominium buildings three habitable stories or higher. It is a visual-inspection-based budget tool that estimates remaining useful life and replacement cost for:

• roof
• structure, including load-bearing walls and other primary structural members
• fireproofing and fire protection systems
• plumbing
• electrical systems
• waterproofing and exterior painting
• windows and exterior doors
• any other item whose deferred maintenance or replacement cost exceeds the statutory threshold, which the 2025 law raised from $10,000 to $25,000 with annual inflation adjustments

It must be done at least every 10 years. The 2025 law extended the deadline for existing associations’ first study to December 31, 2025, and an association whose milestone inspection is due by the end of 2026 may complete both together, but in no event after December 31, 2026. Within 45 days of receiving the study the association must give a copy to every owner.

Reserves that cannot be waived

This is the change that moves monthly fees. For budgets adopted after December 31, 2024, an owner-controlled association that is required to have a SIRS may not vote to provide no reserves, or less than required, for the items in that study. Owners may still vote by majority to reduce reserves for other components, such as a pool deck or lobby furniture, but the roof and the structure are off the table.

Two relief valves exist. An association that completed a milestone inspection in the previous two years may, by majority vote and for budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028, pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two consecutive budgets in order to fund the repairs the inspection recommended, and it must complete a SIRS before contributions resume. Associations may also fund reserves through a special assessment, a line of credit or a loan with majority approval. Each of those shows up somewhere in the documents you are about to request.

Miami-Dade’s own recertification

Miami-Dade County had a building recertification program long before the state did. Under Section 8-11(f) of the County Code, buildings must be certified by a Florida-registered architect or engineer as structurally and electrically safe for continued occupancy. Since the county’s post-Surfside update, the schedule is 30 years for inland buildings, 25 years for buildings within three miles of the coast, and every 10 years after that. Single-family homes, duplexes and buildings with an occupant load of 10 or fewer and 2,000 square feet or less are exempt.

The county sends a Notice of Required Recertification and the reports are due within 90 days of that notice. The county also runs a public recertification portal where you can look up a building’s status. The state milestone inspection and the county recertification overlap but are separate obligations, so a diligent seller should be able to hand you both.

Special assessments: reading the warning signs

A special assessment is any assessment other than the one in the annual budget. Under section 718.112(2)(c), a meeting where the board will consider a special assessment requires notice to owners at least 14 days in advance, mailed or delivered and posted on the property, and that notice must state the estimated cost and the purpose. The 2025 law also requires associations to post the board’s approved meeting minutes for the preceding 12 months on their website, which Florida Realtors described as a way for buyers to spot pending assessments.

So the minutes are not a formality. Read the last year for words like engineer, concrete, waterproofing, loan and assessment.

The documents to demand

Section 718.503(2) lists what a resale seller must deliver to a buyer, and the rest belong on your list anyway:

Your right to review and cancel

When you buy from anyone other than the developer, the contract must contain the statutory clause making it voidable by the buyer within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after you sign and receive the required documents. The 2025 law extended that window from three days. If the seller never delivers the documents, the right survives until closing. Sales by a developer carry a 15-day right. Use the window to read the milestone report and the SIRS with your agent, and if anything is unclear, with an attorney.

Insurance and lender implications

The association is required by section 718.111(11) to carry adequate property insurance on the condominium property based on replacement cost, with that cost determined at least every three years. The association’s policy covers the building as originally built; it excludes your personal property and the floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, cabinets, countertops and window treatments inside your unit. Those belong on your own unit-owner policy, and a wind or water claim in an older building is a real possibility, so quote it during your review period.

Lenders review the building as carefully as they review you. Expect questions about the reserve balance, the SIRS, any incomplete milestone inspection, deferred maintenance, pending assessments and the association’s insurance. A building that cannot answer them cleanly can be declined for financing, which also matters when you eventually sell. Ask your lender to review the association package before the 7-day window closes, not after.

Questions to ask the association

• When was the certificate of occupancy issued, and has the building completed its milestone inspection? Was a phase two required?
• Is the Miami-Dade recertification current, or is there an open notice?
• Has the SIRS been completed? What annual contribution does it recommend, and is the current budget funding it?
• Are reserves currently paused after a milestone inspection, and when do contributions resume?
• Are there special assessments pending, approved or under discussion in the minutes? Is there an association loan or line of credit?
• Is the association party to any litigation with exposure over $100,000?
• When was the property insurance appraisal last done, and what is the windstorm deductible?

Related reading

• Miami flood zone map
• HOA vs condo association
• Florida AS IS contract and the inspection period
• Flood, windstorm and roof insurance in Miami
• Brickell condos for sale
• Mortgage calculator with dues and insurance

General guidance for 2026, not legal or financial advice. Florida's condominium statutes have been amended each year since 2022; confirm the current text with a Florida attorney before relying on any deadline.