Blog > Florida Milestone Inspections: What Condo Buyers and Owners Need to Know

Florida Milestone Inspections: What Condo Buyers and Owners Need to Know

by Julia Ray

✓ Reviewed by Julia Ray, Broker and Owner, Raydiant Realty · Florida broker license BK3433857 · Reviewed October 21, 2026 · Our research process

Key takeaway: A Florida milestone inspection is a structural inspection by a licensed architect or engineer, required for condo and co-op buildings three habitable stories or more by December 31 of the year they turn 30, then every 10 years (553.899, 2026 statutes). In Broward County the building safety inspection starts at 25 years and also covers electrical, so in Hallandale Beach the older towers are past every trigger. Before you make an offer, get the latest inspector-prepared summary and ask whether any repairs it calls for are funded.

Who this guide is for: You're buying, selling or own a condo in an older Hallandale Beach tower and need to know whether its milestone inspection is done, what it found and how the result changes the price, the assessments and the loan.

At a glance
Statute	Florida Statutes 553.899 (2026 text, last amended by ch. 2025-175)
Who needs it	Condo or co-op buildings 3+ habitable stories
State age trigger	December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years
Broward trigger	25 years, then every 10 years (BORA Policy 05-05, effective May 11, 2023)
Who performs it	Florida-licensed architect or engineer
Who pays	The association, for the parts it maintains
Owner summary	Distributed and posted within 45 days of the report
Repairs after phase 2	Must begin within 365 days under state law

When Hallandale Beach Condos Need a Milestone Inspection

On Hallandale Beach's older oceanfront towers the state's 30-year trigger is the wrong number to watch. Broward County's building safety inspection starts at 25 years, adds electrical, and counts as the state milestone inspection. Listing records show the older towers on South Ocean Drive were built between 1970 and 1979, so they passed both triggers long ago; confirm any building's year on its certificate of occupancy.

So the useful questions are what the latest report found, whether the repairs are under way, who is paying, and whether a lender will call the open items critical repairs. Those answers move a unit's price more than the inspection date does. The wider rules are in our guide to Florida condo law after Surfside, and the buildings themselves in the oceanfront condos on South Ocean Drive.

Who Is Required to Have a Milestone Inspection in Florida?

Section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes sets four tests.

Three habitable stories or more

The building must be three habitable stories or more under the Florida Building Code. HB 913 (2025) added the word "habitable", effective July 1, 2025.

Condo or co-op ownership, in whole or in part

It covers buildings that are wholly or partly condominium (chapter 718) or cooperative (chapter 719). SB 154 (2023) limited it to buildings that include a residential condo or co-op.

Age 30, then every 10 years

The first inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, counted from the certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. Buildings already 30 before July 1, 2022 had until December 31, 2024; those turning 30 by December 31, 2024 had until December 31, 2025.

The 25-year local option for coastal buildings

The 2022 law set 25 years for buildings within three miles of the coastline. SB 154 (2023) replaced that with a local option: the building department can require 25 years based on local conditions, including proximity to salt water.

Milestone inspection exemptions

One- to four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories are exempt. HB 1021 (2024) added the four-family case.

Broward 40-Year Recertification and the Florida Milestone Inspection

Broward County's Board of Rules and Appeals (BORA) runs a building safety inspection program under section 110.15 of the county's Florida Building Code amendments. It used to start at 40 years, hence "40-year recertification". BORA Policy 05-05, effective May 11, 2023, moved the first inspection to 25 years.

What Broward's 25-year building safety inspection requires

A structural and electrical inspection by a licensed engineer or architect at 25 years from the certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. The policy allows 90 days from notice to inspect and 180 days from the report to finish repairs, unless the building official sets another timeframe. The owner or association pays.

How Broward's inspection counts as the Florida milestone inspection

The policy says the Broward inspection satisfies both phases of the state milestone inspection, and buildings that did the old 40-year inspection stay on 10-year cycles. It also reaches parking garages, balconies and attached seawalls.

Hallandale Beach's building safety inspection program

The city takes notices and reports through its Building Safety Inspection Program page, which mentions both 40 and 25 years. Ask the Building Division at (954) 457-1489 for a building's current status.

Who Does a Florida Milestone Inspection, and Who Pays for It?

A Florida-licensed architect or engineer

The inspector must be an architect licensed under chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under chapter 471. Since HB 913 (2025), an inspector must disclose in writing any plan to bid on the repairs, and undisclosed conflicts make a repair contract voidable.

The association pays, which means the owners do

The association arranges and pays for the parts it maintains, so the cost lands in the budget or a special assessment. Owners get notice within 14 days of the city's certified letter.

Milestone Inspection Phase 1 and Phase 2

Phase 1 milestone inspection: a visual examination

The engineer or architect examines habitable and nonhabitable areas and the major structural components. State law allows 180 days after notice; Broward's policy allows 90. No substantial structural deterioration means no phase two.

Phase 2 milestone inspection: testing when deterioration is found

Phase two may use destructive or nondestructive testing. Within 180 days of the phase one report, a progress report and timeline go to the building official. The sealed report must say whether unsafe conditions were seen and recommend repairs, and the inspector writes a separate summary for owners.

Sharing the milestone inspection report with owners within 45 days

Within 45 days the association must send the summary to every owner, post it on the property and put the full report on its website if it must have one.

Milestone inspection repairs must start within 365 days

HB 913 (2025) requires every county and city to make repairs begin within 365 days after the phase two report reaches it. If the association can't show repairs are scheduled, the agency must decide whether the building is unsafe to occupy.

Milestone Inspection vs SIRS vs Broward 40-Year Recertification

The milestone inspection asks whether the structure is safe; the structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) asks what reserves keep it that way. More in our SIRS explainer for Florida condo owners.

	Milestone inspection	SIRS	Broward building safety inspection
Law	553.899, F.S.	718.112(2)(g), F.S.	FBC Broward 110.15; BORA Policy 05-05
Question it answers	Is the structure safe?	What reserves are needed?	Are structure and electrical safe?
Buildings	Condo/co-op, 3+ habitable stories	Condo, 3+ habitable stories	Most buildings 3,500 sq ft+, not 1-2 family
First due	Age 30 (25 if local agency requires)	By Dec 31, 2025 for existing associations	Age 25
Repeats	Every 10 years	At least every 10 years	Every 10 years
Who performs	Licensed architect or engineer	Engineer, architect, reserve specialist or reserve analyst	Licensed engineer or architect
Result	Repairs, phase two if needed	Reserve funding plan; no waivers for budgets from Dec 31, 2024	Repairs within 180 days unless extended

A milestone inspection from the past five years can replace the visual part of a SIRS.

What a Phase 2 Milestone Inspection Means for a Condo Buyer

Special assessments for milestone inspection repairs

Repairs arrive as a special assessment, a loan or line of credit, or both; a loan needs a majority of total voting interests. For budgets adopted through December 31, 2028, owners can also vote to pause reserves for up to two budgets to pay for milestone repairs, which lowers dues now and raises them later. See our guide to condo special assessments.

Example: a milestone repair assessment per unit

Swap in your building's figures for these hypothetical ones. A 300-unit tower gets a $6,000,000 repair estimate. Split equally, each unit owes $20,000; split by percentage, multiply the total by your unit's share in the declaration. A $20,000 bill you inherit at closing is a price term, so negotiate it as one.

Getting a condo mortgage after a phase 2 report

Fannie Mae's Selling Guide (B4-2.1-03) makes a project ineligible while it needs critical repairs: a failed mandatory structural inspection, an inspection within three years showing unaddressed critical repairs, an assessment for a critical repair not yet done, or unfunded repairs over $10,000 per unit due within 12 months. Eligibility returns once an engineer confirms the repairs. Until then, read how non-warrantable condo loans work.

Your right to cancel over the milestone inspection report

On a resale the seller pays for you to get the milestone summary and latest SIRS under 718.503. Contracts signed after December 31, 2024 must let you cancel in writing within 7 days of receiving them, weekends and holidays excluded, unless you had them 7 days before signing. Read the summary inside that window; the rest is in our step-by-step condo buying guide.

Milestone Inspection Questions to Ask Before You Buy a Hallandale Beach Condo

When was the last milestone or Broward safety inspection, and was phase two required? Ask for the inspector-prepared summary and the date the city received it.
What repairs did it call for, and are permits pulled? Under state law repairs must begin within 365 days of a phase two report; Broward's policy sets 180 days to finish.
How are the repairs funded? Ask for the special assessment amount per unit, the payment schedule and any loan or line of credit terms.
Have owners voted to pause or cut reserves? If so, ask when the pause ends and what the latest SIRS says the reserves should be.
Has a lender reviewed the building recently? Ask whether a condo questionnaire flagged critical repairs, since that decides whether a conventional loan is available.

Also ask for the board minutes from the last 12 months, where repair bids and votes appear before they reach the budget. If you'd like, I can request a building's milestone summary, SIRS and minutes before you write an offer.

How Florida's Milestone Inspection Law Changed, 2022 to 2025

SB 4-D (2022)

Created milestone inspections: 30 years, or 25 within three miles of the coastline.

SB 154 (2023)

Limited them to residential condos and co-ops, made the 25-year rule a local option and allowed deadline extensions.

HB 1021 (2024)

Exempted four-family dwellings.

HB 913 (2025)

Chapter 2025-175, effective July 1, 2025: habitable stories, the 365-day repair ordinance, yearly reports to DBPR from December 31, 2025, bidder disclosure, the reserve pause and a December 31, 2025 SIRS deadline.

Milestone Inspection Mistakes Buyers and Sellers Make

Reading the date, not the findings. Open phase two items are a cost you may inherit.
Using the 30-year rule in Broward. The county starts at 25 and adds electrical.
Assuming a loan will close. Have the lender review the building before your financing deadline.

Selling? If you'd like a price that accounts for open repairs, contact me.

Reader check: This page explains the law as published on October 21, 2026, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm a building's status with a Florida attorney, the association's engineer and the Hallandale Beach Building Division.

Florida Milestone Inspection FAQs

Who is required to have a milestone inspection in Florida?

Condo and co-op buildings three habitable stories or more need one under section 553.899. It's due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years. A local building department can set 25 years, as Broward County does. One- to four-family dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories are exempt.

What is the difference between a SIRS inspection and a milestone inspection?

A milestone inspection is a structural safety check by a licensed architect or engineer that can require repairs. A structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) is a visual inspection plus a financial study setting reserves for eight components, such as the roof, structure and plumbing. A recent milestone inspection can replace a SIRS's visual part.

Who is required to do a milestone inspection?

Only a Florida-licensed architect or engineer. The association hires and pays for the inspection of the parts it maintains. Since July 1, 2025 an inspector must disclose in writing any plan to bid on the repairs. In Broward, buildings over three stories need a structural engineer licensed as a special inspector.

What is the 40 year recertification law in Florida?

It's Broward County's building safety inspection program, which required structural and electrical inspections at 40 years. BORA Policy 05-05, effective May 11, 2023, moved the first inspection to 25 years, then every 10, and says it satisfies the state milestone inspection. Buildings that did the 40-year inspection stay on 10-year cycles.

Can I see a building's milestone report before I buy?

Yes. Under section 718.503 a resale buyer gets the milestone summary and latest SIRS at the seller's expense. Contracts signed after December 31, 2024 let you cancel in writing within 7 days of receiving them, excluding weekends and holidays, unless you had them more than 7 days before signing.

Can a milestone inspection stop me from getting a mortgage?

It can. Fannie Mae treats a project as ineligible while it needs critical repairs, including a failed mandatory structural inspection or a special assessment for a critical repair not yet completed. Eligibility returns once an engineer's report confirms the repairs. Ask your lender to review the building early.

What happens if repairs aren't made after phase two?

Every Florida county and city must require repairs to begin within 365 days after a phase two report reaches the local agency. If the association can't show repairs are scheduled, the agency must decide whether the building is unsafe to occupy. Broward can also send the case to a special magistrate or code board.

Reviewed by Julia Ray, Broker and Owner, Raydiant Realty, October 21, 2026. This guide explains how the rules work; it is not legal, tax or insurance advice.