Why condo due diligence changed after 2021
The 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside pushed the Florida Legislature to rewrite the rules for how aging condominium and cooperative buildings have to prove they're structurally sound — and how they have to pay for repairs. Two requirements came out of that: the Milestone Inspection and the Structural Integrity Reserve Study, usually shortened to SIRS. Both apply statewide, but they land hardest in Miami-Dade and Broward, where a large share of the condo stock is 30, 40, even 50+ years old and sits within a few miles of the coast.
For a buyer, this isn't background regulatory noise. Buildings that spent decades collecting minimal reserves are now required to catch up fast, and many are doing it through special assessments — one-time bills to every owner — or steep increases to monthly HOA dues. If you buy into a building with a bad milestone inspection, an unfunded SIRS, or a special assessment about to be voted on, you can inherit a bill worth tens of thousands of dollars within months of closing.
What a Milestone Inspection actually checks
Under Florida Statute 553.899, condo and co-op buildings of three or more habitable stories have to be inspected by a licensed engineer or architect once the building hits a certain age, based on the date its certificate of occupancy was issued: 30 years for inland buildings, or 25 years if the building sits within three miles of the coastline — which covers most of the barrier-island and waterfront condo stock across Miami-Dade and Broward. The inspection then repeats every 10 years.
It runs in two phases. Phase 1 is a visual structural inspection. If the engineer finds "substantial structural deterioration," that triggers a more invasive Phase 2 evaluation, which is a strong signal that real (and often expensive) repair work is coming. When you're evaluating a building, ask not just whether it has passed its milestone inspection, but whether it required a Phase 2 — that detail tells you a lot more than a simple pass/fail.
What a SIRS report actually is
A Structural Integrity Reserve Study, required under Florida Statute 718.112(2)(g) for the same 3-story-and-up buildings, is different from the milestone inspection. It's a funding plan: a licensed engineer or professional inspects a defined set of structural components — the roof, load-bearing structural members, floor, foundation, fireproofing and fire protection systems, plumbing, electrical, and waterproofing/exterior painting and windows/exterior doors — estimates the remaining useful life and replacement cost of each, and tells the association exactly how much money should be sitting in reserves for each item.
A SIRS report is the single most useful document a buyer can request, because it converts the physical condition of the building into dollar figures: what needs to be replaced, roughly when, what it will cost, and whether the association currently has that money set aside or not.
The 2025-2026 deadlines behind the current wave of assessments
The original SIRS completion deadline was December 31, 2024. House Bill 913, signed into law and effective July 1, 2025, pushed that deadline to December 31, 2025 — so by the time you're reading this, most applicable associations should have a completed SIRS on file.
The bigger shift for buyers is what kicked in after that: as of January 1, 2026, full reserve funding for the specific SIRS structural components became mandatory. Boards can no longer vote to waive or underfund those particular reserves the way they routinely did for decades (non-structural reserves, like pools or landscaping, can still be reduced or waived by owner vote). That change is exactly why special assessments have spiked over the past year — associations that ran on minimal reserves are now legally required to catch up, and catching up costs money right now, not spread out over another decade.
The dollar figures involved are not small. Special assessments in older coastal buildings with deferred maintenance have run anywhere from roughly $10,000 to well over $100,000 per unit, and some associations have raised monthly reserve contributions from the $50–$100 range to $300–$800 per unit per month to reach full SIRS funding. Those numbers vary enormously by building — but they show why this line item deserves the same scrutiny as the purchase price itself.
Why this can become a surprise bill after closing
Special assessments and reserve shortfalls are a shared liability among all unit owners, not just the ones who lived through the underfunded years. If you close on a unit and the board approves a special assessment a few months later, you're on the hook — the fact that you weren't the owner when the building's roof or concrete started deteriorating doesn't exempt you. Even short of an assessment, a building playing catch-up on reserves usually means climbing monthly HOA dues that quietly erode what you can actually afford.
There's a financing angle too: boards now submit SIRS data electronically to the state, and that data is increasingly visible to lenders and insurers pricing risk on a building-by-building basis. A non-compliant or poorly funded building can mean a higher insurance premium, a lender declining to finance units in that building at all, or a lender requiring a larger down payment. Before you fall in love with a unit, it's worth confirming your financing is realistic for that specific building, not just for the purchase price.
Your due-diligence checklist before you make an offer
None of this is a reason to avoid Florida condos — it's a reason to be specific about what you ask for. Work through this list with your agent before you write an offer, or at minimum before your inspection period ends:
Request the Milestone Inspection report and the SIRS
Florida Statute 718.503 requires sellers to provide, at their own expense, a current copy of the inspector-prepared milestone inspection summary and the association's most recent SIRS (or a written statement that no SIRS has been completed) to any buyer under contract. If your agent hasn't already requested these in writing, ask now.
Check the reserve funding status
Ask what percentage of the SIRS-designated reserves are actually funded today, not just whether a study exists. A completed SIRS that shows the association is 20% funded is a very different situation than one that shows 90% funded.
Review the current budget for insurance increases
A sharp jump in the master insurance policy line item is often the earliest visible sign of structural or reserve trouble, sometimes showing up before an assessment is even discussed publicly.
Confirm milestone inspection compliance status
Has the building passed its most recent inspection, is a Phase 2 evaluation underway, or is a compliance deadline still coming up? Ask for the actual report, not just a verbal confirmation.
Read recent board meeting minutes
Associations typically have to make these available on request. Minutes from the last several months often surface assessment discussions, deferred maintenance items, or insurance renewal problems well before they become official.
Ask directly about pending special assessments
If one has already been approved or is actively being discussed, negotiate now — either for the seller to cover it, a price adjustment, or walk away with your eyes open. Once you own the unit, future assessments are yours regardless of when the underlying issue started.
What to do with what you find
If the documents are missing, incomplete, or show real deficiencies, treat that as financial risk, not paperwork. Florida law gives buyers a right to extend closing by up to three business days after receiving the milestone inspection summary or SIRS, if you request the extension in writing — use that time. For older buildings or anything that raises real questions, involve a Florida real estate attorney before you waive your inspection contingency. And because a bad condo-docs review can sometimes mean walking away from a deal later than you'd like, it helps to get pre-approved early, so you're not scrambling on financing at the same time you're renegotiating over a special assessment.