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The Florida legislature’s special session held this week resulted in new laws aimed to promote condominium building safety. Senate Bill 4D passed the House of Representatives and Senate each, and was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 26, 2022.

The legislation comes nearly one year after the devastating partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South residential condominium in Surfside, Florida. Following the tragedy, Florida’s legislature grappled with proposed legislative during the regular session in March 2022, but the condominium building safety laws proposed ultimately were not passed at that time. The special session presented a second, and successful, opportunity to revisit these proposals. The new laws represent statewide and industry-wide efforts to prevent similar tragedies in the future by mandating a variety of preventative measures, including:

  • “Milestone inspections” of condominium buildings at least three stories in height must be performed when the structures reaches 30 years since its Certificate of Occupancy and every 10 years thereafter. For similarly situated condominium buildings that are within 3 miles of a coastline, the milestone inspection must be performed when the structure reaches 25 years, and every 10 years thereafter.
  • A “structural integrity reserve study” is now required to be performed at least every 10 years after the condominium’s creation for each building on the condominium property that is three stories or higher. The study must include the roof, load bearing walls, floor, foundation, fireproofing and fire protection systems, plumbing, and any item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost that exceeds $10,000.00.
  • Furthermore, Members cannot opt-out of the mandatory funding of reserves for structural integrity components, regardless of a membership vote approving same.
  • Requiring inspection reports and studies to be kept as Official Records and available and published to Members.
  • Clear developer requirements for building inspections, structural integrity reserve study, and funding requirements prior to transition to the residents.
  • Engagement of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and local municipalities to track condominium buildings and the inspection reporting.

While the legislation presents new requirements from the current regulations, it is not the first time that inspections have been required by the Condominium Act. In 2008, House Bill 995 was adopted, requiring inspections for three-story condominium buildings every 5 years, though a majority of voting interest could opt-out of this requirement. That law was later repealed in 2010; at that time, many advocates for repealing the law cited reducing fiscal costs in the wake of the Great Recession.

When does the new law take effect?

Continue Reading New condominium building laws adopted in Florida seek to prevent future Surfside tragedies

CondoThe devastating collapse of one of the Champlain Towers South 12-story beachfront residential condominium towers in Surfside, Florida, has prompted officials at the local, state, and federal level to assess what precautions should be taken – or mandated – to prevent similar tragedies. At present, the cause of the collapse is still unknown.

In the wake of the collapse, however, a past engineering report has resurfaced which indicates that the tower had “major structural damage” as of October 2018. The same report concluded that the necessary repair work would be extremely expensive and create a significant disruption for residents. Whether the association acted upon this information reasonably will, unfortunately, be the source of litigation for months and years to come and has caused many condominium associations throughout the state to look in the mirror.

What are associations required to do to avoid a tragedy like Champlain Towers? What should associations do, even if not required by law?

Florida’s Condominium Act addresses engineering reports and warranties to be made by developers of a residential condominium, generally at the time of building or at such time that control of the association transitions to the members. However, there are few, if any, mandates at the state level as to a continued obligation to inspect the structural integrity of buildings. Politicians and residents throughout Florida have called on the state to enact mandatory requirements for building recertification, but Governor Ron DeSantis has not committed to any state action to that effect.

Through the efforts of advocacy groups and industry leaders such as CAI and Florida’s Real Property, Probate, Trust and Litigation Section, which has appointed a Condominium Law & Policy Life Safety Advisory Task Force, it is possible that future legislative sessions will see proposed laws aimed to prevent or minimize the likelihood of similar tragedies. In the absence of such legislation, though, condominium associations are guided primarily by local ordinances (to the extent they exist), and the business judgment of the board of directors.Continue Reading Condominium associations react to tragedy in Surfside, Florida