Senate Bill 4-D was passed by the Florida Legislature in May of 2022. The bill was a response to the Surfside condo building collapse. The Bill has two main parts related to condos, inspections, and reserve funds.
Phase 1 inspections are needed by December 31st, 2024, if the building is 3 or more stories:
- The building is within 3 miles of the coastline
- The building is 25 years or older
- The building is more than 3 miles from the coastline
- The building is 30 years or older
Phase 2 milestone inspections are needed if:
- After a Florida-licensed engineer or architect performs a phase-one inspection, a phase-two milestone inspection is necessary.
- A report describing the manner and type of inspections, stating whether unsafe or dangerous conditions were observed, identifying and describing the extent of any substantial structural deterioration, and recommending maintenance, repairs, or replacement of structural components as appropriate.
- Failure to progress required repairs within a year of the phase-two inspection report submission requires the municipal authority to assess if the building is safe for continued occupancy.
Reserve Studies and Funds:
- Requires condominium associations and cooperative associations to complete a structural integrity reserve study every ten years for each building in an association that is three stories or higher in height.
- Defines “structural integrity reserve study” as a study of the reserve funds required for future significant repairs and replacement of the common elements based on a visual inspection of the common elements.
- Requires the study to include a visual inspection, state the estimated remaining useful life, and the estimated replacement cost of the roof, load-bearing walls or other primary structural members, floor, foundation, fireproofing, and fire protection systems, plumbing, and any item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost that exceeds $10,000.
- Requires the visual inspection to be performed by a person licensed as an engineer or an architect. However, any qualified person or entity may perform the other components of a structural integrity reserve study.
- Requires a developer to complete a structural integrity reserve study for each building in the association that is three stories or more in height before turning over control of an association to the non-developer unit owners.
- Provides that it is a breach of a board member or officer’s fiduciary duty if an association fails to complete a structural integrity reserve study.
Conclusion:
We anticipate many older condo buildings raising their reserve funds to account for the new legislation. Usually, condos associations do this one of two ways: raising monthly condo fees or charging special assessment fees. It will be important moving forward on a condo to make sure the seller provides all condo documentation and communications to the buyer. Also, there is a chance condo valuations could change based on monthly condo fee increases and/or special assessment amounts.
Because SB-4D is a new law and still open to interpretation and commentary through the end of 2023, amendments to the bill may still be made, and additional work may be required to comply with changes to the law as new information is issued by the Florida Legislature, Florida Building Commission and Florida State Fire Marshall.
Posted by Shane Vanderson on
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