# Florida Condos After Surfside: Who Pays for the Milestone Inspection and Structural Reserves

> Since 2022, older Florida condo buildings must get milestone structural inspections and fund a reserve study for the structure. Who pays: the owners, through reserves and often a special assessment. The law, cited.

Updated: 2026-09-29. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/guides/florida-condo-surfside-reserves-who-pays/ (claims cited to primary sources; see /methodology/).

Short answer: in a Florida condo, the owners pay for structural upkeep, and since the Surfside reforms of 2022 they can no longer defer it. Older buildings must get a milestone structural inspection and must fund a structural integrity reserve study, which is why owners across Florida are seeing large special assessments for concrete and building repair. The bill lands on unit owners because the structure is a common element, and the association funds common elements through assessments.

## The milestone inspection: mandatory at 30 years

After the 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse, Florida added [§553.899](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0553/Sections/0553.899.html), requiring a "milestone inspection" of a building’s structure. The statute defines it as a structural inspection of the load-bearing elements and primary structural members, and sets the deadline:

> "must have a milestone inspection performed by December 31 of the year in which the building reaches 30 years of age, based on the date the certificate of occupancy for the building was issued, and every 10 years thereafter."

This is not optional and not owner-by-owner: it is the association’s obligation for the building, and its cost is borne by the owners collectively.

## The structural integrity reserve study: no more waiving reserves

The companion reform is in the Condominium Act, [§718.112(2)(g)](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.112.html): associations must obtain a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) and then actually fund the reserves it identifies. The statute is explicit that the reserves are mandatory:

> "reserves must be maintained for the items identified in paragraph (g) for which the association is responsible pursuant to the declaration of condominium."

For decades many Florida associations voted every year to waive or underfund reserves to keep monthly dues low. For the structural items in the SIRS, that door is now closed. Buildings that deferred maintenance for years are funding it now, all at once.

## Why this shows up as a special assessment

The structure, the roof, the load-bearing walls, the concrete, the waterproofing are common elements, so under the Condominium Act the association maintains them and recovers the cost from owners. When a milestone inspection finds substantial structural deterioration, or the SIRS reveals reserves were never funded, the association raises the money the only way it can: higher reserve contributions and, frequently, a one-time special assessment split among all units. So "who pays for the concrete restoration" is the owners, whether through reserves built up over time or a lump-sum assessment when the bill comes due.

## What this means before you buy a Florida condo

- Ask for the milestone inspection report and the SIRS. A building that has not completed them, or that has a funded-reserve gap, is a pending assessment you would inherit.

- Low monthly dues can be a warning sign, not a bargain, if they were kept low by waiving the reserves the law now requires.

For the general rule on who maintains what in a condo, see [who pays for repairs in an HOA or condo](/guides/who-pays-hoa-condo-repairs/) and [who pays for balcony and deck repair](/guides/hoa-who-pays-balcony-deck-repair/).