What does the Florida SB 4-D milestone inspection law mean for condo buyers?

What the law requires and which buildings it reaches

Section 553.899 requires a milestone inspection, defined as a structural inspection of a building including its load bearing elements and primary structural members, performed for the purpose of attesting to the life safety and adequacy of the structural components. It applies to a building 3 habitable stories or more in height that is subject, in whole or in part, to the condominium or cooperative form of ownership. It does not apply to a single family, 2 family, or 3 family dwelling with 3 or fewer habitable stories above ground.

The age trigger has moved since enactment, and a buyer should know both versions because both are cited in the field. The 2022 text required the inspection by December 31 of the year the building reached 25 years of age if located within 3 miles of a coastline as defined in section 376.031, and 30 years of age otherwise, with a repeat every 10 years. The text now in force sets 30 years for covered buildings, then every 10 years, and permits a local enforcement agency to require the inspection at 25 years where local circumstances, including environmental conditions such as proximity to salt water, call for it. In Palm Beach County the practical effect is the same question: has the local building official set an earlier trigger for this building, and has the report been filed.

The statute also carries a catch up schedule for buildings that aged past the threshold before the law existed. Those that reached the age before July 1, 2022 were due by December 31, 2024. Those that reached it between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 were due by December 31, 2025. Extensions are available on a showing of good cause.

Phase 1 and phase 2

The inspection is structured in 2 phases and the difference between them is the single most useful fact a buyer can learn about a building. In phase 1, a licensed architect or engineer performs a visual examination of habitable and nonhabitable areas of the building, including the major structural components, and provides a qualitative assessment of the structural conditions of the building. If the inspector finds no signs of substantial structural deterioration, phase 2 is not required.

Phase 2 is initiated if any substantial structural deterioration is identified during phase 1. It involves further examination, which may include destructive or nondestructive testing, to fully assess the areas of structural distress. The statute defines substantial structural deterioration as substantial structural distress or substantial structural weakness that negatively affects a building's general structural condition and integrity, excluding surface imperfections unless they indicate a deeper problem.

So the question to ask an association is not whether an inspection happened. It is whether phase 2 was triggered, and if so, what the testing found and what it costs to correct.

• Phase 1 only: a visual examination found no substantial structural deterioration.
• Phase 2 triggered: the inspector found substantial structural deterioration and testing followed.
• No report at all: for a building past its trigger date, treat this as an open item.

Who gets the report, and when

Completion of phase 1 means the licensed engineer or architect submitted the inspection report within 180 days after the owner or owners of the building received the written notice requiring the inspection. Within 45 days after receiving the applicable inspection report, the condominium or cooperative association must distribute a copy of the inspector prepared summary to each unit owner.

That summary is also a resale document. Section 718.503 requires that a buyer of an existing unit receive a copy of the inspector prepared summary of the milestone inspection report where one applies, along with the association's most recent structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none has been completed, and the turnover inspection report for inspections performed after July 1, 2023. The association and the building owner are each responsible for ensuring compliance with the inspection requirement, and the association bears the costs attributable to the portions of the building it is responsible to maintain.

The reserve study is the companion rule

The milestone inspection tells you what the building needs. The structural integrity reserve study at section 718.112(2)(g) tells you whether the money exists. A residential condominium association must complete that study at least every 10 years for each building 3 habitable stories or higher, covering the roof, primary structural members, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, and windows and exterior doors, plus any other item above the cost threshold. Beginning December 31, 2024, members of a unit owner controlled association subject to the study may not vote to provide no reserves, or less reserves than required, for those components.

The 2025 amendment, approved June 23, 2025 as chapter 2025-175 and effective July 1, 2025, changed 3 things a buyer will notice. It narrowed the milestone trigger to buildings of 3 habitable stories or more. It extended the first reserve study deadline from December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025. It raised the threshold for other reserve items from 10,000 dollars to 25,000 dollars, with annual inflation increases. It also permits an association that completed a milestone inspection in the previous 2 years to pause or reduce reserve contributions for no more than 2 consecutive annual budgets, for budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028.

What the records cannot show

• A phase 1 report records what a visual examination reached. It does not certify conditions inside walls, slabs, or below grade that were not opened.
• A completed milestone inspection is not a statement that repairs have been made or funded.
• The statute does not set a dollar figure for any repair, so no report tells you your share until the board allocates it.
• A local enforcement agency may set its own earlier trigger, so the statewide age threshold alone does not tell you when this building was due.
• Nothing in the inspection file describes the condition of the individual unit being purchased.