On Thursday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 4B which includes reforms aimed at keeping condo buildings safer. One year ago, in Surfside, Florida, a 12-story beachfront condominium collapsed killing 98 people.
The new condominium inspection rules are included in property insurance legislation DeSantis signed Thursday. Fort Myers Beach has quite a few condo buildings, many very close to the water. The new rules will impact every one of those buildings that are three stories or taller.
SB 4 requires condominium and cooperative association buildings that are three or more stories high to have a structural integrity inspection by an architect or engineer when a building reaches 30 years of age and every 10 years thereafter, or 25 years of age and every 10 years thereafter if the building is located within three miles of a coastline. The inspection report results must be provided to local building officials, associations, and unit owners. If an inspection reveals substantial structural deterioration, a more intensive Phase inspection is required.
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.
The bill also requires condominiums and cooperatives to conduct structural integrity reserve studies for buildings three stories or higher to ensure the funding necessary for future structural repairs is available and prohibits waiver of funding for certain structural reserves.
It also requires all structural inspection reports and reserve studies to be part of the associations’ official record and must be provided to potential purchasers of a unit.
Comments are closed.