Engineering Journal
Practical notes from the field on milestone inspections, reserve studies and county recertification — written for condominium boards, managers and owners across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach.
Start Here
The statewide structural inspection for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or taller.
The Structural Integrity Reserve Study that projects structural repair and replacement costs for reserve funding.
The Broward and Miami-Dade programs that recertify the structural and electrical condition of existing buildings.
Investigations and surveys that establish the cause, extent, and condition of observed distress.
Published Notes
Direct observations and clear guidance, organized newest first.
October 22, 2026 · 17 MIN
Since SB 154 (2023), 30 years is the statewide default and 25 applies only where the local building department adopted it. Which South Florida jurisdictions did, and how a board confirms its own date.
Read the note →October 17, 2026 · 14 MIN
Miami-Dade began recertifying older buildings after a 1974 collapse; Broward followed in 2006; the state added milestone inspections in 2022 and rewrote the trigger in 2023. Which layers apply to your building is why two boards a few miles apart can be on different clocks.
Read the note →October 16, 2026 · 15 MIN
There is no single price. The number is set by the building, access, whether Phase 2 is triggered, and the building department's fee. Here is what drives each.
Read the note →October 10, 2026 · 23 MIN
Both counties run one inspection that satisfies the state milestone requirement. The entry age, the date counted and the response window all change.
Read the note →October 9, 2026 · 21 MIN
Florida's milestone statute never says "photograph." Broward requires photos once, in prose. Miami-Dade prints the instruction 54 times. What Fortis photographs on a balcony, and why it does not change at the county line.
Read the note →October 8, 2026 · 16 MIN
Boynton Beach's recertification carries the state milestone inspection for condos and co-ops. What the city adds, and the deadlines to track.
Read the note →October 5, 2026 · 7 MIN
Two rules in adjacent sections of Florida Statutes use similar height triggers for very different purposes. Here is how milestone inspections and threshold building special inspections actually work.
Read the note →October 5, 2026 · 15 MIN
A Phase 1 milestone inspection, in order: the building department's notice and the 14-day owner notice, what the engineer reviews, what gets inspected, what the sealed report must contain, and what the board owes owners once it arrives.
Read the note →October 4, 2026 · 15 MIN
Florida law requires the developer to deliver a turnover inspection report when owners take control of a condominium association. What it covers, what it does not, which legal dates a new board should know, and where an independent engineering assessment fits.
Read the note →September 28, 2026 · 11 MIN
Balconies and railings are among a South Florida building's most exposed parts, and both are inspected under the milestone inspection and county recertification. The warning signs a board can catch early, what the code requires of a railing, and where the rules actually live.
Read the note →September 24, 2026 · 13 MIN
Florida's milestone law has no storm trigger. What a condominium board's emergency powers allow after a declared emergency, which changes are worth an engineer's attention, and what to record before repairs begin.
Read the note →September 24, 2026 · 18 MIN
Salt air puts chloride into parking-structure concrete years before anything shows. Six conditions a board can observe, what a documented repair involves, and how F.S. §553.899 separates a surface imperfection from a structural finding.
Read the note →September 24, 2026 · 4 MIN
How Fortis BuildSafe Solutions turned one site visit to a two-story Miami Beach residential building into a repair list the owners can budget, schedule and act on.
Read the note →September 23, 2026 · 12 MIN
OPPAGA's first milestone reporting data shows average repair permit values rising 47% from 2024 to 2025. Inflation explains little of it. A forensic reading of what moved, what the data can't show, and what boards should take from it.
Read the note →September 22, 2026 · 11 MIN
Florida has no statewide seawall inspection cycle, but Broward's building safety program can include seawalls, and Broward County and Miami Beach set height and good-repair rules. What applies, and how a board can plan ahead.
Read the note →September 21, 2026 · 12 MIN
Spalling is the visible end of a corrosion process that starts out of sight. What it means, what it does not mean under Florida's milestone statute, and what a board should do when it appears.
Read the note →September 16, 2026 · 22 MIN
A Florida condo board's next steps after a Phase 2 milestone inspection report: safety measures, owner notice, repair deadlines, bids, funding, and closeout.
Read the note →September 8, 2026 · 9 MIN
Florida law may allow a qualifying condominium association to complete its SIRS and Milestone Inspection simultaneously in 2026—but the requirements remain separate.
Read the note →September 1, 2026 · 9 MIN
Forensic engineering helps Florida boards understand what an aging building is doing, why conditions exist, and what evidence-based next steps a PE can recommend.
Read the note →August 30, 2026 · 10 MIN
A practical guide for condo and HOA boards: questions to ask about scope, existing-building experience, deliverables, independence, and next steps before hiring an engineer.
Read the note →August 28, 2026 · 10 MIN
SB 4-D created Florida's Milestone Inspection and SIRS requirements in 2022 and has been amended twice since. A board working from the original 2022 text alone is operating on rules that, in places, no longer apply. Here's the current picture, the deadline that has already passed, and the misconceptions boards hit most.
Read the note →August 26, 2026 · 8 MIN
A Florida Milestone Inspection report must be performed and sealed by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer under §553.899 — and the firm's qualification is a separate question from the individual's license. Here is who can do the work, who can sign it, and what a board should verify before hiring.
Read the note →
August 24, 2026 · 12 MIN
A Milestone Inspection evaluates a building’s structural condition now. A SIRS helps the association plan and fund major building components over time. Here is what Florida condominium boards need to know.
Read the note →August 22, 2026 · 16 MIN
HB 913 took effect July 1, 2025. It moved the initial SIRS deadline to December 31, 2025, adjusted milestone inspection timing, changed reserve funding rules, and added conflict-of-interest disclosures. Here is what boards need to act on now.
Read the note →August 20, 2026 · 10 MIN
Florida has two distinct building-inspection frameworks, and boards in Broward and Miami-Dade commonly assume they owe both. For qualifying condo and co-op buildings in those counties, completing recertification satisfies the applicable milestone inspection requirement — one process, not two.
Read the note →
