SIRS and Recertification in Miami-Dade

Which rule asks what?

Where did Miami-Dade's recertification come from?

Long before Tallahassee acted, the county wrote recertification into Section 8-11(f) of its code. Owners called it the 40-year recertification, because that was when a licensed engineer or architect first had to certify the structure and electrical system, with a repeat every decade. Houses, duplexes and very small buildings sat outside it.

Since the Surfside collapse and the state milestone law, the county's pages describe the program simply as building recertification, and the first-inspection age has been revisited. We could not confirm the current trigger age for every building type from an official text, so we leave the number out. Look the building up on the county's recertification portal or call its building department.

Cities with their own building department, Miami, Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Coral Gables and Doral among them, issue the notices inside their limits; the county handles everything unincorporated. Our Miami neighborhoods page maps who covers where.

Then what does the state milestone inspection add?

Statewide, it covers condominium and co-op buildings that stand three stories or taller. Count 30 years from the certificate of occupancy; the inspection is due before that calendar year closes, and again every ten years. A building official may pull that date earlier where conditions such as salt spray justify it, so oceanfront boards should ask theirs.

The first stage is a licensed architect or engineer looking at the structure. Should that look turn up significant deterioration, a second, more invasive stage follows, with testing and a repair plan, and owners receive a summary. For the budget, that second stage is the expensive part: its repairs tend to become the opening entry in the next SIRS, and paying for them is often what produces a special assessment.

Whether one engineer's visit can serve both the county and the state rule for your building is a point to settle with the building department and the association's attorney.

Which towers need a SIRS, and when?

Every residential condominium building with three or more habitable stories, at least once every ten years. Associations already in existence had a first deadline at the end of 2025. As we read the 2025 changes, some boards that pair the SIRS with a milestone inspection were given longer; confirm with the association's attorney whether yours is one of them.

What goes into one?

Eight groups of items, set against what a full study adds. For each, the SIRS estimates remaining life and replacement cost, then sets a yearly contribution that the board carries into its budget.

Who is allowed to sign it?

The statute lists two routes: a Florida engineer or architect with an active license, or a reserve analyst holding one of the two national credentials it names, from CAI and from APRA. When proposals arrive, ask each firm which named person will walk your floors and whose signature closes the report. As we read the 2025 law, the preparer of a SIRS may not then take the repair contract; confirm with the association's attorney.

The report has arrived. What now?

As we read the 2025 law, the board has a short window to put the SIRS in front of owners, a filing to make with the state's condominium division, and a written acknowledgment for officers and directors to sign. Deadlines and forms change, so confirm each step and its date with the association's attorney.

The bigger job is the budget. The SIRS contribution goes into the next one, and for budgets from the end of 2024 onward a vote of owners can no longer cancel or shrink it once owners control the association. The 2025 changes also opened narrow routes such as a line of credit or pooled reserves for some items; read those conditions with counsel before counting on them.

In what order should a Miami board work?

1. Pull the certificate of occupancy year and every past recertification letter. Those two facts fix the county and milestone calendar.
2. If an inspection is due inside the next year or so, ask whether the SIRS walk-through can ride along.
3. Commission the SIRS together with a full reserve study, so elevators and the lobby are budgeted next to the roof.
4. Get the inspection repairs priced before the budget meeting, so owners weigh reserves, an assessment or a loan with real figures.

Did the 2026 session change anything?

As we read the Senate's bill history, the 2026 SIRS bill, SB 722, did not become law, so the 2025 rules still govern. Confirm with the association's attorney; we recheck the statutes after each session.