Introduced and signed into law in May 2022, Florida Senate Bill 4-D establishes statewide structural integrity reserve study and funding requirements for condominium associations and cooperatives.

Below is a list of questions many property managers and Boards are frequently inquiring about.

Does our current reserve study fulfill the requirements of a structural integrity reserve study?

As the law currently stands, it is likely your existing reserve study does not fulfill the statutory requirements. While Custom Reserves takes into consideration each of the building components that apply to the structural integrity reserve study, your existing study does not include language specific to the new legislation nor does it include a funding plan specific to the structural integrity components.

What happens if we don’t comply with conducting our structural integrity reserve study?

That document is not required to be provided to the “local enforcement agency” or, for that matter, the Unit Owners under the terms of either SB-4D or SB-154. It does become a part of the Official Records. However, an Owner who is offering their Unit for sale is required to provide a copy of the SIRS to the prospective purchaser.

The failure of a Board to obtain either a SIRS or Milestone Inspection, if required for the Association, now is specifically deemed to be a “breach of the officers’ and directors’ fiduciary relationship to the unit owners under s. 718.111(1)(a)”, see Lines 796-799 and 809-813 of SB 154 Similar language was in SB-4D.

If the Board of the Association in question refuses to obtain either a SIRS or Milestone Inspection, one remedy is to pursue pre-suit mediation under Sec. 720.311 as the provisions of SB-154 specifically state that complaints about failure to obtain either a Milestone or SIRS are not subject to arbitration under Sec. 718.1255 and must be dealt with through pre-suit mediation.

What if we can’t meet the funding recommendations outlined in our structural integrity reserve study?

While the law specifically states that the association must attain the annual funding level set forth in the structural integrity reserve study, there may be cases where it is difficult if not impossible to do so without the use of additional assessments.