Inspections & ReservesStructural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) Requirements in Florida
A Structural Integrity Reserve Study is a formal assessment of the building components that keep a structure safe — and of the money an association needs to be setting aside to maintain them. For associations covered by HB 1021 and Florida Statute 718, the most recent SIRS is one of the records that must be posted online where owners can find it.
What a SIRS covers
A SIRS examines the structural and life-safety components of the building and estimates their remaining useful life and replacement cost. It is what turns deferred maintenance from a surprise into a line item — and it is the document owners are most likely to ask about when a special assessment appears.
Which associations need a SIRS?
A residential condominium association must have a structural integrity reserve study completed for each building on the condominium property that is three habitable stories or higher, and must repeat it at least every 10 years after the condominium's creation. Buildings under three stories are exempt, as are single-family, two-family, three-family and four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground.
The deadline was December 31, 2025
Associations existing on or before July 1, 2022 and controlled by unit owners rather than the developer had to complete their study by December 31, 2025. You may still see 2024 quoted on older pages — that was the earlier date, since moved.
There is one extension, and it is narrow. An association required to complete a milestone inspection on or before December 31, 2026 may complete the reserve study at the same time as that inspection. The statute is explicit that in no event may the study be completed after December 31, 2026.
The seven components a SIRS must cover
A study is not a general reserve schedule. It must examine, at minimum:
- Roof
- Structure, including load-bearing walls and other primary structural members
- Fireproofing and fire protection systems
- Plumbing
- Electrical systems
- Waterproofing and exterior painting
- Windows and exterior doors
It must also cover any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above $25,000 that would negatively affect one of the items above. For every item, the study must state the estimated remaining useful life and the estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense.
Who can perform one
The visual inspection portion must be performed or verified by an engineer licensed under chapter 471, an architect licensed under chapter 481, or a person certified as a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts. A property manager or a board member cannot do it.
How it is used to plan repairs
Because the study puts a remaining life and a cost against each component, it converts an unknown future expense into a schedule you can fund. A roof with six years left and a quoted replacement cost tells a board what to collect now rather than what to assess for later. That is the practical reason the study exists, and the reason owners ask for it the moment a special assessment is proposed.
SIRS and the milestone inspection are not the same thing
A milestone inspection under s. 553.899 is a structural safety inspection, due by December 31 of the year a building reaches 30 years of age statewide. Your local enforcement agency may require it at 25 years where local conditions, such as proximity to salt water, warrant it — it is their determination, not a fixed distance from the coast. The reserve study is about funding; the milestone inspection is about safety. Most associations of three storeys or more will eventually owe both.
It has to be posted, not just filed
Commissioning the study is only half the obligation. Alongside your inspector-prepared structural integrity and life safety inspection reports, the most recent SIRS belongs in your association's online portal, available to owners. Like most official records, it is due within 30 days of the association receiving it.
A common gap: boards commission the study, receive the PDF, and file it in an email thread. The obligation is not satisfied until it is posted where owners can reach it — and a study that was posted two cycles ago is no longer “the most recent.”
How Florida 1021 handles it
Your SIRS and inspection reports sit alongside every other required record, tracked against the deadline rather than parked in a folder. When a newer study supersedes an older one, the system knows. When an inspection cycle comes due, it tells you before an owner does.
This page is a plain-language summary for board members and is not legal or engineering advice. Consult your association attorney and a licensed inspector for requirements specific to your building.