Milestone Inspections in Palm Beach 

Milestone Inspections Palm beach | Florida Statute 553.899 Compliance | SB-4D Structural Experts

Milestone Inspections Palm Beach ensures your condominium or multifamily property meets Florida’s updated building safety laws with SB-4D, a leader in milestone inspections across Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Our team of licensed structural engineers provides Phase 1 and Phase 2 milestone inspections designed for full legal compliance, reserve planning, and structural safety assurance.

🌴 Why Milestone Inspections in Palm Beach Matter

Milestone Inspections are mandatory under Florida Statute 553.899 (Senate Bill 4-D). Any condominium or cooperative building that is three stories or higher and 30+ years old (or 25 years if within 3 miles of the coast) must complete a milestone structural inspection by a licensed professional engineer.

These inspections protect residents, property managers, and associations by verifying a building’s structural integrity and safety.

🔍 Our Milestone Inspections Palm beach Services

Phase 1 – Visual Structural Assessment

A comprehensive review of all accessible structural components, including:

• Foundations, piles, and slabs-on-grade

• Load-bearing walls, columns, and beams

• Balconies, stairwells, and walkways

• Roof slabs, decks, and parking garages

Phase 2 – Detailed Structural Testing

If Phase 1 reveals deficiencies, SB-4D engineers perform:

• Concrete core sampling and compressive strength testing

• Load analysis and finite element modeling

• Corrosion evaluation and crack mapping

• Repair prioritization and cost-planning support

🧱 Why Choose US for your SB-4D Inspections

✅ 30+ Years of Structural & Forensic Engineering Experience
✅ Expertise in Coastal High-Rise and Mid-Rise Structures
✅ Engineer-Stamped, F.S. 553.899-Compliant Reports
✅ Fast-Response Emergency Inspections
✅ Licensed Across Florida — Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Beyond

Our reports are tailored for:

• Condominium associations

• Property managers and HOAs

• Commercial and mixed-use developers

• Reserve fund and insurance documentation

📋 The Milestone Inspections Palm Beach Timeline

After failing to pass legislation during the 2022 regular legislative session in response to the Champlain Tower tragedy, Florida’s legislature used an emergency legislative session intended to address the insurance crisis to pass building safety legislation for condominiums and cooperatives. House Bill 5D passed the Senate 38-0, and the House 110-0. The Florida Governor signed the bill into law on May 26, 2022.

The new laws address mandatory structural inspections and reserves for condominiums and cooperatives with buildings three stories or greater in height. The following is a summary of the laws:

Reporting Requirements Applicable to All Condominiums.

On or before January 1, 2023, all condominiums and cooperatives that are in existence as of July 1, 2022, must provide the following to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (“DBPR”):

1. The name of the condominium or cooperative;
2. The total number of buildings that have 3 stories or higher in height;
3. The total number of units in all such buildings;
4. The counties where the buildings are located and the physical address for each building.

Any changes to this information must be reported to DBPR within 6 months of any changes. DBPR will be publishing a form for providing this information on its website that must be delivered to DBPR by mail, e-mail, or hand delivery.

Milestone Inspections Requirements

Condominium or cooperative buildings 3 stories or higher must conduct a structural inspection of such buildings, including an inspection of load-bearing walls and the primary structural components and systems.

The structural inspection of the building must be performed by a licensed architect or engineer attesting to:

1. Life safety and adequacy of the structural components of the buildings;
2. General structural condition of the building affecting life safety; and
3. Any necessary maintenance, repair, or replacement of any structural components of the building.

Local enforcement agencies will be required to determine and notify condominium and cooperative associations if they require a milestone inspection. The milestone inspection must be completed within 180 days of receipt of such notice. Completion of phase one occurs when the engineer or architect submits the inspection report to the local enforcement agency.

Deadline to Complete the  Inspection

All condominium and cooperative buildings must complete a milestone inspection by December 31st of the year the building reaches 30 years of age from the building’s original receipt of its certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years thereafter. Therefore, buildings with certificates of occupancy on or before July 1, 1992, must complete the inspection before December 31, 2024.

Deadline to Complete Inspection for Buildings Within 3 Miles of Coastline

All condominium and cooperative buildings within three (3) miles of the coastline must complete inspections by December 31st of the year in which the building reaches 25 years of age, and every 10 years thereafter. Therefore, buildings within 3 miles of the coastline with certificates of occupancy on or before July 1, 1997, must complete the inspection before December 31, 2024.

Certificate of Occupancy Not Available

If the certificate of occupancy issuance date is not available, the date of occupancy shall be that which is evidenced in any record of the local building official.

Exceptions

The inspection requirement does not apply to single, two, or three-family dwellings with 3 or fewer habitable stories above ground.

Milestone Inspections – Two Phases:

Phase 1

A phase 1 inspection consists of a visual examination by an architect or engineer of the habitable and non-habitable areas of a building, including the major structural components of a building, and provides a qualitative assessment of the structural conditions of the building. The architect or engineer must issue a report to the local building enforcement agency.

If the architect or engineer does not find signs of “substantial structural deterioration” in any building components under visual examination, a phase two inspection is not required. If the Phase 1 inspection revealed “substantial structural deterioration” to any building components, a Phase 2 inspection is required.

“Substantial structural deterioration” is defined as substantial structural distress that negatively affects the building’s general structural condition and integrity.

Phase 2

A Phase 2 inspection may involve either destructive or nondestructive testing, or both, at the discretion of the inspector. The inspection must be as extensive as necessary to assess areas of structural distress in order to confirm that the building is structurally sound and safe, and to recommend a program for fully assessing and repairing distressed and damaged portions of the building.

However, when determining testing locations, the inspector must give preference to locations that are the least disruptive and most easily repairable while still being representative of the structure.

Inspection Report

The inspectors must submit a sealed copy of the inspection report with a separate summary of, at a minimum, the material findings and recommendations. The inspection report must, at a minimum, meet all of the following criteria:

1. Bear the seal and signature of the licensed engineer or architect who performed the inspection.
2. Indicate the manner and type of inspection forming the basis for the inspection report.
3. Identify any substantial structural deterioration, within a reasonable professional probability based on the scope of the inspection, describe the extent of such deterioration, and identify any recommended repairs for such deterioration.
4. State whether unsafe or dangerous conditions were observed.
5. Recommend any remedial or preventive repair for any items that are damaged but do not have substantial structural deterioration.
6. Identify and describe any items requiring further inspection.

Associations must commence repairs for substantial deterioration within 365 days after receiving the report and must submit proof to the appropriate governmental agency of commencement or completion of such repairs to the local enforcement agency. Associations that fail to comply with the required timeframe for repairs are subject to further review by the local enforcement agency, which will determine if the building is unsafe for human occupancy.

Associations must distribute a copy of the inspector-prepared summary of the inspection report to each condominium or cooperative unit owner, regardless of the findings or recommendations in the report; post a copy of the inspector-prepared summary in a conspicuous place on the property; and must publish the full report and inspector prepared summary on the association’s website for all condominiums required to have a website. The milestone inspection report will be an official record of the association and must be kept for at least 15 years. Renters may inspect and copy the reports.

Structural Integrity Reserves Study

All unit owner-controlled condominiums and cooperatives with buildings of 3 or more stories existing on or before July 1, 2022, must complete a SIRS by December 31, 2024, and at least once every 10 years thereafter.

Milestone Inspections Fort Lauderdale

The Florida legislature has passed bill SB-4D, making it mandatory for all three-story and higher buildings to go through periodic milestone inspections to check the structural integrity of the buildings, and has modified Florida Statutes Chapters 553, 718, 719, and 720.

The Bill established a statewide structural inspection program, requiring Condominium and Cooperative Associations to conduct Milestone Structural Inspections of their buildings and to perform Structural Integrity Reserve Studies to ensure that Condominium and Cooperative buildings are safe for continued use.

A. Condo Milestone Inspections Palm Beach

A Milestone Condominium Inspection is a structural inspection performed by licensed engineers, like MTA Structural Forensic Engineers, of a building conducted for the purposes of determining a building’s life safety and structural component integrity or adequacy. A Milestone Structural Inspection must be performed by a licensed engineer or licensed architect.

An Association is required to perform a Milestone Structural Inspection for each building within its community that is three (3) or more stories high. This inspection must occur by December 31 of the year in which the building turns thirty (30) years old and must be conducted every ten (10) years thereafter.

For Condominiums located within three (3) miles of the coastline, each building within the community that is three (3) or more stories high must be inspected by December 31 of the year in which the building turns twenty-five (25) years old, and then subsequently every ten (10) years thereafter.

If an Association is older than thirty (30) years (e.g. the building’s certificate of occupancy was issued on or before July 1, 1992), the Association must conduct a Milestone Structural Inspection of the buildings within its community before December 31, 2024. The Association is responsible for all costs associated with performing a Milestone Structural Inspection.  The Milestone Structural Inspection Report is an official record of the Association. The Report must be maintained by the Association for fifteen (15) years. A Tenant of a Unit has a right to inspect an Association’s Milestone Structural Inspection Report, and a prospective purchaser of a Unit has a right to inspect an Association’s Summary of the Report.

B. Structural Milestone Inspections, Palm Beach, and Reserve Funding Requirements

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study for a condominium structural milestone inspections phase one, done by licensed engineers, is a study of an Association’s reserve funds, which are designated for future major repairs and replacements of the Common Areas. The Structural Integrity Reserve Study must consist of a visual inspection of the Common Areas by a licensed engineer or licensed architect and has several required components identified in the new bill.

An Association must have a Structural Integrity Reserve Study completed every ten (10) years, with the initial Structural Integrity Reserve Study by December 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2024, an Association may no longer refuse to fund (may not waive) or underfund the reserves for items required to be included in a Structural Integrity Reserve Study. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2024, for items required to be included in a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, an Association may no longer use those itemized reserve funds (or any interest accruing thereon) for other purposes, and an Association may only use those itemized reserve funds for their designated purposes.

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study is an official record of the Association, which must be maintained by the Association for fifteen (15) years. A prospective purchaser of a Unit has the right to inspect an Association’s most recent Structural Integrity Reserve Study. If an Association has not completed a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, the prospective purchaser of a Unit is entitled to a statement stating that the Association has not completed the Study. When a building in Miami-Dade or Broward County celebrates its 40th birthday, it must be recertified by an engineer or architect to ensure its structural and electrical safety (after the 40-year mark, buildings must also be recertified every ten years thereafter).

How Does Condominium Milestone Structural Inspections Work?

When a building becomes 25 years or older, county or city code compliance officials send a Notice of Required Inspection to the property owner. Recertification dates are based on the anniversary of the original Building or Structure’s Certificate of Occupancy.

Property owners have 90 days from the date of notification to have the property properly inspected. The outcome of the inspection will determine if the property will be recertified for another 10 years or if improvements need to be made before the recertification is granted. If repairs or improvements are needed, owners are given another 60 days to complete them.

Non-compliance with the inspection notice or not completing required repairs can result in penalties.

What Do Condominium Structural Inspections Include?

Condominium Structural Inspections must be performed by licensed architects or engineers. These experts look at many aspects of the building’s foundational and electrical systems, including foundation, roofing systems, masonry bearing walls, steel frames, flooring, concrete framing systems, windows, wood framing, loading, electrical service, branch circuits, conduit raceways, and emergency lighting.

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