Selling a Home in a Building Due for 40-Year Recertification (Miami-Dade and Broward)

Miami-Dade County has run a building recertification program since 1975, under Section 8-11(f) of the county code. The county amended it on June 1, 2022. Buildings built in 1993 or later now come due at 30 years and every 10 years after that. Condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more stories, within three miles of the coastline and built in 1998 or later, come due at 25 years. Buildings from 1982 or earlier that already completed an initial recertification stay on their existing 10-year schedule.

Broward County’s version is the Building Safety Inspection Program, set by the Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals (BORA) in Policy 05-05. It was created in 2005 and modeled on Miami-Dade’s. Broward’s program now starts at 25 years, counted from the certificate of occupancy, and repeats every 10 years. Some cities now use the new name; Margate, for example, calls it the 25-Year Building Safety Inspection Program.

In Miami-Dade, the county exempts single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings with an occupant load of 10 or less and 2,000 square feet or less. A triplex, a small apartment building, a condominium building or a commercial building in Miami-Dade can therefore be subject to recertification.

Broward’s August 2024 policy exempts more homes. It exempts one- to four-family dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories, fee-simple townhouses, buildings under 3,500 square feet, and certain government, school-board and tribal-land buildings. So the same fourplex can be exempt in Broward and covered in Miami-Dade.

If you own a detached house in either county, the county program does not apply to your home. If you own a condo unit, the inspection belongs to the whole building. The association is responsible for it and pays for the parts it must maintain, and that money comes from the owners through the budget, reserves or a special assessment.

Section 553.899, Florida Statutes, requires a milestone inspection for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more habitable stories. It is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, measured from its certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years after that. A local building official can require it at 25 years because of local conditions, such as nearness to salt water. Phase one is a visual inspection by a licensed architect or engineer. Phase two, which can include testing, is required only if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration.

The state law runs alongside the county programs; it does not replace them. Broward’s Policy 05-05 says its Building Safety Inspection counts as both phases of the state milestone inspection for the buildings the statute covers. Miami-Dade says it amended its own ordinance to work with the state law. Either way, the inspection is done by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, and the report goes to the building official of the city where the building sits. In unincorporated Miami-Dade, that is the county.

The statute also sets duties that matter to sellers. Within 45 days of getting the milestone report, the association must give every unit owner the inspector’s summary, post it on the property, and publish it on the association website if it is required to have one. If phase two finds substantial structural deterioration, repairs must begin within 365 days after the local building official receives the phase two report.

Miami-Dade sends courtesy notices about two years and one year before a building’s cycle. After the formal notice, the engineer’s or architect’s reports are due within 90 days, and the building official can grant up to 60 more days. If the reports are not filed, the county issues a citation. The first penalty is $510, penalties can build up to $10,000 per violation, and unpaid amounts can become a lien.

In Broward, the building official mails notices between June 1 and August 31. Cities do not all give the same time to file. Fort Lauderdale allows 180 days from the notice to send in the safety report, while Hollywood asks for it within 90 days of its letter. If the report finds structural or electrical problems, repairs are generally due within 180 days of the report, unless the building official sets a different timeline. Each city sets its own review fee and process, so read the notice you received and check with that city’s building department.

An open recertification case, citation or lien does not go away when a unit or building changes hands. A title search and a municipal lien search should show what is recorded or open, and the contract should say who pays for it.

Under Section 718.503(2), Florida Statutes, a buyer who signs a contract for a resale condo unit is entitled to a set of documents at the seller’s expense. They include the declaration, bylaws and rules, the budget and annual financial statement, the inspector-prepared summary of any milestone inspection report, and the association’s most recent structural integrity reserve study (or a statement that none has been done).

The resale contract must also include the statute’s cancellation clause. The buyer can cancel within 7 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays, after signing and receiving the documents, and that right ends at closing. If the milestone inspection or reserve study has not been done, the contract must say so in conspicuous type. A contract that does not follow these rules can be cancelled by the buyer before closing.

In practice, ask the association early for its recertification or milestone status, any assessment it has adopted or is considering, and an estoppel certificate. Whether you or the buyer pays an assessment that is adopted before closing depends on what your contract says. Agree on it in writing before you sign.

In Miami-Dade, the county’s recertification portal and its submission tracker show where a building stands, and its lien records search covers unsafe-structure and work-without-permit liens in unincorporated areas. For a building inside a city such as Miami, Miami Beach, Doral or Hialeah, the city’s building department is the office that sent the notice and holds the file.

In Broward, BORA publishes lists of the buildings that come due each year. The building department of the city where the property sits handles the reports and repairs. For any condo, the association’s manager or board can confirm whether its reports were filed and whether repairs or an assessment are planned.

A cash buyer does not need a mortgage, so a lender’s questions about the building do not hold up the closing. The building’s obligations still apply. The resale disclosures, the association’s approval process, the estoppel certificate and any adopted assessment all have to be dealt with, and the closing date has to allow for them.

Florida Cash For Home buys condos and small buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward as-is. Before we make an offer, we review the association documents and any recertification or milestone paperwork, then put in writing what the price assumes about assessments and repairs. For a unit in good condition, in a building whose reports are filed and whose finances are healthy, listing it may net you more. Compare both options before you decide.