Inspections show LBK condo buildings in sound shape but come at a cost

The 2021 collapse of the Surfside condo building was a wakeup call for condominium associations across the county. In Florida, it led to increased regulation to prevent a similar tragedy.

The state of Florida now requires milestone inspections for condo buildings that are 30 years or older and three or more stories tall. The first deadline for those milestone inspections has passed, and Longboat Key’s condo buildings all received passing grades. Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons said that 198 buildings in Longboat Key required milestone inspections. 

“That inspection takes a look at whether there is any kind of cracking that may be visible on buildings and so forth," Parsons said. “It’s intended to kind of ensure the safety of those structures for the folks that are in them.”

But added regulations have also led to added costs for condo owners. David Novak of Longboat Private Services, a company that manages more than 900 residential units, said the cost of condo ownership has significantly increased since 2021. Mayor Debra Williams has seen and heard the same from her constituents.

“Across the board when you talk to people that live in condos, quarterly payments have gone up quite a bit because there are a lot more of these reserve items that they have to fund,” Williams said. “Prior to the Surfside disaster several years ago, you had to keep reserves for painting, paving and roofing and everything else was optional.”

Not anymore.

Along with the state’s new milestone inspection requirement is a sister requirement called the structural integrity reserve study. Florida’s Department of Business & Professional Regulation describes SIRS as “a type of reserve study used to ensure condo owners are reserving the funds needed for future major repairs and replacement of structural elements on the condominium property.” Novak said reserving those funds comes at a steep cost for condo owners.

“The SIRS report can cause significant increases in owner assessments, and there is no magic to get around being a good steward of the property,” Novak wrote in an email. “Associations who have reserved funds all along are prepared; those who failed to adequately reserve are playing catchup...and the cost to catchup can be substantial to the point to where owners sell.”

State law requires milestone inspections be completed by a licensed architect or engineer. 

A milestone inspection report of a Longboat Key condo building performed by Tampa structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti includes aerial photos of the building, closeups of support beams and photos of the roof, patios, staircases and more. The report also recommends several repairs to keep the building in a safe condition.

Parsons explained the town’s role in milestone inspections is as a local enforcement agency. The town sends notices to condo associations informing them of the requirement ahead of time and then sends the completed reports to the state.

“Town has an obligation to receive these reports. Be kind of a librarian of those reports and hold onto them. And if there’s anything identified, coordinate with the condos about appropriate actions," he said.

Of the 198 buildings required to have milestone inspections, only two were required to have a “phase two” inspection done.

“That’s where whomever is performing that inspection can possibly dig in underneath the surface of material to see whether there’s evidence of something concerning structurally,” Parsons said. “Out of those two buildings that did phase two, the more intensive evaluations, none of those were required to have follow-up building permits to correct any structural issues.”