For years, engineers would flag deteriorating concrete or failing waterproofing membranes in Florida condo and co-op buildings, the board would get a repair estimate and then the owners would vote down the special assessment needed to pay for it.
That pattern is now against the law, and it’s creating opportunities for construction businesses across the state.
In the aftermath of the June 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, which killed 98 people, the Florida Legislature passed the Condo Safety Act. It established a statewide inspection program requiring condominium and cooperative associations to conduct milestone structural inspections and perform structural integrity reserve studies to ensure buildings stay safe for continued use, according to a summary by global engineering and design firm Thornton Tomasetti.
The law doesn’t apply only to beachfront towers. It applies to every condo or co-op that is 30 years or older and has at least three habitable floors. Deadline to complete the state-mandated inspection is Dec. 31, 2026.
For contractors in Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Orlando, permit data already shows what that means in practice: a pipeline of funded, scoped repair work moving through the market.
According to reporting by Construction Dive, an engineer had documented “major structural damage” at the 12-story Surfside condo building in a 2018 report, but the damage went unrepaired.
The final technical report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Construction Safety Team was released in June 2026 — a full five years after the disaster. It traced the immediate cause to a punching-shear failure at a column connection, rooted in original design and construction deviations and worsened by long-term corrosion. At the time the danger was identified, there was no law requiring the condo association to act or set money aside for the repair.
What the Law Requires
But that changes under the Condo Safety Act (Florida Statute § 553.899). Qualified buildings must complete a milestone inspection at 30 years of age and every 10 years after that. (At a local building inspector’s discretion, the milestone inspection may be required at 25 years for buildings within roughly three miles of the coast.)
A companion Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) is also required. It covers the roof, primary structural systems, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and windows and doors — and serves as a planning tool for building associations to budget and schedule needed repairs.
Associations can no longer vote to waive or underfund reserves for repairing structural components. The law requires the association to fund each year at a rate that keeps pace with the SIRS schedule, so the cash is available when the repair is due.
For associations whose budgets were adopted on or after December 31, 2024, that funding obligation is already in effect. For everyone else, it begins January 1, 2026.
Funding Mandate Means Business
For builders and contractors, that funding mandate is what turns a structural problem into a scheduled project. Under the new law, Florida’s legislative oversight agency OPPAGA reports that condo or co-op associations across the state filed 671 permit applications in 2024 to conduct repairs, with an average value of $337,229 per permit.
In 2025, another 232 permit applications were filed with an average value of $496,236. That’s more than $340 million of structural projects for hundreds of ordinary mid-rise buildings across Florida — inland as well as on the coast.
It’s a project profile more suited to Florida’s many small and mid-sized builders than the national construction firms that compete for new high-rise projects.
What the Work Involves
In practice, the projects will be dominated by:
Concrete restoration and structural repair.
Roof replacement and waterproofing membrane systems.
Window and door replacement.
Electrical and plumbing upgrades.
Nearly all of it happens in occupied buildings, so phasing, resident access and noise and dust management are part of the job.
Many of the condo and co-op associations that have completed their inspections are moving from studying the problems to planning and bidding for repairs. Contractors who can demonstrate their ability to do this work while speaking credibly to the Condo Safety Act — what triggered it, what it requires and why the board no longer has the option to defer — are well positioned to share in the construction activity.
Best Supply can help you source the concrete restoration materials, waterproofing systems, impact-rated glazing and MEP components required for structural repair projects — reliably and on the timeline these projects demand. To see how we can help with your next project, request a quote here.