ARTICLE FOR APRIL UCO REPORTER

By Rod Tennyson, P.A., UCO General Counsel

New Florida Statute: SB 4D, Structural Building Inspections As

Applied To Century Village

Last year, the Florida Legislature passed a major revision to the

Condominium Act (F.S. 718) in relation to reserves and building
inspections. This new law has several deadlines. The application of these
deadlines and reports depends on the height of your building in Century
Village, which has twenty-one buildings with three or more stories:

12 - Wellington
3 - Dover
3 - Greenbrier
3 - Southampton

Also, distance from the Atlantic coastline can be a factor. The Atlantic
Ocean is seven miles from Century Village.

On or before January 1, 2023, each Condominium Association must file

with the State:

- The total number of buildings three stories or higher.

- The total number of units in each building.
- The addresses of each building and that they are in Palm Beach
County.
- If the 21 Century Village Buildings listed above have not yet filed their
reports to the Florida Division of Condominiums, then they can do so
online at this link:

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/condos-timeshares-mobile-
homes/building-report/
By December 31, 2024, all Condominium buildings three stories or higher,
regardless of location, must have completed a “Structural Integrity
Reserve Study”. This required study would apply to the twenty-one
Century Village Associations listed above. There are many commercial
firms that regularly do reserve studies, but the Division of Condominiums
requires the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) be performed by any
person qualified to perform such study, but the visual inspection portion
must be performed by a licensed professional engineer or licensed
architect.

Effective December 31, 2024, the Condominium Associations and their

memberships cannot waive reserves for their 2025 budget that are part of
their “Structural Integrity Reserve Study” and that relate to the integrity and
safety of the building including roof, load bearing walls, floor, foundation,
fire protection, plumbing, waterproofing, painting, and windows. This only
applies to the twenty-one Century Village Buildings listed above with over
three stories. This covers just about everything in the building except
paving and recreational facilities detached from the building. In other
words, reserve accounts that do not relate to the integrity and safety of the
building (i.e., swimming pools) can still be waived for 2025 and later
budgets by unit owner vote as has been done in the past.

Even though Century Village is seven miles from the Atlantic Ocean, CV
Associations may still receive a notice from Palm Beach County building
officials that requires each Association to perform a phase one “Milestone
Inspection”:

“(5) Upon determining that a building must have a milestone inspection, the
local enforcement agency must provide written notice of such required
inspection to the condominium association or cooperative association by
certified mail, return receipt requested.”

Depending on what PBC may decide, Century Village Associations may

need to do an extensive study by an engineer or architect, to be completed
by no later than December 31, 2024.
The twenty-one Associations listed above need to start planning right away
to include new reserves for their 2023 and 2024 budgets. Under the new
law, the Associations technically can still waive all reserves by unit owner
vote for 2023 and 2024, but this may not be advisable. Based on the age of
the Buildings, CV Associations should expect their “Structural Integrity
Reserve Study” to show some big increases in mandated reserves.