Short answer
A Florida condo insurance appraisal determines the replacement cost value of your buildings so your master policy coverage limits are set correctly. A reserve study determines how much money your association should save for future repairs. A structural integrity reserve study, commonly shortened to SIRS, does the same for structural components only. A milestone inspection determines whether the building is structurally safe. These are four separate requirements, performed by four different types of professionals, on four different schedules.
Only one of the four, the insurance appraisal, is about your insurance coverage. The other three are about structural safety and reserve funding. A condominium association cannot substitute one for another.
Somebody handed you a list. It has four items on it, and they all sound like the same thing.
An insurance appraisal. A reserve study. A structural integrity reserve study. A milestone inspection.
If you are a new condominium or homeowners association board member, or an experienced one who has been quietly nodding through these conversations, you are not the problem. Florida added these requirements one at a time, over several years, in response to different problems. Nobody named them so you could tell them apart. They overlap in confusing ways, and almost nothing else about them is the same.
Here is the comparison table, then a plain-English explanation of each.
Florida condo compliance requirements compared
| Insurance Appraisal | Reserve Study | Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) | Milestone Inspection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | What would it cost to rebuild this property today? | How much money should we set aside, and for what? | How much should we set aside for the components that hold the building up? | Is this building structurally sound? |
| Legal authority | Florida Statute 718.111(11) | Association budgeting rules and long-standing best practice | Florida Statute 718.112(2)(g); cooperatives under 719.106 | Florida Statute 553.899 |
| Who must comply | Condominium associations | Most community associations, in some form | Condo and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall | Condo and cooperative buildings three or more stories tall |
| Who performs it | An independent insurance appraiser | A reserve specialist or qualified professional | A Florida-licensed engineer, architect, or certified reserve specialist | A Florida-licensed engineer or architect only |
| How often | At least every 36 months | Reviewed annually, updated every few years | At least every 10 years after the first study | At 30 years from the certificate of occupancy (25 years in some coastal jurisdictions), then every 10 years |
| Who receives it | Your insurance agent, underwriter, and carrier | Your board, for budgeting | Your board and unit owners | Your local building official and unit owners |
| What it protects you from | Underinsurance, coinsurance penalties, non-renewal | Cash shortfalls and surprise repair costs | Underfunded structural reserves | Undetected structural deterioration |
Four different questions. Four different professionals. Four different deadlines. Four different audiences.
What is a Florida condo insurance appraisal?
A Florida condo insurance appraisal is an independent replacement cost valuation that determines what it would cost to rebuild an association’s property at today’s construction prices. Florida Statute 718.111(11) requires condominium associations to base their property insurance on a replacement cost figure established by an independent appraisal, or an update of a prior appraisal, at least once every 36 months.
An insurance appraisal is not a market value appraisal. It is not what your buildings would sell for, and it is not the county property appraiser’s assessed value. It is the full cost to put the property back after a loss: materials, labor, demolition and debris removal, architectural and engineering fees, and code-required upgrades, priced for your specific location in Florida.
The three-year deadline explained
The three-year clock in Florida Statute 718.111(11) is the deadline most boards trip over. Construction costs across Florida have risen sharply since 2020. A replacement cost valuation from four or five years ago will almost certainly understate what your buildings would cost to rebuild today, which means the coverage limits on your master policy are set too low.
House Bill 913 reinforced this requirement. Associations must insure the property for full replacement cost, and that figure must come from an independent insurance appraisal completed at least every three years.
Why an outdated appraisal costs your owners money
Here is why a stale appraisal is more than a paperwork problem.
Most commercial property policies contain a coinsurance clause. If your property is insured for meaningfully less than its replacement cost value, the carrier can reduce your claim payment proportionally, even on a partial loss. A roof claim you expected to be covered in full comes back short, and the gap lands on your unit owners as a special assessment.
That is underinsurance in one sentence. It is also why insurance agents and underwriters have become strict about appraisal dates. Carriers commonly request current replacement cost documentation at renewal, and associations placing coverage through Citizens Property Insurance Corporation or the surplus lines market face the same scrutiny. If your appraisal is out of date, you may find carriers unwilling to quote at all, which narrows your options at exactly the wrong moment.
Who performs a Florida insurance appraisal: an independent insurance appraiser. This is the service Prestar Services provides, and it is the only one of these four requirements we perform.
What is a reserve study?
A reserve study is a financial planning document that inventories the components an association is responsible for maintaining, estimates each one’s remaining useful life and replacement cost, and builds a funding schedule so money is available when replacement is needed.
A reserve study covers roofs, paving, pool equipment, elevators, painting, fencing, and similar assets. It answers a budgeting question, not an insurance question.
Insurance appraisal vs. reserve study: what is the difference?
An insurance appraisal calculates the full cost to rebuild the property all at once after a catastrophic loss. A reserve study calculates future repair and replacement costs spread across many years. The numbers are different, they are calculated for different purposes, and neither one satisfies the other requirement.
Boards sometimes assume a recent reserve study means their insurance valuation is handled. It does not. A reserve study will not give your insurance agent the replacement cost value required under Florida Statute 718.111(11), and an insurance appraisal will not tell you how much to put in reserves next year.
A well-funded reserve is what keeps an association from reaching for a special assessment every time something wears out.
Who performs a reserve study: a reserve specialist or similarly qualified professional. Prestar Services does not perform reserve studies.
What is a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS)?
A structural integrity reserve study, often shortened to SIRS, is a reserve study limited to the structural components of a building. Florida Statute 718.112(2)(g) requires condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall to complete one. Cooperatives fall under Florida Statute 719.106.
The requirement came out of Senate Bill 4-D, passed after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.
Think of it as a reserve study with a narrower and far more serious focus. Instead of covering everything the association maintains, a structural integrity reserve study examines the components that determine whether the building stands up:
- Roof
- Load-bearing walls and primary structural members
- Fire protection systems
- Plumbing
- Electrical systems
- Waterproofing and exterior painting
- Windows and exterior doors
- Any other item whose replacement cost exceeds $25,000 and whose failure could affect structural integrity
Structural integrity reserve study deadlines in Florida
House Bill 913 extended the initial deadline to December 31, 2025. Associations with a milestone inspection due on or before December 31, 2026 were permitted to coordinate the two and complete the study alongside the inspection, but no later than that date. After the initial study, another one is required at least every 10 years.
There is a funding consequence attached. For budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2025, associations can no longer vote to waive or reduce reserve funding for the components the study identifies. The reserve waiver many Florida boards relied on for years is no longer available for these items.
Structural integrity reserve study vs. insurance appraisal: what is the difference?
A structural integrity reserve study determines how much an association must save for structural repairs over the coming years. An insurance appraisal determines the replacement cost value used to set master policy coverage limits. One is a reserve funding document reviewed by the board and owners. The other is an insurance document reviewed by your agent and underwriter.
Completing a structural integrity reserve study does not satisfy the three-year appraisal requirement in Florida Statute 718.111(11). They are separate obligations.
Who performs a structural integrity reserve study: a Florida-licensed engineer, architect, or certified reserve specialist. Prestar Services does not perform structural integrity reserve studies.
What is a milestone inspection?
A milestone inspection is a structural safety inspection of a condominium or cooperative building required under Florida Statute 553.899. It is performed by a Florida-licensed professional engineer or architect and reported to the local building official.
Like the structural integrity reserve study, the milestone inspection program traces back to Surfside.
Phase one and phase two explained
A milestone inspection happens in two phases.
Phase one is a visual examination by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, who provides a qualitative assessment of the building’s major structural components.
Phase two follows only if phase one identifies substantial structural deterioration. Phase two is a deeper evaluation involving testing to determine the extent of the problem and the repairs required. If phase one finds nothing significant, there is no phase two.
Milestone inspection deadlines in Florida
A milestone inspection is generally required by December 31 of the year the building turns 30 years old, measured from the date the certificate of occupancy was issued, and every 10 years after that.
Local building officials have authority to require the first inspection at 25 years instead, based on local conditions such as proximity to the coastline. This is a local determination, not an automatic statewide rule, so confirm the trigger age with your own jurisdiction rather than assuming 30 years applies.
The completed report goes to your local building official, not only to your board. House Bill 913 added one more requirement: a design professional bidding on a milestone inspection must disclose in writing whether they also intend to bid on the repair work arising from the findings.
Who performs a milestone inspection: a Florida-licensed professional engineer or licensed architect. Only those two. General contractors and home inspectors are not authorized to perform them. Prestar Services does not perform them either.
Why Florida condo boards confuse these four requirements
Three reasons, and none of them reflect poorly on your board.
They arrived together. Most of these obligations landed or tightened within the same few years, following Surfside and the insurance market disruption that followed. Boards absorbed them as one large wave rather than four distinct requirements.
Two of them contain the words “reserve study.” A structural integrity reserve study is a reserve study. A reserve study is also a reserve study. They are related but not interchangeable, and a general reserve study does not satisfy the structural integrity requirement.
Some vendors perform more than one. Plenty of firms offer insurance appraisals and reserve studies, or reserve studies and engineering services. That is legitimate. But it means the line between services is not always drawn brightly in a sales conversation, and boards end up assuming one report covered something it did not.
Compliance checklist for condo and HOA board members
Five questions worth putting on your next agenda:
- What is the date on our most recent insurance appraisal? If it is more than three years old, your association is past the deadline in Florida Statute 718.111(11).
- Have we completed a structural integrity reserve study, and when? The 10-year clock runs from that date.
- When was our milestone inspection, and what year does our building turn 30, or 25 if our local building official requires it?
- Is our reserve funding plan consistent with what our structural integrity reserve study identified? Waivers are no longer available for those components.
- Does our property manager or community association manager have all four reports on file, with dates?
If you cannot answer these from memory, that is normal. If nobody at the association can answer them from the records, that is the first thing to fix.
How this connects to your fiduciary responsibility
Condominium and HOA board members serve as fiduciaries. In practice, that means acting with reasonable care on behalf of the association, and a large part of reasonable care is knowing which obligations apply and keeping them current.
These reports are not busywork. Each one closes a specific gap. The milestone inspection catches structural problems before they become emergencies. The structural integrity reserve study makes sure money is available to fix them. The reserve study covers everything else that wears out. And the insurance appraisal makes sure that if the worst happens, your master policy coverage limits reflect what it would actually cost to rebuild, instead of leaving your owners with a special assessment they never saw coming.
That is what compliance buys you: not a checked box, but peace of mind that the association is covered.
Frequently asked questions
How often does a Florida condo association need an insurance appraisal?
At least once every 36 months. Florida Statute 718.111(11) requires condominium associations to determine replacement cost through an independent insurance appraisal, or an update of a prior appraisal, on a three-year cycle. Many insurance agents and underwriters request updates more frequently because Florida construction costs continue to rise.
Does a structural integrity reserve study replace an insurance appraisal?
No. A structural integrity reserve study determines reserve funding for structural components. An insurance appraisal determines replacement cost value for master policy coverage limits. They are separate requirements under separate statutes, and completing one does not satisfy the other.
Is a reserve study the same as an insurance appraisal?
No. A reserve study projects future repair and replacement costs across many years for budgeting purposes. An insurance appraisal calculates the full cost to rebuild the property at once after a loss, which is what sets your insurance coverage limits. Different calculations, different purposes.
What happens if our condo insurance appraisal is out of date?
Three things can follow. Your coverage limits may be set below actual replacement cost, exposing the association to a coinsurance penalty on claims. Carriers may decline to quote or renew your master policy. And unit owners may face a special assessment to cover the shortfall after a loss.
Who is qualified to perform a Florida insurance appraisal?
An independent insurance appraiser experienced in Florida replacement cost valuation. The appraiser must be independent of the association, and the report should be detailed enough for your insurance agent and underwriter to accept without question.
Do HOAs need insurance appraisals in Florida?
The three-year requirement in Florida Statute 718.111(11) applies to condominium associations. Homeowners associations governed by Chapter 720 are not covered by that specific provision, but HOAs that own insurable common property, such as clubhouses, gates, pools, and maintenance buildings, still need accurate replacement cost values to avoid underinsurance and to meet their fiduciary responsibility.
What is the difference between a milestone inspection and a structural integrity reserve study?
A milestone inspection is a physical structural inspection that determines whether the building is currently safe, and the report goes to your local building official. A structural integrity reserve study is a financial study that determines how much the association must reserve for structural components. One inspects; the other budgets.
Does my building need a milestone inspection?
Condominium and cooperative buildings three or more stories tall require a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, based on the certificate of occupancy date, then every 10 years. Local building officials may require the first inspection at 25 years in some coastal jurisdictions.
Can our board waive reserve funding for structural components?
No. For budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2025, Florida associations can no longer vote to waive or reduce reserve funding for components identified in a structural integrity reserve study.
Where Prestar Services fits
We perform one of these four requirements: the Florida insurance appraisal.
Prestar Services has completed more than 18,000 insurance appraisals since 2006 for condominium associations, homeowners associations, property managers, community association managers, and commercial property owners across Florida. We do not perform reserve studies, structural integrity reserve studies, engineering assessments, or milestone inspections.
When a board asks us about those, we tell them exactly what this article does: that is another professional’s specialty, and you want the right one on it.
What we can tell you quickly is whether your replacement cost valuation is current, what it would take to update it before your renewal, and how it fits alongside everything else on your compliance list.
If your last insurance appraisal is more than three years old, or if you are not sure when it was, call Prestar Services at 727.345.8400 or request a quote. We will give you a straight answer.
About the author: Jason Lintner is the founder of Prestar, an insurance appraisal firm based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has 20 years of experience in insurance appraisals and has guided thousands of Florida condominium and homeowners associations through the replacement cost valuation process.
This article provides general information for Florida condominium and homeowners association board members, property managers, and community association managers. It is not legal advice. Deadlines and requirements change and can vary by local jurisdiction. Confirm your association’s specific obligations with your attorney, your insurance agent, and your local building official.
