Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS)

If you own a unit in a Florida condo three stories or taller, your building is now legally required to have a Structural Integrity Reserve Study on file and to fund the reserves it sets. This is the reform that came out of the 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse, and it is the single biggest reason condo dues and special assessments have jumped statewide.

Here is what the SIRS actually is, what the statute requires, and what to do if your board has not done one.

What a SIRS is

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) is a specialized reserve study required by Florida law for condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories. It is not a general-purpose reserve study. It focuses on the components most likely to cause a Surfside-style failure if they are ignored.

The statute — Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(g) — lists the components a SIRS must cover:

• Roof
• Load-bearing walls or other primary structural members
• Floor
• Foundation
• Fireproofing and fire protection systems
• Plumbing
• Electrical systems
• Waterproofing and exterior painting
• Windows and exterior doors
• Any other item that has a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost greater than $25,000 and whose failure would negatively affect any of the items above

That catch-all threshold used to be $10,000. HB 913 (2025) raised it to $25,000 effective July 1, 2025, and directed the state regulatory agency to adjust the figure for inflation periodically. The higher threshold applies only to the catch-all category — the roof, painting, and paving reserves are carved out and still have to be reserved regardless of cost.

For each component, the SIRS estimates the remaining useful life, the estimated replacement cost, and the annual reserve contribution needed to have the money ready when replacement comes due.

That funding schedule is where the SIRS changes ordinary board behavior. Under the old rules, owners could vote every year to waive reserves and keep dues artificially low. For the components a SIRS now covers, that vote is gone.

Why the law was passed

The SIRS mandate was created in direct response to the June 24, 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, which killed 98 people. Post- collapse reporting made clear the building had known structural deterioration that the association had not funded for repair.

Florida responded in two waves:

1. SB 4-D (2022) created the SIRS and the milestone-inspection framework.
2. SB 154 (2023) refined the rules — who is qualified to prepare the study, what counts as a covered component, and how the deadlines apply.

The result is one of the strictest condo reserve regimes in the country.

Who has to have one

The SIRS mandate applies to:

• Condominium associations organized under Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes, and
• Cooperative associations under Chapter 719,

whose buildings have three or more habitable stories. The statute counts habitable stories, so a two-story building over a parking podium is often treated as three stories — a determination worth asking your engineer to confirm in writing.

Age-restricted buildings and 55+ communities are not exempt. Timeshare-only buildings and single-family HOAs under Chapter 720 are generally outside the mandate, though HOAs face parallel pressures from lenders and their own state reserve rules.

The deadlines

Two dates matter under the statute:

• December 31, 2025 — every covered building had to complete its initial SIRS by this date. The original deadline was December 31, 2024; HB 913 (2025) extended it by a year under § 718.112(2)(g)7. An association whose milestone inspection was due on or before December 31, 2026 may complete both together, but in no event later than December 31, 2026. Buildings that missed the applicable deadline are out of statutory compliance and typically face financing and insurance consequences.
• At least every 10 years thereafter — the SIRS must be updated on a minimum ten-year cycle. Boards can and often should update sooner if a milestone inspection surfaces new damage or if construction costs move sharply.

If your association has not completed a SIRS, that is a documented compliance problem — not a gray area.

SIRS vs. the milestone inspection

The SIRS is often confused with the milestone inspection, which is a separate requirement under Fla. Stat. § 553.899. They work together but answer different questions:

• The milestone inspection is a physical structural inspection of the building itself. Phase 1 is a visual, non-destructive inspection. If Phase 1 finds substantial structural deterioration, Phase 2 uses destructive testing — cutting into walls, ceilings, or slabs — to see how far the damage goes. It answers, “Is the building safe right now?”
• The SIRS is a financial and life-cycle study. It answers, “How much do we need to save so we can replace these components on time?”

A serious Phase 2 milestone finding usually triggers repairs and a fresh SIRS update. For a walk-through of the inspection side, see our Florida milestone inspection guide.

Who is qualified to sign the SIRS

Under § 718.112(2)(g), a SIRS must be prepared and signed by one of the following:

• A Florida-licensed engineer
• A Florida-licensed architect, or
• A person qualified to perform reserve studies — commonly a Reserve Specialist (RS) or Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA)

The statute was amended so that a reserve specialist can lead the funding analysis, but any structural findings in the report — remaining useful life of load-bearing components, condition assessments, and the like — need engineer or architect input. If a proposal comes in cheap because it uses only a reserve specialist and no licensed engineer, ask specifically how the structural components will be evaluated.

What a SIRS costs

Florida engineering and reserve-study firms typically charge somewhere in the range of $8,000 to $30,000 or more per building for a SIRS. Drivers of cost include:

• Unit count and total square footage
• Building height, age, and construction type
• Whether Phase 2 destructive testing has been triggered on the separate milestone inspection
• Coastal exposure and the amount of waterproofing to evaluate
• Whether the firm is preparing a first-time study or an update

These are typical ranges reported by firms — they are not a statutory cap. Large or complex buildings can run well above the top of the range.

What the report actually contains

A compliant SIRS report will include, at minimum:

• An inventory of each mandatory structural component
• Each component’s estimated remaining useful life
• Each component’s estimated replacement cost
• The current reserve balance for those components
• A recommended funding schedule so reserves are on track when replacement arrives
• Sign-offs from the licensed professionals who prepared it

Boards should not accept a study that lists only a lump-sum “reserves” number with no component-by-component breakdown. That is the specific gap the statute was written to close.

The funding change owners feel

For the components covered by a SIRS, associations can no longer vote to waive or underfund reserves. This is the biggest practical change in the law. Before 2022, an owner majority could vote every year to skip reserve contributions. That option is gone for structural reserves.

The result on the ground has been a wave of dues increases and special assessments — often in the tens of thousands per unit, sometimes six figures in older buildings that had waived reserves for years. For a broader picture of what changed in the 2026 landscape, see our Florida condo laws 2026 explainer.

The 2025 relief valve — and its catch

The 2025 legislature answered that wave with HB 913. Under § 718.112(2)(f)2.e., a board may pause or reduce reserve contributions for no more than two consecutive annual budgets — but only for budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028, only with the approval of a majority of the total voting interests, and only if the association completed a milestone inspection within the previous two calendar years. The money has to go to the repairs that inspection recommended, and the association must obtain a SIRS before reserve contributions resume.

The catch is that the pause is a Florida rule, and it does nothing for the separate federal mortgage standard. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raise their minimum reserve allocation from 10% to 15% of budgeted assessment income for loan applications dated on or after January 4, 2027. A building that pauses can end up non-warrantable, which blocks conventional financing for every buyer in it. Our Florida condo reserve fund relief guide walks through when the pause is worth it and when it is not.

What sellers must disclose

Sellers of units in buildings subject to the SIRS mandate must disclose the existence and results of the SIRS to prospective buyers, along with any pending or approved special assessments tied to it. Realtors and closing attorneys have adjusted contract forms to reflect the disclosure requirement. Skipping the disclosure exposes the seller to post-closing claims.

Buyers should ask for the SIRS report — not a summary — before removing an inspection contingency.

What to do if your board has not started a SIRS

If your association has not completed a SIRS, do not rely on informal conversations. Build a paper trail:

1. Request the SIRS report in writing. Owners have the right to inspect association records. Ask for the study, the professional’s proposal, and the engagement letter.
2. Request meeting minutes. Board meeting minutes should show when the SIRS was discussed, which firms were considered, and what the vote was.
3. Ask for the compliance timeline. If no study exists, ask the board to put its plan and target completion date in writing.
4. Escalate to the state. Complaints go to the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (DBPR). The Division investigates statutory non-compliance and can issue enforcement orders.
5. Consider counsel. A Florida community-association attorney can pursue directors for breach of fiduciary duty and, in some cases, seek a court order compelling the study.

This page is informational, not legal advice for your building. For individualized guidance — or to interview a Florida-qualified reserve specialist — use the professional referrals on this site rather than acting on a general explainer.

Related reading

• HOA reserve study: cost, scope & timing — how reserve studies work outside the SIRS mandate
• Florida condo laws 2026: what changed — the full picture of SB 4-D, SB 154, and HB 1021
• Florida milestone inspection — the physical inspection that runs alongside the SIRS
• HOA insurance, reserves & professionals — the hub for reserves, insurance, and vetted specialists