What does a Florida condo closing need? The SIRS, the milestone inspection, the estoppel and the approval

Four things, each with its own clock. Everything a house closing needs is still needed: the title search, the municipal lien search, the payoff and the lender's documents. How long does a Florida title search and closing take? covers those.

Every figure the statutes set for a resale, in one table. The sections below take each in turn.

Eight, and the seller pays for them. A buyer who has entered into a contract for a condominium unit "is entitled, at the seller's expense, to a current copy of all of the following" (Fla. Stat. § 718.503(2)(a)):

1. The declaration of condominium.
2. The articles of incorporation of the association.
3. The bylaws and rules of the association.
4. An annual financial statement and annual budget of the association.
5. The inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, if applicable.
6. The association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that the association has not completed one.
7. The turnover inspection report, for a turnover inspection performed on or after July 1, 2023.
8. The document entitled "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers".

The buyer is also entitled to a governance form, which the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes provides, summarizing how condominium associations are governed (§ 718.503(2)(b)). A real estate licensee who provides or obtains the documents for the buyer "is not liable for any error or inaccuracy contained in the documents" (§ 718.503(2)(c)).

7 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing the contract and receiving the documents. The statute requires the contract itself to say so, in conspicuous type, in one of two ways (§ 718.503(2)(d)): either the buyer acknowledges having had the documents more than 7 days before signing, or the contract is voidable by the buyer "WITHIN 7 DAYS, EXCLUDING SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS, AND LEGAL HOLIDAYS, AFTER THE DATE OF EXECUTION OF THIS AGREEMENT BY THE BUYER AND RECEIPT BY BUYER" of them.

Four more things follow from the same clause:

• It cannot be waived. "ANY PURPORTED WAIVER OF THESE VOIDABILITY RIGHTS SHALL BE OF NO EFFECT."
• The buyer may extend the time for closing by not more than 7 days, counted the same way, after receiving the documents.
• It ends at the closing. "BUYER'S RIGHT TO VOID THIS AGREEMENT SHALL TERMINATE AT CLOSING."
• A contract without the clause "is voidable at the option of the purchaser before closing".

The milestone inspection summary, the turnover inspection report and the SIRS carry the same 7 days under their own clause, § 718.503(2)(e), set out below. The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract carries the cancellation clause in its Condominium Rider; the FAR/BAR contract page has the rest of that contract's deadlines.

A page that says 3 days is describing the law as it stood before July 1, 2025. Chapter 2025-175, Laws of Florida, changed 3 to 7 throughout § 718.503(2). A purchase from a developer has 15 days (§ 718.503(1)).

A structural inspection of the building by a licensed architect or engineer, "for the purposes of attesting to the life safety and adequacy of the structural components of the building" (Fla. Stat. § 553.899(2)(a)). The association arranges it, and bears its cost for the parts of the building the association maintains (§ 718.112(2)(h)).

A building needs one if it is "three habitable stories or more in height" and is a residential condominium or cooperative, in whole or in part. The section does not apply to a single-family, two-family, three-family or four-family dwelling with three or fewer habitable stories above ground (§ 553.899(4)).

The inspection has two phases (§ 553.899(7)). Phase one is a visual examination, and it has to be completed within 180 days after the local enforcement agency's written notice (§ 553.899(6)). Phase two follows only "if any substantial structural deterioration is identified during phase one", and may involve destructive or nondestructive testing. Where a phase two report finds substantial structural deterioration, the repairs must be commenced within 365 days after the local enforcement agency receives it (§ 553.899(11)).

What reaches a buyer is the summary. The architect or engineer gives the association the sealed report "with a separate summary of, at minimum, the material findings and recommendations" (§ 553.899(8)), and within 45 days the association must distribute that summary to every unit owner, "regardless of the findings or recommendations in the report" (§ 553.899(9)). It is item 5 on the seller's list above.

"A study of the reserve funds required for future major repairs and replacement of the condominium property" (Fla. Stat. § 718.103(28)). Where the milestone inspection asks whether the building is sound, the SIRS asks what its major components will cost to repair or replace and what has to be set aside each year to pay for it.

A residential condominium association must have one completed "at least every 10 years after the condominium's creation for each building on the condominium property that is three habitable stories or higher in height" (§ 718.112(2)(g)1.). At a minimum it studies:

• the roof;
• the structure, including load-bearing walls and other primary structural members and systems;
• fireproofing and fire protection systems;
• plumbing;
• electrical systems;
• waterproofing and exterior painting;
• windows and exterior doors;
• any other item with a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost over $25,000, or the Division's inflation-adjusted amount if that is greater, whose neglect would affect the items above.

For each item it states the estimated remaining useful life and the estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense, and it gives "a reserve funding plan or schedule with a recommended annual reserve amount" (§ 718.112(2)(g)4.a.). It is based on a visual inspection, and must be performed or verified by a licensed engineer or architect, or by a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst certified by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts (§ 718.112(2)(g)2. and 3.a.).

An association that existed on or before July 1, 2022, and is controlled by its unit owners had to have its SIRS completed by December 31, 2025. One required to complete a milestone inspection on or before December 31, 2026, may do the two together, and "in no event may the structural integrity reserve study be completed after December 31, 2026" (§ 718.112(2)(g)7.).

The study matters to a buyer because the budget has to follow it. For a budget adopted on or after December 31, 2024, the members of a unit-owner-controlled association that must obtain a SIRS "may not determine to provide no reserves or less reserves than required" for the items it covers (§ 718.112(2)(f)2.b.). Those reserves may be funded "by regular assessments, special assessments, lines of credit, or loans" (§ 718.112(2)(f)2.c.). The SIRS is item 6 on the seller's list, and it comes with the annual budget, item 4.

One of three things, in conspicuous type, on every contract for the sale of a residential unit entered into after December 31, 2024 (Fla. Stat. § 718.503(2)(e)):

A contract that does not conform "is voidable at the option of the purchaser before closing". So the seller, or the seller's agent, needs the association's answer before the contract is written, not after.

It fixes what the unit owes the association, which matters more for a condominium than for most property because the debt follows the unit. A unit owner "is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the time of transfer of title" (Fla. Stat. § 718.116(1)(a)). The certificate is what protects the buyer: the association "waives the right to collect any moneys owed in excess of the amounts specified in the estoppel certificate from any person who in good faith relies upon the estoppel certificate" (§ 718.116(8)(c)).

The association has 10 business days to issue it after a written or electronic request, and if it misses them it may charge no fee. The certificate holds for 30 days if hand delivered or sent electronically and 35 if mailed. The fee may not be more than $299 when the account is current, $119 more when it is requested expedited and delivered within 3 business days, and up to $179 more when the owner is delinquent. Those are the Department's adjusted amounts; the statute prints $250, $100 and $150.

The certificate also answers the other questions on this page. Its statutory form states any special assessment owed or scheduled to fall due, whether "a capital contribution fee, resale fee, transfer fee, or other fee" is due, whether the board must approve the transfer and has, and whether there is a right of first refusal and it has been exercised (§ 718.116(8)(a)). How much can a Florida condo or HOA charge for an estoppel certificate? has every figure and the refund rule.

Only if its own documents say so. An association's right to approve or disapprove a sale comes from its governing documents, not from a statute, and chapter 718 puts no deadline on the decision: the window, if there is one, is in the declaration and the bylaws.

What the statute caps is the fee. An association may not charge anything in connection with a sale "unless the association is required to approve such transfer and a fee for such approval is provided for in the declaration, articles, or bylaws" (Fla. Stat. § 718.112(2)(k)). The statute prints "$150 per applicant" and, like the estoppel fees, directs that it be adjusted every 5 years by the Consumer Price Index and published by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The Department's notice gives the amount in force: transfer fees charged by condominium associations "may not exceed $184 per applicant", with the next update to be released by July 1, 2031. Spouses, or a parent or parents and any dependent children, are one applicant.

The cap is on the fee for approval. A capital contribution or other charge that the declaration imposes on a sale is a different thing, and the estoppel certificate has to state it. The HOA says approval takes 30 days and we close in two weeks. Now what? covers what shortens an approval.

Another contract form can put a line on the other side. The Florida seller net sheet carries the estoppel fee and whatever the certificate shows as owed, and what each association is paid at closing lists the capital contributions and transfer charges of the communities we have written up.

When a buyer is deciding whether to cancel inside the 7 days, or wants advice on what a milestone inspection summary or a reserve study means for the purchase. We can tell you what each document is and whether it has been delivered; we are not lawyers or engineers, and we do not advise on whether to buy. An attorney should also be reading the documents if the association disapproves the buyer, asserts a right of first refusal, disputes what the estoppel certificate shows, or levies a special assessment while the sale is pending.