HOA & Condo Roofing

Architectural review & documentation

Where the community requires architectural-review-committee (ARC) approval (color, profile, material), we provide the product data, finish samples, and manufacturer documentation the committee needs, and we work within the community’s approved palette. On tile and metal communities this matters a great deal; we’ve built the documentation flow for it.

Milestone inspections and your condo or HOA roof

A milestone inspection is a structural inspection required by Florida Statute 553.899 for residential condominium and residential cooperative buildings three habitable stories or more in height. A licensed Florida architect or engineer performs it — a roofing contractor cannot — by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years of age, measured from the date its certificate of occupancy was issued, and every 10 years after that.

Does it apply to your building?

It applies if the building is three habitable stories or more as determined by the Florida Building Code and is subject, in whole or in part, to residential condominium or residential cooperative ownership. It does not apply to a single-family, two-family, three-family or four-family dwelling with three or fewer habitable stories above ground. Where a local enforcement agency determines that local circumstances warrant it (environmental conditions such as proximity to salt water among them), the whole cycle starts at 25 years instead of 30, not just the first inspection.

Two deadlines have already passed. A building that reached 30 years of age before July 1, 2022 was required to complete its initial milestone inspection before December 31, 2024. A building that reached 30 between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024 was required to complete it before December 31, 2025. Once the association receives written notice from the building department, phase one has to be completed within 180 days.

How long do you have to start repairs?

Local ordinance sets the deadline, but F.S. 553.899(11) caps it: repairs for substantial structural deterioration must commence within 365 days of receiving the phase two report. If the owner cannot show the local enforcement agency that repairs have been scheduled or commenced, the agency must review whether the building is unsafe for human occupancy.

That 365-day clock is why a board should get the roof scope priced early rather than at the next budget cycle. On a 1990s Miami-Dade or Broward association building the roof is usually built-up or modified bitumen, and estimating, permitting and a board vote take months before a crew is on the roof.

One question to ask every contractor bidding off your report

A milestone report is written by an architect or engineer. The repairs it recommends are then bid by contractors. The Legislature saw the problem in that arrangement and wrote it into the statute. Under s. 553.899(12), a design professional or a contractor licensed under Chapter 489 who bids on services a milestone inspection recommends may not hold an interest, directly or indirectly, in the firm that performed that inspection, and may not be a relative within the third degree by blood or marriage of anyone holding such an interest, unless the relationship is disclosed to the association in writing. Where that required disclosure is not given, the contract for services is voidable and terminates upon the association filing written notice terminating it.

Read that as a board member, because the exposure runs to you: work you voted to approve, on a building already on a repair clock, can be unwound after the fact. The disclosure is the bidder’s obligation, not yours, and nobody sends a board a notice when it has been skipped.

So here is our answer, unasked. Robson holds no interest, direct or indirect, in any architecture or engineering firm that performs milestone inspections, and we will state that in writing on any proposal we hand your board. We think every bidder should have to say the same thing, in writing, before the board opens a single number. Two lines in your bid request do it:

“Disclose in writing any interest, direct or indirect, that your company, its owners or its affiliates hold in the firm that performed our milestone inspection, or state that none exists. Attach the disclosure to your bid.”

Most of the contractors bidding your project will never raise s. 553.899(12) with you. Usually that is not because they are hiding something — it is because it is easier not to. Make all of us answer it anyway, us included.

What we do is the part that comes after the report

Robson does not perform, certify or seal milestone inspections. The statute reserves that for an architect licensed under Chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under Chapter 471. Working from the scope your design professional specified, we price the roofing repair or replacement they call for, pull the permits, and hand the board a written scope it can actually vote on. We price what the engineer specified, not more. If we think the report calls for more roof than the building needs, we will say so, price both, and let your engineer and your board settle it. We coordinate that scope with your reserve study so the capital plan and the statutory deadline point the same direction. Where the findings put the building on a repair timeline, we schedule to that timeline rather than around it.

Already holding a report? Send us the roof-related pages, at sales@robsonindustrial.com or (954) 546-4161, and we will come back with what the roof scope looks like, what it is likely to cost, and which items your engineer should clarify before the job goes out to bid.

Plain-language summary of F.S. 553.899, not legal advice and not an engineering opinion. The statute has been amended in 2023, 2024 and 2025; this reflects the 2025 text. Your association’s counsel, your licensed architect or engineer, and your local building department are the authority on what applies to your building. Robson Industrial Group LLC is a licensed contractor and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the State of Florida or any local building department. Lic. CGC1541144 · CCC1337790. Related reading: the Florida 25% roof rule and SB-4D, explained, and whether Florida condos must replace roofs at 20 years.