Milestone and safety inspections in Fort Lauderdale

The Fort Lauderdale calendar

• 1 June to 31 August: certified mail notices go out
• Notice + 180 days: safety report due
• Report + 180 days: repairs due, unless the Building Official sets otherwise
• State milestone: Phase 1 within 180 days of the milestone notice; repairs to commence within 365 days of a Phase 2 report

Who is exempt from the Broward program

Structures under 3,500 square feet, small residential buildings with up to four units and three stories or less, government, tribal and school board buildings, fee simple townhouses and railroads. Condo towers are not exempt.[1]

Milestone inspection rules in Fort Lauderdale

• Exempt from the program are structures under 3,500 square feet, residential buildings of up to four units and three stories, fee simple townhouses and some public buildings.
• BORA gives each city its list of buildings due by June, and Fort Lauderdale mails the notices by certified mail with return receipt between 1 June and 31 August.
• Reports are digitally signed and sealed and uploaded as separate files through the BSIP application in the LauderBuild Plan Room; paper submissions are no longer accepted, and the review fee is $375.
• The inspection and report are due within 180 days of the notice, on separate structural and electrical inspection forms with color photos of the conditions found.
• BORA Policy 05-05 treats the Broward safety inspection as compliance for both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the state milestone inspection.
• Broward building officials reported 155 required Phase 2 milestone inspections in 2025, while 7 of the county's 31 municipal building officials did not report that year.
• Repairs are due within 180 days of the report unless the Building Official sets another timeline, and the engineer or architect gives the owner and the city a sealed letter, valid for up to 180 days, on whether the building may stay occupied during the work.
• The electrical report is prepared by a Florida-licensed professional who specializes in electrical design, and anyone removing electrical covers for the inspection must show NFPA 70E and OSHA 1910 training.

How we handle milestone inspections in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale boards plan around a summer notice season. Letters arrive between June and August, the report is due 180 days later, and repairs are due 180 days after the report, so a building noticed in July is usually repairing by the following summer. Because BORA counts the Broward inspection as both milestone phases, we scope one structural and electrical inspection for the LauderBuild filing.[1][3]

Permits for milestone inspections in Fort Lauderdale

• City of Fort Lauderdale Development Services, Permitting Services: Building Safety Inspection Program notices, report review and repair permits

When is a milestone inspection due?

By 31 December of the year the building reaches 30 years from its certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years after that. If the certificate date is not available, the building official's records of occupancy set the date. Buildings that turned 30 before 1 July 2022 were due before 31 December 2024, and those that turned 30 between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2024 were due before 31 December 2025.[2]

Is it 25 years within 3 miles of the coast?

Not automatically any more. The 2022 law set 25 years for buildings within 3 miles of the coastline. The 2023 law (SB 154) replaced that with a local choice, so the local enforcement agency now decides whether local circumstances, such as proximity to salt water, require 25 years. Many South Florida departments chose to keep the 3-mile line; Tampa and Pinellas use 30 years. Check your own department.[2][5][6][7][8][9]

How do Phase 1 and Phase 2 work?

• The building department sends written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested.
• The association tells unit owners within 14 days, with the due date.
• Phase 1, a visual examination and qualitative assessment, is completed within 180 days of the notice, when the architect or engineer submits the report to the building department.
• Phase 2, with destructive or nondestructive testing, is required only if Phase 1 finds substantial structural deterioration. A progress report with a timeline is due within 180 days of the Phase 1 report.
• The association sends the inspector's summary to every owner within 45 days of receiving a report.
• Repairs for substantial structural deterioration must start within 365 days of the Phase 2 report.

Who performs the inspection?

An architect licensed under chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under chapter 471 who is authorized to practise in Florida. A team may do the work with an architect or engineer as the registered design professional in responsible charge, and all work and reports are signed and sealed by the qualified team member. We arrange and coordinate the inspection; the professional performs it and seals the report.[2]

Frequently asked questions