Structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS) in Palm Beach County

Local rules that shape a SIRS in Palm Beach County

• Buildings that reached 25 or 30 years before 1 July 2022 were due by 31 December 2024, and those reaching that age between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2024 were due by 31 December 2025. Later buildings are due by 31 December of the year they reach the trigger age.
• Palm Beach was one of the three counties, with Broward and Miami-Dade, that reported the most required Phase 2 inspections in 2024.
• In the state's 2025 data, 17 of the 39 Palm Beach municipal building officials did not report milestone figures, the largest gap of the three South Florida counties.
• The county sends certified letters to associations in the year the inspection is due, and the inspection must be completed within 180 days of receiving the letter unless a fixed legacy deadline applies.
• After repairs, the original inspector returns for a Phase One Amended report on the areas noted in the first report, filed on the same EB18-2024 form.
• The county page covers unincorporated Palm Beach County only. Cities with their own building departments, such as Boca Raton, apply their own rules.
• OPPAGA found that some jurisdictions in Palm Beach County accept one combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 inspection.
• Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase One Amended reports all use Form EB18-2024 and are uploaded through the county's Milestone Inspection Form Submission portal with the building's Reference ID, one building and one report type at a time, and only by the architect or engineer who prepared the report.

How we handle structural integrity reserve studies in Palm Beach County

For associations along the Intracoastal and the beaches of unincorporated Palm Beach County, the county's three-mile line can bring the milestone inspection five years earlier than inland. That earlier inspection can feed the SIRS, because a milestone inspection completed within the previous five years may replace the visual inspection portion of the study.[1][4]

Permits for structural integrity reserve studies (sirs) in Palm Beach County

• Palm Beach County Building Division: Milestone inspection notices and filings for unincorporated Palm Beach County

What does a SIRS cover?

At a minimum the roof; the structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural members and systems; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item above the reserve threshold whose failure would harm those items. For each item the study gives the estimated remaining useful life and the replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense, and it includes at least a baseline funding plan that keeps the reserve cash balance above zero in every budget year.[4]

Who may perform or verify the study?

An engineer licensed under chapter 471, an architect licensed under chapter 481, or a person certified as a reserve specialist or professional reserve analyst by the Community Associations Institute or the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts. The rule covers the visual inspection portion too. We arrange the study with one of these professionals and coordinate the schedule; the professional signs the study.[4][5]

What are the deadlines?

• Owner-controlled associations existing on or before 1 July 2022 had to complete a SIRS by 31 December 2025.
• With a milestone inspection due on or before 31 December 2026, the SIRS may be done at the same time, but no SIRS may be completed after 31 December 2026.
• After that, at least every 10 years.
• Within 45 days of receiving the study, owners get a copy or notice and the association files a statement with the Division.

How does the SIRS change the budget?

Reserves for the SIRS items must be based on the most recent study, and for budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024 an owner-controlled association that must have a SIRS cannot vote to waive or reduce those reserves, except a multicondominium with a Division-approved alternative funding method. SIRS items may be funded by regular assessments, special assessments, lines of credit or loans; the last three need a majority of the total voting interests.[4]

Frequently asked questions