Milestone inspections in Pinellas County

Filing in Pinellas County

1. Check whether your city is on the county's list, or files with its own building department
2. Register the association on the Pinellas County Access Portal
3. Upload the sealed Phase 1 report and summary, and Phase 2 if required
4. Send the summary to owners within 45 days (state law)

Why Pinellas boards take this seriously

Of the 30 buildings found unsafe or uninhabitable statewide in 2024, 8 were in Pinellas County. Beach and bayfront buildings face salt exposure even though the county uses a 30-year schedule.[2][1]

Milestone inspection rules in Pinellas County

• The county uses the 30-year schedule with the state's legacy dates and no separate coastal rule, so a Gulf-front tower on Indian Rocks Beach has the same first deadline as an inland building.
• Buildings that reached 30 years before 1 July 2022 had to be inspected before 31 December 2024, those reaching 30 by 31 December 2024 before 31 December 2025, and later buildings by 31 December of the year they turn 30.
• The county counts a garage or parking area beneath the living space as a story, which can bring a building over parking into the three-story rule.
• In the state's 2024 data, 8 Pinellas buildings were found unsafe or uninhabitable after milestone inspections, out of 30 statewide and behind only Osceola County.
• Ordinance 24-18 sets the county process, and associations register on the Pinellas County Access Portal before reports can be filed.
• Notices go to the association and any non-association owner by certified mail, and the association tells unit owners within 14 days, by email or a website posting where owners have agreed to that.
• The county describes Phase 1 as a visual examination of the habitable and non-habitable areas of the building by a Florida architect or engineer, who decides whether Phase 2 testing is needed.
• The county says that if a building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area, the 49% rule applies to repairs, which can change the scope and cost of a large repair project.

How we handle milestone inspections in Pinellas County

Pinellas splits the filing by jurisdiction. If your building is in unincorporated Pinellas or one of the seven towns the county serves, the report goes through the county's Access Portal after registration; if it is in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or another city, it goes to that city. We confirm the right office before the inspection, so the sealed report lands where the clock is running.[1]

Permits for milestone inspections in Pinellas County

• Pinellas County, Condo Milestone Inspections: Milestone inspection registration and reports through the Access Portal

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.[3]

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.[3][4][5][6][7][1]

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.[3]

Frequently asked questions