Broward County's 25-Year Building Safety Inspection: What Owners and Boards Need to Know

If you own or manage a condo, apartment building, office or retail building in Broward County, at some point a certified letter arrives from your city's building official telling you the building is due for its safety inspection. A lot of owners still call it the 40-year inspection. That name is out of date. Broward now starts at 25 years.

Here is how the Broward County Building Safety Inspection Program works today, based on the Board of Rules and Appeals' policy, and what happens after the engineer's report lands on your desk.

Which buildings need it

The program applies to buildings 25 years old or older, counted from the date the certificate of occupancy was issued, with repeat inspections every 10 years after that. Elevated decks, balconies, docks and seawalls are included when they are attached to or support a covered building.

The timeline

1. The list. Each year the Board of Rules and Appeals gives every city and the county a list of buildings coming due.
2. The notice. Between June and August, the building official sends the owner a notice by certified mail. Not receiving it does not excuse the owner from the deadlines.
3. The report: 180 days. The owner hires a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, who inspects and submits the sealed report and forms within 180 days of the notice. The building official can grant up to 60 more days.
4. Repairs: 180 days. Required repairs are generally due within 180 days of the report date, unless the building official sets a different deadline, and the official can grant up to 60 days to get the repair permits.

What gets inspected

• Structural. The general condition of the structure as it affects safety: foundations, columns, beams, slabs, balconies, railings, parking garage decks and similar elements. The report flags substantial structural deterioration, which the policy separates from surface issues like cosmetic cracks or peeling paint unless the engineer finds they point to something worse.
• Electrical. Service equipment, panels, wiring condition and similar items, inspected by a Florida-licensed engineer qualified in electrical work. Thermal imaging is at the inspector's discretion.
• Reports. A sealed narrative, the county's structural and electrical report forms, and color photos of the defects, with recommended repairs.

For taller or larger buildings that meet Florida's threshold building definition, the structural portion has to be prepared by a licensed structural engineer who is also a licensed special inspector. In buildings with many units, the inspecting professional decides how many units to look at.

How it fits with the state milestone inspection

Since the Surfside collapse, Florida requires milestone inspections for condo and co-op buildings three habitable stories or taller. Broward wrote its program so that it serves as compliance for both phase one and phase two of the state milestone inspection, so a Broward condo building does not need two separate inspections. Our post on what happens after a milestone report covers the state side, including the rules for condo reserves.

The repair phase

Repairs are where most of the money and the stress are. A few things we tell boards and owners:

• The engineer designs, the contractor builds. Structural repairs follow the engineer's repair drawings and need a permit. Concrete restoration is usually priced by unit quantities because the real extent of damage only shows once it is opened up.
• Today's code may apply to the repair. An existing building does not have to be brought up to current code just because it was inspected, but the repairs themselves may need to meet it.
• Start talking to contractors early. 180 days goes fast once you add bidding, permits and work in an occupied building. Getting pricing while the report is being finalized saves weeks.
• Electrical items are often quick wins. Many electrical findings, such as panel labeling, damaged covers or corroded equipment, can be fixed fast and cleared early.

In Fort Lauderdale, reports and repair permits go through the city's LauderBuild portal; other cities have their own systems. Check with your building department on how they want the report submitted.

The bottom line

In Broward, the safety inspection starts at 25 years, repeats every 10, covers parking garages and guardrails, and runs on two 180-day clocks: one for the report and one for the repairs. Plan for the repair phase before the report arrives. We handle concrete restoration and structural repairs for condo, apartment and commercial buildings in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach and across Broward, working from your engineer's repair drawings. Send us your report and we will walk you through the repair phase.