Buying an Older Condo in Sarasota or on Longboat Key? What Florida's Condo Laws Mean for You (2026)

Short answer: after the 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida overhauled the rules for older condominium buildings. Taller, aging buildings must now complete a structural milestone inspection and a reserve study, and associations generally can no longer waive reserves for the building's major structural parts. For a buyer, this is mostly good news, the health of a building is more transparent than it has ever been, but only if you read the right documents before you commit.

This matters across both markets I work in most: the downtown Sarasota condo towers and the beachfront and bayfront condos on Longboat Key. Here is what changed, why some buildings have raised fees or issued special assessments, and the exact paperwork to pull before you write an offer.

Why the rules changed

The Surfside tragedy exposed how a condo association can defer structural maintenance and underfund reserves for years until a crisis hits. In response, Florida enacted condo-safety reforms that require older, taller buildings to actually inspect their structure and set aside money to maintain it. The two pillars are the milestone inspection and the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. Both apply to condominium and cooperative buildings that are three stories or higher.

The milestone inspection

A milestone inspection is a structural inspection performed by a licensed engineer or architect. Phase one is a visual assessment of the building's major structural components. If it turns up signs of substantial structural deterioration, phase two is a more detailed investigation. The first inspection comes due once a building reaches a certain age, a threshold that has been revised by the legislature more than once, so the practical move is to ask, for the specific building, whether a milestone inspection has been completed and to read the report.

A completed milestone report with no major findings is a green light. A report that flags deterioration is not an automatic dealbreaker, but it tells you repairs, and the money to pay for them, are coming.

The Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS)

The SIRS is the money side of the same idea. A qualified inspector reviews the building's major structural components, things like the roof, load-bearing walls, foundation, floor, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, and windows, and calculates the reserves the association must hold to maintain and eventually replace them. The key change: associations generally can no longer vote to waive or shortcut the reserves for those specific components.

That reform is exactly why some older buildings have raised monthly fees or levied one-time special assessments in recent years, they are catching up on reserves that were underfunded for a long time. It can sting in the short term, but a fully funded building is a more predictable one to own.

What it means for your monthly cost

When you shop older condos, compare the total monthly picture, not just the sticker fee. Two buildings with similar fees can be in very different shape: one has funded its reserves and its number is honest, the other has kept fees artificially low and a special assessment is waiting in the wings. The building that already took its medicine is often the safer buy.

Practical rule: treat a low fee on an older building as a question, not a selling point. Ask what the reserves look like and whether an assessment has been discussed.

The buyer's document checklist

This is the part that protects you. Before you are past your inspection or due-diligence window, get and read:

• The milestone inspection report, if the building has reached the age that requires one.
• The Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) and the current reserve balances.
• The current year budget and the prior year or two, so you can see the trend in fees.
• The last 12 months of board meeting minutes, where special assessments and repairs are discussed first.
• Any pending, approved, or recently completed special assessments, and what they were for.
• The master insurance policy and deductible, plus confirmation of what your own unit policy needs to cover.
• The governing documents and the estoppel, ordered early, and compared against what the listing claims the fee includes.

The bottom line

Florida's condo laws did not make older condos a bad buy, they made the good ones easier to identify and the risky ones easier to avoid. A building that has completed its milestone inspection and funded its reserves is telling you the truth about its costs. A building that keeps dodging both is telling you something too.

This is the kind of diligence I run on every condo my clients consider, downtown Sarasota or Longboat Key. If you are weighing an older building and want a second set of eyes on the documents, that review is part of how I work. Browse the buildings on my Longboat Key and Sarasota community pages, then let's pull the paperwork before you fall for a floor plan.