Florida condo law changed significantly with HB 1021, a major reform bill that took effect July 1, 2024, and whose deadlines continue rolling into 2026. The 2025 session then refined the building-safety rules with HB 913 (effective July 1, 2025). If you own a Florida condo, the headline changes give you stronger records rights, mandatory building-safety inspections and reserves, tougher rules on boards, and a new online-records requirement for larger buildings. Here is a plain-English summary of what matters to owners.

HB 1021 amended Florida Statute Chapter 718 (and related chapters). Its provisions are woven into the sections cited throughout this site.

Records: broader rights, real penalties

HB 1021 expanded what counts as an official record and tightened the rules around access under 718.111(12):

  • Invoices, transaction receipts, and deposit slips that substantiate the association's income and spending are now explicitly official records you can inspect.
  • Building permits are explicitly official records.
  • Associations must keep records in an organized manner and provide a checklist of records made available and withheld for many requests.
  • The core access rule stands: records within 10 working days, and failure creates a rebuttable presumption of willful noncompliance, with $50 per calendar day in minimum damages (up to $500), starting on the 11th working day.

The website rule: 25+ units by January 1, 2026

Condominium associations with 25 or more units must maintain a digital copy of many official records on a secure website or app accessible to owners. The compliance date for this expanded posting requirement is January 1, 2026. If your 25-plus-unit building has no owner-accessible website with the required records, that is now a compliance gap.

Building safety: milestone inspections and SIRS

The post-Surfside safety framework is now fully in force, and the 2025 session refined it through HB 913 (Chapter 2025-175, effective July 1, 2025):

  • Milestone inspections (Florida Statute 553.899) are mandatory for buildings of three habitable stories or more (HB 913 clarified that floors used only for parking or mechanical equipment do not count toward that threshold). The initial inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, though a local building official may require it earlier, by the year the building turns 25, at the local agency's discretion (the old fixed "within 3 miles of the coast" rule was removed). Then every 10 years. Confirm your exact deadline with your local building department.
  • Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) (718.112(2)(g)) is mandatory for buildings of three habitable stories or more, at least every 10 years, covering the roof, structure, foundation, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows, and more. HB 913 extended the deadline to complete the first SIRS to December 31, 2025.
  • Reserves you generally cannot waive, with new flexibility. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, associations cannot simply waive or underfund the structural reserves the SIRS identifies. HB 913 then added room to breathe: after a milestone inspection, an association may pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two budget years to put money toward the repairs the inspection found, and may fund reserves through a special assessment, line of credit, or loan with owner approval. The dollar threshold for separately reserving an item also rose from $10,000 to $25,000. This reserve funding is the change driving many higher assessments across Florida.

Tougher rules on boards and managers

HB 1021 also strengthened accountability, including:

  • Enhanced conflict-of-interest, fraud, and kickback provisions, with criminal penalties for certain misconduct like fraudulent records destruction, ballot tampering, and theft of association funds.
  • Mandatory director education requirements.
  • Clearer rules on fines and suspensions (still capped at $100 per violation and $1,000 aggregate, with 14-day notice and an independent committee, and a condominium fine can never become a lien on your unit, regardless of amount).

What this means for you as an owner

You have more you can inspect, a website many associations now must maintain, mandatory safety inspections you can demand to see, and reserves that can no longer be waived. The flip side is cost: reserves that boards used to skip must now be funded, so assessments are rising. Both the stronger rights and the higher costs come from the same reform.

How to tell if your board is behind

  • Your 25-plus-unit building has no owner-accessible records website (past the January 1, 2026 deadline).
  • Your building of three habitable stories or more has no milestone inspection or SIRS.
  • A post-2024 budget waives structural reserves.
  • The board refuses to show invoices, receipts, deposit slips, or building permits.

What you can do next

Check whether your building meets the 2026 website rule, has its milestone inspection and SIRS, and funds (not waives) structural reserves. Pull the documents with a records request (/documents/records-inspection-request), and if the board is behind, file DBPR complaint form 33-032 (/documents/dbpr-complaint-guide).