Last updated: June 2026

Before you sign on a Miami condominium, read the structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) and the association's reserve schedule the way you would underwrite a small business, because that is what you are buying into. Pull three numbers first: how much cash is actually in reserves versus what the study says should be there (percent funded), the remaining useful life and replacement cost of the major components (roof, concrete, elevators, waterproofing), and the assessment history. Under Florida law, condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall had to complete an initial SIRS by December 31, 2025, and associations begin funding those reserves with budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2026 [1]. A building with a recent study, healthy percent funded, and no looming special assessment is a different basis than an underfunded 1980s tower facing a six-figure-per-unit concrete bill. The reserve study tells you which one you are about to own.

This is the document that protects your post-sale net. Skip it and the special assessment becomes your problem on day one.

What a Florida SIRS actually requires in 2026

A structural integrity reserve study is a state-mandated inspection and funding plan for a building's load-bearing and life-safety systems. Florida adopted the requirement after Senate Bill 4-D in 2022, then amended it through SB 154 (2023), HB 1021 (2024), and HB 913 (2025) [1].

Here is the current state of the law, which matters because earlier drafts and older articles still cite a December 2024 deadline that no longer applies:

The SIRS applies to residential condominium and cooperative buildings that are three or more habitable stories in height [1].
Unit-owner-controlled associations existing on or before July 1, 2022 had to complete an initial SIRS by December 31, 2025 [1].
HB 913, effective July 1, 2025, raised the threshold for components that must be included in the study from a $10,000 deferred-maintenance or replacement cost to $25,000 [2].
HB 913 also lets associations fund SIRS reserves through special assessments, a line of credit, or a loan with majority approval, and allows a temporary pause or reduction of certain reserve contributions for up to two consecutive budgets to address milestone-inspection repairs [2].

The milestone inspection is the companion requirement. Buildings three or more habitable stories must be inspected at 30 years of age, or at 25 years where the local agency determines local conditions require it, and every 10 years after [3]. When you read a reserve study, ask for the milestone inspection report alongside it. The study tells you what the building plans to fund; the inspection tells you what an engineer actually found.

The three numbers I read first

When I sit down with a buyer and a reserve study, I underwrite three markers before I look at anything else.

Percent funded

Percent funded is the ratio of cash actually in the reserve account to the accrued reserve liability on the study date. A study at or near 100% funded means the association has been collecting on schedule. A study in the single digits or low teens means owners have been deferring the bill, and a special assessment is a question of when, not if. Percent funded is an industry interpretive measure, not a single legal pass-fail number, so read it next to the component schedule rather than in isolation.

Component life expectancy and replacement cost

Every major asset has a shelf life. The study should state the remaining useful life and the estimated replacement cost for the roof, structural concrete, waterproofing, elevators, and mechanical systems. A roof with two years left and no reserves behind it is a near-term assessment in disguise. This is where Miami's salt air and sun matter. Coastal buildings burn through waterproofing and concrete faster than the inland norm.

Assessment history

Pull the last five to seven years of board minutes and assessment records. Frequent large special assessments signal a board that funds by emergency rather than by plan. For a buyer, that pattern is a recurring carry cost, not a one-time event, and it belongs in your hold-horizon math.

Why older Miami buildings carry the most reserve risk

The reserve question is sharpest in Miami's pre-2000 inventory. Buildings from the 1970s through the 1990s are reaching milestone-inspection age at the same time the SIRS funding requirement takes effect, which is why some older associations are issuing significant special assessments to catch up.

The market is sorting into two tiers as a result. As of November 2025, Miami-Dade condos in older buildings (30-plus years) were spending less time on market than newer units, 66 days versus 81 days, while county condo inventory sat at 12,733 listings, up 12.48% year over year, with 14.1 months of supply, a buyer-favorable level [4]. More supply and more time to inspect work in a careful buyer's favor. It gives you room to read the study, order your own engineer if needed, and price the reserve risk into your offer rather than inheriting it. If you are weighing a specific submarket, the dynamics differ block by block in Brickell, Miami Beach, and Aventura.

How reserve risk fits the rest of your basis

A reserve study is one line in the underwriting, not the whole page. Two other costs move with it.

Financing: as of June 18, 2026, the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.47%, down from 6.81% a year earlier [5]. Your rate sets the monthly carry; the reserve study sets the lumpy, episodic carry. Underwrite both.

Insurance: for 2026, Florida's Citizens Property Insurance reduced homeowners multiperil rates by an average of 8.8% statewide, with the largest cuts in South Florida, roughly 14.0% in Miami-Dade and 14.1% in Broward [6][7]. That relief on the operating side makes the one-time cost of structural reserves easier to absorb for a long-horizon hold, but it does not erase an underfunded reserve schedule.

The high end of the market has stayed active through all of this. In May 2026, Miami-Dade sales priced at $1 million and above rose 14.7% year over year, from 389 to 446 transactions [8]. Demand at the top is real, but it does not change the math on any single building. A view does not fund a roof. The reserve study does. If you want a sounding board on a specific building's numbers before you write an offer, that is what a buyer consultation is for, and if you are also selling to make the move, start with a listing valuation.

A short pre-offer checklist

Request the SIRS, the milestone inspection report, the current reserve schedule, and the last several years of board minutes [1][3].
Confirm percent funded and read it against the component life-expectancy table.
Ask in writing whether any special assessment is pending, approved, or under discussion.
Check whether the association has paused or reduced reserve contributions under HB 913, and for how long [2].
Price the reserve gap into your offer, or walk. Either is a defensible underwriting decision.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Florida structural integrity reserve study (SIRS)?

A SIRS is a state-required study for condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall. It inspects major structural and life-safety components, estimates their remaining useful life and replacement cost, and sets the reserves the association must fund. Initial studies for associations existing on or before July 1, 2022 were due by December 31, 2025 [1].

When did Florida's condo reserve funding requirement take effect?

The initial SIRS completion deadline was December 31, 2025 for older associations, and associations begin funding those reserves with budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2026 [1]. HB 913, effective July 1, 2025, added funding flexibility, including the ability to use loans or lines of credit and to temporarily pause certain reserve contributions to address milestone-inspection repairs [2].

What does percent funded tell a Miami condo buyer?

Percent funded compares the cash actually in reserves to the liability the study says should be reserved as of the study date. A low percent funded signals that a special assessment is likely, because the association has been deferring the bill. It is an interpretive industry measure, so read it alongside the component schedule and assessment history rather than as a single pass-fail number.

Are older Miami condos a worse buy because of reserves?

Not automatically. Older buildings carry more near-term reserve and milestone-inspection exposure, but as of November 2025 Miami-Dade older condos (30-plus years) were selling faster than newer units, 66 versus 81 days on market [4]. A well-funded older building with a clean inspection can be a sound basis. The study, not the build year, is what tells you.

Did property insurance costs go down in Miami for 2026?

For Citizens policyholders, yes. Florida's Citizens Property Insurance cut homeowners multiperil rates by an average of 8.8% statewide for 2026, with reductions of roughly 14.0% in Miami-Dade County [6][7]. Private-carrier outcomes vary by building and policy, so verify your specific quote.

Sources

Florida DBPR, Condominium Information and Resources, SIRS FAQs. https://condos.myfloridalicense.com/faqs/
Florida DBPR / Florida Legislature, HB 913 (2025) condominium amendments overview. https://condos.myfloridalicense.com/faqs/
Florida DBPR, Condominium Milestone Inspection requirements. https://condos.myfloridalicense.com/inspections/
MIAMI REALTORS, "Miami-Dade Older Condominiums Continue Selling Faster than Newer Units; Affordable Condo Sales Surge," December 19, 2025. https://www.miamirealtors.com/2025/12/19/miami-dade-older-condominiums-continue-selling-faster-than-newer-units-affordable-condo-sales-surge/
Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week of June 18, 2026. https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, "Citizens' 2026 Multiperil Rates to Drop Statewide," March 4, 2026. https://www.citizensfla.com/-/20260304-citizens-2026-multiperil-rates-to-drop-statewide
Executive Office of the Governor of Florida, "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Major Insurance Rate Relief," 2026. https://www.flgov.com/eog/news/press/2026/governor-ron-desantis-announces-major-insurance-rate-relief-floridas-reforms
MIAMI REALTORS, Miami-Dade million-dollar and luxury sales data, May 2026. https://www.miamirealtors.com/

Gabriel

Gabriel A. Moyers, PA. eXp Realty. Florida License #3407280. Equal Housing Opportunity. This article is general information as of June 2026 and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify current figures against authoritative sources before acting.

How to read a Miami condo reserve study before you buy