This story was updated on Wednesday, March 11, at 11:45 a.m.
This story was updated on Wednesday, March 11, at 4 p.m.
BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners approved the first reading of a city ordinance that will bring the city into compliance with a state law requiring local governments to adopt an ordinance regarding milestone condominium inspections and inspection-related repairs.
The city ordinance presented to the city commission on March 5, referenced condo buildings three stories tall and higher, but the state law pertaining milestone condominium inspection requirements pertains to condo buildings that have three or more habitable stories.
City Ordinance 26-566 amends chapter 26 of the city’s code of ordinances and addresses statutory requirements for milestone inspections of condominiums and cooperatives. On March 12, City Attorney Erica Augello told The Sun the city ordinance will be amended to include the word “habitable” when presented for second reading and final adoption on Thursday, March 19.
The ordinance proposed and adopted on first reading on March 5, includes language that says, “A condominium association and a cooperative association must have a milestone inspection performed for each building that is three stories or more in height by Dec. 31 of the year in which the building reaches 30 years of age, or 25 years if the building is located within three miles of the coastline, based on the date the certificate of occupancy for the building was issued, and every 10 years thereafter. The inspections consist of a Phase 1 visual inspection, with a Phase 2 inspection performed if further testing is required.”
Sec. 26-132 of the proposed city ordinance includes a registration process for condominium and cooperatively owned buildings: “In order to determine the inventory of structures in the enforcement area, all existing commercial and residential buildings operating as cooperatives or condominiums which are not single-family homes and are two stories in height – including parking levels as a floor – and taller shall register with the building and planning department by July 1, 2026,” the ordinance says.
The registration process proposed in the city ordinance would require the condominium and co-op associations or boards to identify the property type for each condo or co-op building; and identify whether each building is three stories tall or higher, or less than three stories tall. Where applicable, the ordinance would require assoication contact information for each building, including the registered agent or party responsible for receiving legal notices. Where applicable, the ordinance would require each building to disclose the contact information for the condo association or co-op board president.
As currently written, the city ordinance does not reference habitable stories and does not specifically address the inspection requirements for condominum buildings that feature two habitable stories located above a ground-level parking area – a scenario that’s very common in Bradenton Beach, and also in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach.
Regarding milestone inspections, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) website says, “All residential condominiums and cooperative buildings (included mixed-ownership buildings) in the state of Florida that are three or more habitable stories in height are required to have a MI (milestone inspection) when the building reaches certain age.”
On Wednesday, March 11, Bradenton Beach Building Official Rob Perry responded to The Sun’s inquiries that sought clarification as to which condo buildings are subject to the state’s milestone inspection laws.
In his March 11 email to The Sun, Perry said Florida Statute 553.899 regulates milestone inspections and those regulations pertain to condominium buildings that have three or more stories of habitable space. He said parking and storage areas are not considered habitable space, as defined in Chapter 2 of the Florida Building Code. Perry said the state’s milestone inspection regulations do not apply to a single-family, two-family or three-family dwelling with three or fewer habitable stories above ground.
When asked why the city ordinance language does not mention habitable stories, Perry said there was some “confusion” due to an amendment to the state law in 2025.
The milestone inspection requirements enacted as new state law in 2024 referred to condominum buildings or cooperatively owned buildings that are “three stories or more” in height and meet the building age specification. In 2025, the Florida Legisature amended the state law with the adoption of HB 913 – a bill that clarified the state’s milestone inspection regulations would apply only to condominium and cooperatively-owned buildings that are three “habitable” stories or more in height and meet the building age specification.
City Attorney Erica Augello was not present at the March 5 city commission meeting, so attorney Robert Eschenfelder, from the same law firm, represented the city.
“As Ms. Augello pointed out to you in her memo, the legislature adopted a law last year that requires cities and counties to adopt reporting obligation ordinances; and at the local level, enforce them,” Eschenfelder told the commission.
According to the proposed city ordinance, “Milestone inspection means a structural inspection of a building, including an inspection of load-bearing elements, primary structural members and primary structural systems as those terms are defined by the Florida Building Code or the Florida Statutes, whichever definition is broader, by an inspector for the purposes of attesting to the life safety and adequacy of the structural components of the building; and, to the extent reasonably possible, determining the general structural condition of the building as it affects the safety of such building, including a determination of any necessary maintenance, repair or replacement of any structural component of the building.”
Eschenfelder referenced the 2021 partial collapse of a 12-story beachfront condominium building in Surfside, Florida.
“You all recall that two sessions ago they (the Florida Legislature) adopted these new heightened standards for condominiums in the aftermath of the condominium across the state that collapsed. And coming out of that, there was a question of how do we manage, how do we know that they’re doing these inspections? So, the legislature sort of put them on local government and the building officials to make sure that happens,” Eschenfelder said.
“The ordinance that Ms. Augello drafted for you just pretty much copies the verbiage of the statute that we’re mandated to do. Ms. Augello worked with the building official to make sure he understands his role here. And it establishes the fees that they pay, as well as the fines that they’ll pay if they’re not in compliance,” he said.
Milestone inspections
Upon completion of a milestone inspection, the inspector who performed the inspection must submit a sealed copy of the inspection report with a separate summary of the material findings and the recommendations included in the inspection report to the condo or co-op association and the city’s building official.
“Inspector means a Florida actively licensed architect or engineer with experience in multi-story structural design who is specifically insured for performing ‘milestone inspection’ work,” the ordinance states.
The ordinance states, “In the event a structure is determined to be unsafe for habitation, including but not limited to a danger of collapse, during the phase one or phase two inspection, the inspector shall notify the association within 12 hours of the determination. The association shall notify owners based on the instruction of the inspector. In no event shall the notice to owners exceed 24 hours after the association’s receipt of the notice of the unsafe condition. The inspector must report findings that a property is unsafe for habitation, including but not limited to a danger of collapse, to the city’s building official and the county fire marshal within 24 hours of the determination.”
The ordinance says the city’s building and planning department will serve as the local enforcement agency for the state’s inspection and reporting requirements.
On Feb. 19, Bradenton Beach Building Official Rob Perry told the city commission the required milestone inspections had been completed in Bradenton Beach.
In a March 7 email to The Sun, Perry wrote: “Inspections are performed by private engineering professionals, not the city. We only verify they performed inspections.”
