Despite that report, the building’s condo association took two and a half years, after much internal strife, to pass a special $15 million assessment. For years, the association had not set aside enough money to deal with the problems, forcing the large special assessment to pay for them. And the building was clearly underinsured, which will create complications for those with claims for property loss or wrongful death.
Amazingly, only two counties in Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward, require condo buildings to be recertified for structural and electrical systems — and only after 40 years and then each 10 years thereafter.
Because there aren’t enough inspectors or regulators, some buildings have delayed recertification for years. But things can also go wrong before recertification, and at some buildings, owners merely patch and paint and ignore long-term maintenance repairs or otherwise cut corners to avoid the conflict and chaos that large special assessments cause with their neighbors.
What should be done? Recertifications of all “life safety” matters concerning structural and electrical building elements should be mandated statewide. The initial building recertification deadline should be reduced from 40 years to 10 or 20 years, and then every five years thereafter, with the inspections performed by licensed engineers or architects with a minimum of five or 10 years of experience.
More governmental oversight should be required of remediation work on buildings, ensuring its timely start and completion. Steeper monetary or even criminal penalties should be imposed for not adhering to the recertification process and carrying out required life-safety repairs.
Owners also should be required to provide adequate reserves for all life-safety repairs, and a loophole allowing owners to waive the full funding of reserves should be closed. These funds should always be segregated from other association reserve funds (such as those set aside for decorating lobbies and hallways).
And building codes, like the Florida Building Code, should require proper waterproofing by competent installers with a minimum warranty of 15 to 20 years. With rising seas and the corrosive salt air along the coasts, waterproofing of concrete is as important as brakes are to cars. Concrete is porous, and water can make it deteriorate. If not remediated promptly, the damage becomes exponentially worse. And huge maintenance fees or special assessments anger residents and hurt market values.