40-Year Recertification in Miami-Dade vs. the Florida Milestone Inspection: Do You Need Both?
Every week we hear some version of the same question from a board member or property manager in Miami-Dade: we just did our 40-year recertification, so we are done with the milestone inspection, right? Or the reverse. The honest answer is that these are two different requirements from two different governments, and a lot of buildings in Miami-Dade County owe both. This article explains exactly how they differ and how to handle them without paying for two separate engineering projects.
Two Requirements, Two Governments
The 40-year recertification is a Miami-Dade County program. It comes from Section 8-11(f) of the Code of Miami-Dade County, has existed since 1975, and is enforced by the Building Official of the county or of the municipality where your building sits. There are 35 municipalities in the county, and each one's building department handles recertifications inside its own limits. The notice you receive comes from whichever one has jurisdiction.
The milestone inspection is a State of Florida requirement. It comes from
Florida Statute 553.899, was created in 2022 after the Surfside collapse, and applies everywhere in Florida. It is enforced by what the statute calls the local enforcement agency, which in practice is the same city or county building department, but the rules it enforces are the state's rules, not the county's.
Side by Side: Recertification vs. Milestone Inspection
The statute applies to any building that is three habitable stories or more in height and that is subject, in whole or in part, to condominium or cooperative ownership as a residential condominium or residential cooperative. Both conditions have to be true. A two-story condominium does not need one. A ten-story office building that has no condominium or cooperative units does not need one under this statute, although it may be covered by a county recertification program.
The statute specifically excludes single-family, two-family, three-family, and four-family dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories above ground.
When Your Milestone Inspection Is Due
Who requires it: Recertification: Miami-Dade County Code. Milestone inspection: Florida Statute 553.899.
Which buildings: Recertification: most buildings in the county, residential and commercial, except single-family homes, duplexes, and small buildings with an occupant load of 10 or fewer and 2,000 square feet or less. Milestone inspection: only condominium and cooperative buildings that are three habitable stories or taller.
When it is first due: Recertification: 30 years for most buildings built in 1993 or later, 25 years for condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or taller within three miles of the coastline built in 1998 or later, with catch-up deadlines of December 31, 2024 for older buildings, and buildings built in 1982 or earlier that already recertified staying on their existing schedule.
Milestone inspection: 30 years from the certificate of occupancy statewide, or 25 years where the local enforcement agency requires it, which Miami-Dade does for coastal buildings.
How often after that: Both: every 10 years.
What is inspected: Recertification: structural and electrical, on the county's required report templates, including foundations, facade, parapets, seawalls, parking lot lighting and guardrail certificates, and infrared thermography on large electrical systems. Milestone inspection: structural only, in two phases, focused on substantial structural deterioration.
Who can perform it: Recertification: a Florida-registered engineer or architect with proven experience in that building type; the county asks for proof of structural specialization for the structural report and an electrical-discipline engineer for the electrical report. Milestone inspection: an architect licensed under Chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under Chapter 471.
Who gets the report: Recertification: the Building Official, through the county portal or the municipal building department. Milestone inspection: the association, any other building owner, and the building official, plus a summary to every unit owner within 45 days, posted on the property and on the association website.
If you miss the deadline: Recertification: late fee after 90 days, then a citation with an initial penalty of $510 and further penalties up to $10,000 per violation, and possible lien. Milestone inspection: the local agency may set timelines and penalties, and if Phase 2 repairs are not started within 365 days the agency must decide whether the building is unsafe to occupy.
Can One Inspection Satisfy Both?
Partly, and this is where a good engineer saves an association real money. In 2022, Miami-Dade County rewrote its recertification schedule specifically to integrate the new state law. That is why coastal condominiums in the county are now recertified at 25 years instead of 40. The county's own recertification page describes the current schedule as the integration of the state milestone requirement with the county program.
What that means on the ground is that a coastal condominium in Miami-Dade will get its recertification notice and its milestone requirement on the same cycle. One site visit by a qualified structural engineer can gather everything needed for both. But the outputs are different documents. The county wants its structural report on its own template, with the electrical report and the parking lot certificates alongside it. The state wants a milestone inspection report that meets the requirements of Section 553.899, with a separate summary for unit owners and the 45-day distribution that follows. Both have to be produced and both have to be filed with the right office. An engineer who only prepares the county packet leaves the association out of compliance with the state, and vice versa.
Our approach is to plan the site visit for both from the start. Learn more on our
Miami-Dade 40-year recertification page and our
milestone inspection services page.
Which One Comes First for a Miami-Dade Building
Take a 12-story condominium on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach with a certificate of occupancy from 1999. It is within three miles of the coastline, it is condominium ownership, and it is well over three stories. Under the county schedule it is due for recertification at 25 years, which was 2024. Under the state statute, Miami-Dade's 25-year local option means the milestone inspection was due by December 31, 2024 as well. Both landed at once. If that building has not been inspected, it is past due on both.
Now take a six-story rental apartment building in Doral, built in 1996, with no condominium units. It is inland and it is not condominium or cooperative ownership. The state milestone statute does not apply to it at all. The county recertification does, at 30 years, which is 2026. That building owes one inspection, not two, and the report goes on the county template only.
The difference between those two buildings is not the age or the size. It is the ownership type and the distance from the coast. Those two facts decide which rules apply.
What Boards Get Wrong
- Assuming one inspection covers the other. It can cover the site work, but not the paperwork. Ask your engineer which reports they are producing and where each one is being filed.
- Waiting for the final notice. Miami-Dade sends courtesy notices two years and one year ahead of the cycle. The final Notice of Required Recertification gives you 90 days. Boards that wait for the final notice end up hiring in a hurry.
- Hiring someone who is not qualified. The county asks for proof of structural specialization. The state requires a licensed engineer or architect. A general contractor or home inspector cannot do either.
- Forgetting the electrical report. The county recertification is not complete without an electrical report from an electrical-discipline engineer, plus the parking lot illumination and guardrail certificates where they apply.
Common Questions
Do I need both a 40-year recertification and a milestone inspection?
If your building is in Miami-Dade County, is three habitable stories or taller, and is under condominium or cooperative ownership, yes, you owe both. If your building is commercial or rental with no condominium units, you owe the county recertification only. If it is a one- or two-story condominium, neither applies.
Is a 40-year recertification still 40 years in Miami-Dade?
Only for buildings built in 1982 or earlier that already completed a recertification. As of September 2026, the county's schedule is 30 years for other buildings built in 1993 or later, 25 years for coastal condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or taller built in 1998 or later, and every 10 years after the first inspection in every case. The name has stayed; the number has not.
Can the same engineer do both inspections?
Yes, if the engineer is Florida licensed, has the structural specialization the county asks for, and understands both sets of report requirements. That is the most efficient way to do it, because the site work overlaps almost completely.
Does the milestone inspection replace the county recertification?
No. The county program covers more building types and requires an electrical report and certificates the state statute never mentions. The state statute, in turn, requires the two-phase structure, the unit owner summary, and the 45-day distribution that the county program does not. Neither replaces the other.
What about buildings in Broward County?
Broward runs its own Building Safety Inspection Program, separate from Miami-Dade's, and the state milestone statute applies there too. The same logic holds: check the ownership type, the height, and the county program's schedule.
Received a Notice? We Can Handle Both.
M&P Consulting Engineers performs Miami-Dade building recertifications and Florida milestone inspections, often in a single planned site visit, and prepares every report each office requires. Call 786.273.1682 or start with our 40-year recertification page for Miami-Dade County.
Sources
- Miami-Dade County, Building Recertification program page, Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Florida Statute 553.899, Mandatory structural inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings, 2026 Florida Statutes. Checked 1 September 2026.
- Code of Miami-Dade County, Section 8-11(f)
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