A Florida law intended to prevent tragedies like the Surfside condominium collapse will place a huge financial burden on condo associations and strain architecture and engineering resources in the state.
The law requires that by the end of 2024 condominiums that are at least three stories tall and within 3 miles of the coast be inspected by a licensed engineer or architect when they are 25 years old and buildings more than 3 miles inland at 30 years old. The law will be financially burdensome for many associations, especially older ones.
Condo associations had been allowed to waive reserve funds for maintenance, but will now be required to have enough money in their reserves by 2025 to fund all repairs needed to maintain their buildings’ structural integrity. This work could easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What’s more, thousands of condos will need to have inspections over a short period. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for architects and engineers to get to all that work done within the prescribed deadline.
The law applies to 1.5 million condos operated by nearly 28,000 associations. Some older properties in the most desirable coastal areas are expected to be targets for developers because owners will not be able to absorb the cost of capital assessments to make extensive repairs. Developers would demolish old properties and build new luxury properties on site.
Related Stories
| Jun 27, 2013
AGC urges Congress, Obama to reject caps on construction workers in immigration legislation
The unemployment rate in the construction sector in May was the lowest it has been in five years, which could signal a coming worker shortage, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jun 27, 2013
California legislators make push for prevailing wage law
California lawmakers introduced new legislation that would cut off state construction funds from charter cities that don’t mandate the equivalent of union-scale wages on public-works projects. Of the 482 cities in California, 121 are charter cities.
| Jun 27, 2013
Thermal, solar control designs can impact cooling loads by 200%, heating loads by 30%
Underestimating thermal bridging can greatly undermine a building’s performance contributing to heating load variances of up to 30% and cooling load variances of up to 200%, says the MMM Group.
| Jun 27, 2013
U.S. Conference of Mayors passes new sustainability resolutions
The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) passed a slate of sustainability resolutions that renew its commitment to local green building and clean energy efforts.
| Jun 19, 2013
NSF Sustainability begins verifying EPDs that can be used for LEED V4
NSF Sustainability has verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for nylon carpet styles and colors manufactured by Mannington Commercial and for J+J Flooring Group’s Kinetex® flooring product and Invision brand modular styles that use eKo® backing.
| Jun 19, 2013
Florida is latest battleground over LEED standards centered on certified wood
A nationwide battle over forest certification standards continues to be played out nationally and in Florida with legislation passed this month.
| Jun 19, 2013
Construction site safety improved in 2011
On-the-job construction fatalities dropped from 802 in 2010 to 781 in 2011, and recordable injuries fell from 4.7 per 100 workers in 2008 to 3.9 per 100 in 2011, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| Jun 19, 2013
New York City considers new construction standards for hospitals, multifamily buildings
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration has proposed new building codes for hospitals and multifamily dwellings in New York City to help them be more resilient in the event of severe weather resulting from climate change.
| Jun 12, 2013
Green Globes update complies with federal sustainability standards
The Green Building Initiative has updated its green building certification program to comply with the U.S. government’s standards for sustainability in federal buildings.
| Jun 12, 2013
Green Globes update complies with sustainability standards
The Green Building Initiative has updated its green building certification program to comply with the U.S. government’s standards for sustainability in federal buildings.
