On June 1, 2022, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners passed an ordinance establishing tougher procedures for building recertifications and handling unsafe structures.
The new ordinance requires all buildings other than single-family homes, duplexes, and minor structures to undergo recertification upon reaching 30 years of age and every 10 years thereafter. Previously, such buildings were required to undergo recertification at 40 years of age.
The ordinance also requires building officials to provide building owners with two-year and one-year advance courtesy notices related to their upcoming building recertification.
Within 90 days of receiving a notice that their recertification is due, building owners must provide a written report to building officials certifying that the building is structurally and electrically safe for continued occupancy. The report must be prepared by a professional engineer or architect registered in the State of Florida. If the building is greater than three stories or 50 feet in height, the structural and electrical portions of the report must be prepared separately by a professional structural engineer and electrical engineer, respectively. If repairs are deemed necessary, building owners shall have 150 days from the date of notice to complete the repairs.
For condominium buildings specifically, associations must notify all unit owners within 24-hours if the building has been declared unsafe and requires evacuation.
The ordinance also imposes penalties for failure to comply with the new requirements, such as authorizing building officials to disconnect electrical utilities for buildings in which safe, continued occupancy is questionable.
Other penalties include monetary fines. Building owners who fail to timely provide their recertification reports or complete necessary repairs may face a $500.00 fine. Additionally, condominium associations that fail to timely provide unsafe notification to unit owners could face $200.00 fines per unit to be notified.
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