Florida SIRS Compliance 2025: The Critical Guide to Non-Waivable Condo Reserves
Find state-specific reserve study requirements and funding laws — choose your state to see what is legally required for reserve studies, updates, and funding levels.
The rules for managing condominiums and cooperatives in Florida have changed forever. If your association governs a building that is three habitable stories or more, the state now mandates strict financial compliance focused on structural integrity.
This guide breaks down the Florida Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) requirements, explaining who must comply, when the deadlines hit, and why board members face personal liability for non-compliance.
1. Is a Reserve Study Required or Recommended in Florida?
The answer depends entirely on the type of association and the structure you manage.
➡️ Condominium & Cooperative Associations (COA/Co-op)
STATUS: Required and Non-Waivable
For buildings of three habitable stories or more, the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) is mandatory. This is not a suggestion; it is an explicit legal requirement under Florida Statutes Chapters 718 and 719.
The law now strictly prohibits unit owners from waiving or reducing the funding for the structural components identified in the SIRS. This is the most significant change from previous law, moving reserve funding from optional to obligatory, effective for all budgets adopted on or after
January 1, 2025 .
➡️ Homeowners Associations (HOA)
STATUS: Recommended (Traditional Reserves)
Homeowners Associations (HOAs) governed solely by Chapter 720 are generally exempt from the mandatory SIRS requirements. However, while a full, state-mandated SIRS is not required, conducting a traditional reserve study remains the single best financial practice to avoid unpredictable and massive special assessments .
HOAs retain the ability to waive or reduce reserves by a majority vote of the membership.
2. Key Deadlines and Study Cadence
Boards and property managers must prioritize these dates to avoid an explicit breach of fiduciary duty.
3. Scope of the SIRS: What Elements Must Be Covered?
The Structural Integrity Reserve Study requires a physical, on-site visual inspection. "Desktop" or non-site-visit studies are not compliant.
The SIRS focuses on eight mandatory structural components whose replacement or failure directly affects the safety and integrity of the building :
4. Who Is Qualified to Perform Your SIRS? (Independence Rules)
To ensure the study is accurate and unbiased, Florida law mandates that the SIRS must be performed or verified by a qualified, licensed professional :
- Licensed Engineer (under Chapter 471, F.S.).
- Licensed Architect (under Chapter 481, F.S.).
- Certified Reserve Specialist (RS) from the Community Associations Institute (CAI).
- Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) from the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts (APRA).
⚠️ Critical Independence Requirement
The law imposes a strict firewall to prevent conflicts of interest.
- Any professional who performs the SIRS must disclose in writing if they intend to bid on any repair or replacement work recommended by the study.
- A design professional or contractor who submits a bid for the actual repair work may not have any direct or indirect interest in the entity that performed the SIRS.
Boards and property managers must strictly track this disclosure during the RFP process.
5. Funding Compliance: Non-Waivable Reserves & Financial Restructuring
The mandatory funding rule is the most impactful part of the legislation.
Mandatory 100% Funding
For all budgets adopted in 2025 and beyond, reserve funding for the SIRS-identified components cannot be waived or reduced by unit owner vote. SIRS funds must be strictly segregated and used
only for the specific item identified in the study.
Curing Deficits: Loans and Lines of Credit
Recognizing that many associations have massive deficits from previous reserve waivers, the law allows for immediate compliance through financing :
- An association may secure a line of credit or loan sufficient to cover the cumulative amount of any previously waived or unfunded reserves required by the SIRS.
- This funding must be immediately available for use by the Board to fund necessary repairs without requiring further unit owner approval.
- Any such loan or line of credit must be included in the association’s annual financial statement for transparency.
Flexible Reserve Pooling
Recent changes now codify the association’s ability to pool reserves for two or more required components, including SIRS reserves. This allows the board flexibility to address the most urgent repair needs efficiently using the total pooled balance.
6. The Ultimate Risk: Fiduciary Duty and Marketability
Non-compliance carries severe consequences that affect both the board's liability and the property's financial health.
Board Member Fiduciary Breach
The failure to obtain the required SIRS or the failure to properly fund the mandatory SIRS reserves is explicitly defined as a breach of the officers' and directors' fiduciary relationship to the unit owners.
While board members typically have protection under the Business Judgment Rule, the willful failure to comply with this specific mandate can potentially lead to personal liability, especially after directors are required to sign an affidavit acknowledging receipt of the completed SIRS report.
The Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac Impact (Market Risk)
Compliance is essential for maintaining the property's marketability. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the major secondary mortgage market lenders) heavily scrutinize condominium projects.
Associations that fail to complete the SIRS or fail to fully fund the mandatory reserves may be flagged as ineligible for government-backed financing. This loss of eligibility forces sales to cash buyers only, severely restricting property liquidity and often resulting in steep drops in unit values. Previous special assessments have already caused property listings to jump and prices to plummet in non-compliant communities.
7. Forthcoming Changes and Practical Takeaways (HB 913)
House Bill 913 (2025 legislative session) introduced key refinements to the SIRS law, providing operational clarity while reinforcing the mandatory nature of the reserves :
- Deadline Extension: The SIRS completion deadline was moved from 2024 to December 31, 2025.
- Affidavit Requirement: Board officers must sign an affidavit confirming they received the completed SIRS report.
- DBPR Standard Format: The Division of Condominiums is developing a standardized SIRS report format that all studies must follow.2 Reserve specialists and boards must watch for this release, as it will dictate the final compliant deliverable.
- Borrowing Codified: The use of loans/lines of credit to cure funding deficits is now codified and must be immediately available to the board.
