HB 913: What Florida boards must do, in plain English

Florida's HB 913 is best understood as an operational tightening of obligations that already appeared in the statute. Where earlier legislation established the structural framework, HB 913 added procedural specificity — who qualifies to perform a reserve study, how milestone inspection results reach owners, and how far the Division's civil-penalty authority extends. Boards that read the headlines in 2024 but have not mapped the details to their own calendars are the ones most likely to be surprised.

1. What changed in reserves

The SIRS — the Structural Integrity Reserve Study — was introduced as a concept before HB 913 arrived. What HB 913 did was tighten the rules around who can perform one and how the study connects to the budget.

Under §718.112(2)(g), the SIRS must be performed by a licensed engineer or architect, or by a person who meets certification criteria set by the Division. A reserve study prepared by a vendor who does not meet that credential bar is not a compliant SIRS, regardless of how detailed the report looks. Boards that have a study on file should confirm the credentials of the preparer before the next budget meeting. If the credentials are not in the record book, they need to get there.

The other reserve-study change worth noting is the reconciliation requirement. The SIRS component list must align with the reserve schedule in the operating budget. If your SIRS identifies eight structural components and your budget funds reserves for four of them, that gap needs an explanation — and the explanation is part of the audit trail.

The glossary entry for SIRS gives a concise definition for quick reference.

2. What changed in milestone inspections

The milestone inspection requirement under §553.899 predates HB 913. What HB 913 addressed was the delivery and posting side: how the inspection summary gets from the engineer's office to unit owners and onto the association's website.

The post-HB 913 framework makes clear that the delivery clock runs from when the association receives the inspection summary, not from when the engineer finishes the inspection. That distinction matters in practice. If a CAM receives the summary and holds it before routing it to the board, the clock has been running the whole time. Associations should treat receipt as a logged, timestamped event.

Where the association is required to maintain a website under the §718.111(12)(g) rule, the milestone summary must also be posted there. Posting on a page the owners cannot access does not satisfy the requirement; the summary belongs in the owner-only section.

3. What changed in §718 enforcement

The Division of Florida Condominiums — housed within the DBPR — received clarified penalty authority under §718.501. Civil penalties can reach $5,000 per violation. The Division can issue cease-and-desist orders, seek court intervention, and in serious cases petition for the appointment of a receiver.

HB 913 did not create this authority from scratch. It confirmed and clarified the categories of conduct within the Division's reach, which now explicitly include failures around reserve study compliance, milestone inspection reporting, and record-keeping obligations. Boards that treat Division oversight as something that happens to other associations are misjudging the risk.

The annual filing — required by March 1 under §718.501(5) — is the Division's baseline check-in. A late filing draws a 10% penalty on top of the $4-per-unit assessment. If the filing also reveals that a SIRS is overdue or a milestone inspection has been missed, the Division may open a separate inquiry.

4. A board's checklist for this fiscal year

Acting on HB 913 does not require a complete operational overhaul. It requires completing a specific set of verifications before the next budget cycle closes.

1. Confirm SIRS provider credentials. Pull the engagement letter and the preparer's license number. If either is missing from the record book, obtain them now. The credentials go into the official records.

2. Run the SIRS-to-budget reconciliation. Side-by-side, the components the SIRS identifies and the line items in your reserve schedule. Any gap between the two needs a documented explanation in the board minutes.

3. Log milestone inspection receipt. If a Phase 1 or Phase 2 summary has been delivered to the association, the receipt date should be in the record. Confirm the 45-day owner-delivery and website-posting deadlines were met from that date.

4. Audit the website posting. If your association is subject to the §718.111(12)(g) website rule, confirm that the milestone summary (where applicable), SIRS, and reserve schedule are in the owner-only section — not just accessible internally.

5. File the annual report on time. The March 1 deadline under §718.501(5) does not move. If the prior year's filing included building-height or milestone-status data, confirm it was accurate. Corrections are filed separately.

6. Set a SIRS renewal calendar reminder. A SIRS does not have an indefinite shelf life. The study should be updated periodically as components age and costs change. Build the renewal into the long-range planning calendar now.

7. Brief the board on the penalty exposure. Not every director is aware that the DBPR can issue civil penalties at the per-violation level. A brief review at the next board meeting — ten minutes, in plain English — is worth the time.

Closing

The full board-facing workflow for records requests and compliance deadlines is at /florida/records-requests and /florida/compliance-calendar. Both are maintained with statute citations alongside the operational steps.

This post describes the software-management side of Florida condo compliance. It is not legal advice. Questions about your association's specific obligations under HB 913 or the statutes it amended should be directed to qualified Florida counsel.