Hundreds of Tampa Bay area condo buildings face looming inspection deadline
TAMPA, Fla. - The deadly Surfside Condo collapse in 2021 sparked statewide urgency to meet new safety requirements. But right now, hundreds of condo buildings in the Tampa Bay area are on a deadline.
Florida condos have just five months to complete re-inspections by December 31, but some of them may not make it for a variety of reasons.
The City of St. Petersburg has 225 condo buildings that need to meet state requirements for milestone inspections in the next five months. During a July 11 committee meeting, Chief Building Official Don Tyre said less than half have gotten theirs done.
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So far, 68 out of 225 have completed the process.
"I'm hoping to get a good three quarters of the buildings to submit by December," Tyre told city council members. "There are going to be some issues. This is a new regulatory requirement. There's only so many engineering firms that do this work."
Senate Bill 4D requires a condo that is at least three stories and 30 years old – or 25 years if it's near saltwater – to be inspected for structural integrity by the end of this year, and then every 10 years after that.
There could be serious consequences for buildings that fail inspection or fail to start construction on necessary repairs.
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"We do have to evacuate the building to either evacuate it or indicate that it's safe," said Tyre.
The City of Tampa said earlier this year it mailed 28 letters to condos, which met the requirements set forth in Senate Bill 4D. It's tracking each condo's progress on a public website.
Some have completed the process while others still need to make the required repairs.
"We want people to be compliant," JC Hudgison, the City of Tampa's chief building official, said last month. "So ideally, not having to chase after a condo that hasn't done it. So the ones that have, we appreciate it. We appreciate their diligence. Because they're protecting the people that are occupying those structures."
Another challenge for condos includes paying for repairs discovered during inspections. Now, many condo owners face massive special assessment fees.
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"Some of the older buildings are having to work on a lot of projects to get everything up to code and up to the standards that are being required, which is a good thing," said Ciara Willis, an attorney who represents various condo buildings. "But it's also difficult on the current owners."
Florida's deadline has been moved once before, but many experts don't think it will be moved again this year.
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