Can a buyer cancel after reading the milestone report?

Yes. Florida gives a condo buyer a cancellation period after receiving the required association documents, which now include the milestone report and reserve study where they exist. Your attorney confirms the period that applies to your contract.

Does the building have to be evacuated?

Only when the inspecting engineer or the building department finds an immediate safety threat, which is rare. Most phase-two findings lead to a repair program while residents stay in place.

Who pays the assessment if I sell mid-way through?

What the contract says. By default the seller pays instalments due before closing and the buyer those due after, but it is often negotiated, and the association's estoppel letter states the balance. See the special assessment guide.

What Happens If My Condo Building Fails a Milestone Inspection?

Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record, BreakThru Realty, Florida License 3565210

Published October 9, 2026

The Short Answer

A building does not fail a milestone inspection so much as it moves to the second phase: the engineer found substantial structural deterioration and must now specify the repairs, which the association has to fund and complete on a schedule the local building department oversees. For an owner that usually means a special assessment, construction, and a period when the unit is harder to finance and sells at a discount. You can still sell, but buyers must be given the report, and the price has to reflect what they are taking on.

What the Inspection Is

Florida requires condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more stories to have a structural milestone inspection by a licensed architect or engineer once the building reaches the age the statute sets (30 years, sooner for some buildings near the coast) and every ten years after. Phase one is a visual inspection. If it finds substantial structural deterioration, phase two follows: a closer inspection with testing, and a report that lists the repairs needed. Your association and its attorney can confirm the dates and requirements that apply to your building.

After Phase Two: Repairs and Money

The association must get the repairs done, and most buildings pay for them with a special assessment, a loan, or both, because reserves rarely cover structural work. Since the 2024 reforms, associations must also complete a structural integrity reserve study and can no longer waive reserves for the structural items it covers, which raises dues in many older buildings. The result for owners is a known cost, a construction timeline and, usually, a stronger building at the end.

What Buyers Must Be Told

The milestone inspection report and the reserve study are association records, and Florida now requires that buyers receive them before closing along with the other condo documents. A buyer who receives them has a period to cancel. This is why a building in phase two sells on the facts: the report, the repair scope, the assessment and the schedule, rather than on the view from the balcony.

Financing in a Building Under Repair

Lenders ask associations about structural deficiencies, unfunded repairs, reserves and litigation, and some will not lend in a building with an open phase-two finding until repairs are under way or funded. That shrinks the buyer pool to cash and to lenders who will take the building. Consult a mortgage lender about your specific building before you list, and expect to market to cash buyers if financing is tight.

Selling Now or After the Repairs

Selling now means a smaller, mostly cash buyer pool and a price that discounts the assessment and the disruption. Selling after the repairs means carrying the unit and paying the assessment, then selling into a building that passes inspection and funds its reserves, which is what lenders and buyers want. If the building has a credible plan and you can hold, waiting usually nets more. If the plan is uncertain or the assessment exceeds what you want to carry, sell now on honest terms.

How a Unit in Phase Two Is Priced

From closings in your building since the report, and from comparable buildings at the same stage, with the assessment treated as a contract term rather than hidden in the price. A BreakThru agent shows you the net under each route and, if you sell now, presents the report, the repair plan and the assessment up front so the buyers who come are the ones who can close.

Talk It Through With a Broker

Every sale is its own set of numbers. Request a free valuation built from the closed sales that match your home, or read the market figures for your county on BreakThru Realty Research.

What if my condo building fails a milestone inspection: Questions

What happens if my condo building fails a milestone inspection?: A building does not fail a milestone inspection so much as it moves to the second phase: the engineer found substantial structural deterioration and must now specify the repairs, which the association has to fund and complete on a schedule the local building department oversees. For an owner that usually means a special assessment, construction, and a period when the unit is harder to finance and sells at a discount. You can still sell, but buyers must be given the report, and the price has to reflect what they are taking on.
Can a buyer cancel after reading the milestone report?: Yes. Florida gives a condo buyer a cancellation period after receiving the required association documents, which now include the milestone report and reserve study where they exist. Your attorney confirms the period that applies to your contract.
Does the building have to be evacuated?: Only when the inspecting engineer or the building department finds an immediate safety threat, which is rare. Most phase-two findings lead to a repair program while residents stay in place.
Who pays the assessment if I sell mid-way through?: What the contract says. By default the seller pays instalments due before closing and the buyer those due after, but it is often negotiated, and the association's estoppel letter states the balance. See the special assessment guide.