Guide
A letter from your building department starts a clock. Read it the same day, then follow these five steps — in Miami-Dade or in Broward.
- Engineer
- Juan Tercero, PE., M.Sc. · Florida PE 105256
Guide
First, read what the letter actually says
The notice is short and written for the office that sends it, not for the owner who opens it. Before anything else, find three things on it: which office sent it, the date on the letter or the date your building received it, and the date by which the office expects the report.
In Miami-Dade the program is the county’s building recertification, and the letter comes from your city’s building office, or from the county where the building is in an unincorporated area. In Broward the program is the Building Safety Inspection Program, the BSIP, and the letter comes from your city’s Building Official. Owners call both of them “the 40-year recertification”, a name left over from older rules — the clock on the letter is the current one.
- Who sent it: the office named in the letterhead is the office the report goes back to.
- When it arrived: keep the envelope. In Broward the time to file counts from the day the notice is received.
- The date it sets: where your city states a date of its own, that is the date to plan around.
How much time the notice gives you
The two counties run different clocks, and they must never be read against each other. Below is the time each county’s rules give to file the report, as verified on the county program pages; the time for repairs that follow is in the guide on failed recertifications. The date printed on your own letter is the one that counts.
- Miami-Dade — Time to file: 90 days from the Notice of Required Inspection. Courtesy notices should arrive two years and one year ahead; not receiving them does not move the deadline.
- Broward — Time to file: 180 days from receiving the Notice of Required Inspection. Older guides still say 90 days; the policy in force since August 9, 2024 gives 180. Your city’s letter states its own date.
Five steps, in this order
Most of the trouble with a recertification comes from the weeks lost at the start. Nothing on this list takes long, and every step shortens the next one.
- Send the letter to an engineer the week it arrives. A photo taken with your phone is enough to get a proposal started.
- Find the original drawings and the last inspection report, if the building has one. They shorten the inspection and make the proposal more exact.
- In a condominium or co-op of three habitable stories or more, tell unit owners: state law gives the board duties of its own, listed on each county program’s page.
- Plan one day of access: roof, garage, electrical rooms, and the units the engineer asks to see.
- Put money aside for repairs before you know their size. The report is filed first; repairs, if any, come after it, under permit.
What happens after you call
We read the letter and the building’s history, confirm what your office is asking for and by when, and reply with a fixed-fee proposal for the complete package your county asks for — the structural and electrical inspections and every document that goes with them. The inspection is scheduled around the day you can open the building.
The report is filed even when it lists repairs: both counties want it first, not after the work. Where repairs are needed, the scope is written so contractors bid the same work, and an amended report closes the file once the repairs are done.
Questions
What boards ask once the letter is open
Can we wait until closer to the date on the notice?
You can, but it costs time you will want later. An inspection booked late leaves no room if the report lists repairs, and repairs under permit move at the pace of the permit, not of the deadline.
The letter came to the management company, not to the board. Does the clock still run?
Assume it does. The office sent the notice to the address it has on record for the building; pass it to the board the same day and keep the date it arrived.
Do we need anything before we ask for a proposal?
Only the letter. The address and the age of the building tell us which county’s rules apply; drawings and the last report help, but they are not needed to start.
Is the notice the same thing as a violation?
No. A notice says the building has reached the age at which an inspection is required. Enforcement only starts when the report is not filed in time.
Keep reading
Where to go from here.
Next step
A county notice in your hand, a building that worries you or a new project — describe it and attach what you have. A phone photo of the letter is enough. You hear back from the engineer, with questions or with a written proposal.
The proposal is free. We usually reply within two hours.