Existing buildings
Many owners still call Broward’s BSIP the 40-year recertification. One team delivers it complete: structural and electrical.
A phone photo of the letter is enough. No notice yet? Send the address and the year of the certificate of occupancy.
- Time to file
- 180 days from receiving the Notice of Required Inspection.
- Engineer
- Juan Tercero, PE., M.Sc. · Florida PE 105256 · Verify with the Florida DBPR
- FL Engineering Business No. 40285
When you need it
A certified letter with a deadline.
Broward’s Building Safety Inspection Program (BSIP) is a countywide safety inspection of older buildings, structural and electrical, written by the Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals and enforced by your city’s Building Official. Many owners still call it the 40-year recertification, and much of what is written about it describes rules that have since changed. Boards and owners need a structural engineer whose team works from the current policy and delivers both halves of the program, the structural inspection and the electrical one, from the first site visit to the close-out.
- 01A Notice of Required Inspection has arrived from your city’s Building Official — or the building is nearing the age at which one will.
- 02A previous report listed repairs and the file is still open.
- 03You are buying or managing a Broward building and want to know where it stands in the inspection cycle.
Condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations · Property managers · Owners of rental, commercial and mixed-use buildings
Scope & deliverables
What a complete Broward BSIP inspection covers
- Review of your city’s letter, the building’s records and prior reports
- Structural inspection on site — frame, slabs, balconies, stairs, guardrails, roof and foundations, and the parking garage where there is one
- Electrical inspection on site — the service and its equipment, electric rooms, wiring and grounding, emergency lighting, the fire alarm and exit lights, and the wiring at parking lots and garages
- Observed conditions classified by structural significance, for the BSIP report
- Repair work defined so contractors bid the same scope
- Reinspection of the repaired areas
- Answers to the Building Official’s questions on the report and its forms
What you receive
- The complete BSIP package: a written narrative report and the Board’s structural and electrical forms, each signed and sealed, with color photographs, set out part by part below
- Written repair scope where repairs are needed
- Signed and sealed letter on whether the building can remain occupied during repairs
- Amended report and completion letter after repairs
Next step
Send the notice — a phone photo is enough — or the address and the year of the certificate of occupancy. We read what your city is asking for and reply with a proposal for the complete BSIP inspection and report, structural and electrical.
- Engineer
- Juan Tercero, PE., M.Sc. · Florida PE 105256
The Broward BSIP package, part by part
What the Board of Rules and Appeals asks for with a Building Safety Inspection, and what our team delivers for your building: two inspections, structural and electrical, in one written report.
- Written report
- A detailed narrative report of the inspection, signed and sealed, that states whether the building is structurally and electrically safe or what repairs it needs.
- Structural form
- The Board’s own Structural Safety Inspection Report Form, completed for the building: foundations, walls, floors and roof, framing, windows and exterior doors. Guardrails are among its items, and a parking garage is inspected with the structure.
- Electrical form
- The Board’s own Electrical Safety Inspection Report Form: the electric service and its equipment, electric rooms, wiring and grounding, emergency lighting, the fire alarm, exit lights, and the wiring at parking lots and garages.
- Color photographs
- Included with the report to show the conditions observed, above all where defects were found.
- Supporting data
- Where there are any, drawings or sketches and, where the inspection called for testing, the test reports — listed on the structural form and attached to it.
- Summary for unit owners
- In a condominium or a cooperative, a summary of the report, prepared for the association to send to unit owners.
- What your city adds
- Some cities ask for a cover sheet or a submittal form of their own with the filing. Your city’s letter says what it wants, and we read it first.
Infrared thermography: the Board’s current policy does not ask for it; it is used where the electrical inspection calls for it.
When it applies
Which buildings the Broward BSIP reaches
Broward County
- Applies to
- Almost all building types, in every Broward city and the unincorporated area. Outside the program: one- to four-family dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories, fee-simple townhouses, and minor structures under 3,500 sq ft of building area.
- First due
- At 25 years, counted from the certificate of occupancy.
- Then
- Every 10 years.
- 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.
- If repairs are needed
- 180 days from the date of the report, under permit, unless the Building Official sets a different time. A reinspection, an amended report and a signed and sealed completion letter close the file.
- Condominiums & co-ops
- The BSIP report serves as phase one and phase two of the state milestone inspection.
Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals, Policy #05-05 · Florida Building Code, Broward County Amendments, Section 110.15 · Last verified:
Your city’s Building Official enforces the program, and your city’s letter states its own date — which is why we read it first. For condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more, the BSIP report serves as phase one and phase two of the state milestone inspection, and the board’s duties to unit owners under state law (Florida Statute 553.899) remain.
What the board must do
- Within 14 days of receiving the notice from your Building Official, tell unit owners about the required inspection and the date it must be completed.
- Within 45 days of receiving the BSIP report, send every owner the engineer’s summary and post it in a conspicuous place on the property.
- In those same 45 days, publish the BSIP report and the summary on the association’s website, where the association is required to have one.
Building in Miami-Dade?See Miami-Dade Recertification→
The proposal is free. We usually reply within two hours.
Questions & answers
Questions boards ask about the Broward BSIP
Is the BSIP the same as the 40-year recertification?
Yes. “40-year recertification” is the name many owners still use for Broward’s Building Safety Inspection Program, from the earlier version of the program. Much of what is written about it describes rules that have since changed; the ages and deadlines in force are in the table above.
We received a Broward BSIP notice. What do we do first?
Send it to us — a phone photo of the letter is enough. We read your city’s letter first: the date it was received, the date it sets, and what the Building Official asks to be filed; then we reply with a proposal for the complete inspection and report, structural and electrical. In a condominium or cooperative of three habitable stories or more, the board also has duties to unit owners: see “What the board must do” above.
Does the Broward BSIP include an electrical inspection?
Yes. The program asks for two inspections, structural and electrical, reported together: one written report, with the Board of Rules and Appeals’ structural form, its electrical form and color photographs. One team delivers all of it, so the board makes one call. Each part is set out in the package list above.
How long do we have to file the BSIP report?
The “Time to file” row in the table above gives the time for the report, counted from the day the notice is received, and “If repairs are needed” the time for the work that follows. Your city’s letter states its own date, and that is the date we work to.
Does our building have to file, and which buildings are exempt?
Almost all building types do, in every Broward city and the unincorporated area. The “Applies to” row above lists the homes and minor structures outside the program, and “First due” gives the age at which the first inspection falls due. Also outside the program: federal and State of Florida buildings, buildings on sovereign tribal lands, Broward County School Board schools, and railroads.
We never received a BSIP notice. Are we exempt?
No. The Board of Rules and Appeals sends each city its list of buildings by June, and the Building Official mails the notices by certified mail from June through August. Not receiving one is no defense: the inspection, the report and any repairs are still due on time.
Can we get an extension on the BSIP report?
One can be requested to submit the report, and it is the Building Official who grants it. Ask before the date in your city’s letter. How long an extension may run is under “Good to know”, further down this page.
Does the BSIP require bringing the building up to today’s code?
No. The building is judged against the code in force when it was built. The program does not require bringing it up to today’s code.
Is the BSIP the same as the state milestone inspection?
For condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more, the BSIP report serves as phase one and phase two of the state milestone inspection. What state law adds for those buildings is the board’s duties to unit owners, listed under “What the board must do” above. Other buildings are outside the milestone law and answer only to the BSIP.
What if the BSIP report lists repairs?
The report is filed as soon as it is complete, even when it lists repairs. The repairs then follow under permit, and while they are underway the engineer issues a signed and sealed letter on whether the building can remain occupied. A reinspection, an amended report and a completion letter close the file; the time allowed is in the “If repairs are needed” row above.
What happens if we miss the BSIP deadline?
Policy #05-05 of the Board of Rules and Appeals says that when the report is not filed on time and no extension was requested, the Building Official takes the case to a hearing before a Special Magistrate or the Code Enforcement Board; where required repairs are not made, the building can be deemed unsafe and unfit for occupation. A city may set its own timelines and penalties, so the office that sent your notice sets the steps. Past the date on your notice? Send the notice and any citation; the first step is getting the inspection done and the report filed.
We filed under the old 40-year program. When is the next one?
A building inspected under the earlier 40-year program is treated as compliant, and its later inspections follow at the interval in the “Then” row above. The year yours falls due is not something to work out from a general rule: your city’s Building Official sends the Notice of Required Inspection, and its letter states the date. Send us the last report or the notice, and we read it first.
Your city
Who sent your notice?
The program is written for the whole county, and each city’s Building Official sends the notices and receives the reports. Find your city below, next to its building office.
- Fort Lauderdale City of Fort Lauderdale Development Services Department
- Hollywood City of Hollywood Building Division
- Pompano Beach City of Pompano Beach Building Department
- Hallandale Beach City of Hallandale Beach Building Division
- Deerfield Beach City of Deerfield Beach Building Division
- Pembroke Pines City of Pembroke Pines Building Department
- Miramar City of Miramar Building, Planning & Zoning Department
- Plantation City of Plantation Department of Building Safety
- Sunrise City of Sunrise Building Division
- Davie Town of Davie Building Division
Your city is not on the list? The program reaches every Broward city, and the letter names the office that sent it. Questions about a notice go to that office. Send us the letter: we read it before we propose.
These are the forms the report goes on: Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals: Building Safety Inspection Program forms
Office names last checked:
How the work runs
From the notice to the filed report
Notice review
We read your city’s letter first: the date it was received, the date it sets, and what the Building Official asks to be filed.
Inspection
A systematic visual examination of the structure and of the electrical systems on site, with testing or opened finishes only where what we see calls for it.
Report filed
A written narrative report with color photographs, plus the Board of Rules and Appeals’ official structural and electrical forms, signed and sealed. It is filed as soon as it is complete, even when it lists repairs.
Repairs under permit
Where repairs are needed, we define the work so contractors bid the same scope, and issue the signed and sealed letter on whether the building can stay occupied meanwhile. Repairs wait for their permits.
Reinspection
When the work is complete, the areas noted in the original report are reinspected.
Close-out
An amended report and a signed and sealed completion letter go to the owner and to the Building Official. That closes the file, until the next cycle.
Good to know
BSIP reports, the official forms and the limits of an inspection.
- The Building Official may grant an extension of up to 60 days to submit the report.
- Buildings over three stories or 50 feet are “threshold buildings”, and their structural report must come from an engineer with the additional qualifications Broward County requires. We confirm this for your building before we propose.
- Only the Board of Rules and Appeals’ own structural and electrical forms are accepted — a firm’s own form is not — and they come in addition to a written narrative report with color photographs, not instead of it.
- The amended report and the completion letter come from the professional who inspected the building and issued the original report. If another firm issued yours, say so when you write — we confirm what closing the file will take before we propose.
- Parking garages, guardrails, and the balconies, elevated decks, docks and seawalls attached to or supporting a structure are part of the inspection.
- A complete package is not yet a closed file. Where the report lists repairs, they follow under permit, and the amended report with its completion letter is what closes it.
- A condition that puts life or property in danger is reported to the owner and to your city’s Building Official; the engineer has a duty to do so.
- A BSIP report documents observed conditions; concealed ones may need further investigation, and no engineer can guarantee how the Building Official will act on it.
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.