Existing buildings
Still called the 40-year recertification. One team delivers it complete: structural, electrical and the county’s certificates.
A phone photo of the letter is enough. No notice yet? Send the address and the year built.
- Time to file
- 90 days from 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 notice arrives with a deadline.
Building recertification is Miami-Dade County’s periodic safety inspection of older buildings, structural and electrical, reported in writing to your Building Official. The Notice of Required Inspection comes with forms and very little explanation of what actually has to happen. Boards and owners need a structural engineer whose team knows the county’s sequence and delivers the whole of it — the structural report, the electrical report and the certificates that go with them — from the first site visit to the report that closes the recertification.
- 01A Notice of Required Inspection has arrived from your city or from Miami-Dade County — or a courtesy notice says one is on its way.
- 02A previous report listed repairs and the recertification is still open.
- 03You are buying or managing a Miami-Dade building and want to know where it stands in the recertification cycle.
Condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations · Property managers · Building owners and asset managers
Scope & deliverables
What a complete recertification includes in Miami-Dade
- Review of the notice from your city or the county, the building’s records and prior reports
- Structural inspection on site — frame, slabs, balconies, facade, roof and foundations
- Electrical inspection on site — the service, the meter and electric rooms, panels, wiring and grounding, emergency lighting, exit signs and the fire alarm
- Infrared thermography of the electrical equipment, where the building’s electrical service requires it
- Light levels measured in the parking lot that serves the building, and the lot inspected for the county’s guardrail certification
- Classification of observed conditions by structural significance, for the recertification report
- Repair scope that states what has to be corrected, so contractors bid the same work
- Reinspection of completed repairs
- Answers to the reviewing office’s questions on the reports
What you receive
- The complete recertification package for your building: the structural and electrical reports on the county’s own forms, each signed and sealed, with the certificates and attachments set out below
- Written repair scope, where the reports list repairs
- Letter on whether the building can remain occupied during repairs, where required
- Amended report after repairs
Next step
Send the notice — a phone photo is enough — or the address and the year built. We confirm what your Building Official is asking for and reply with a proposal for the complete recertification: every report and certificate your building needs.
- Engineer
- Juan Tercero, PE., M.Sc. · Florida PE 105256
The Miami-Dade package, part by part
What the county asks for with a recertification, and what our team delivers for your building. Some parts go in for every building, others only where the condition beside them is met — and a city may ask for a different set than the county’s.
- Structural report
- The condition of the structure — foundations, frame, slabs, balconies, facade and roof — on the county’s structural form. Every building in the program files one.
- Electrical report
- The general condition of the building’s electrical systems, on the county’s electrical form. Every building in the program files one, as a file of its own.
- Infrared thermography
- An infrared inspection of the electrical equipment, with a written report that is attached to the electrical report. It applies where the building’s electrical service requires it, and never to the panels inside the units.
- Parking-lot illumination certificate
- The light levels measured in the parking lot that serves the building, and whether they meet the county’s standard for that type of building. Filed with the package where it applies.
- Parking-lot guardrail certificate
- The county’s form on whether the parking lot is next to a canal, a lake or another body of water and, if it is, whether parked vehicles are protected by the guardrail the county requires.
- Cover letter
- A letter that goes with each report and states its conclusion on the building’s continued occupancy.
- Photographs
- The photographs the county’s forms call for: the conditions each report describes, and every elevation of the building.
- Site plan or survey
- An aerial view that identifies the building goes with every structural report. Where a property has more than one building, a site plan or a copy of a survey shows which one the reports are for.
We read your city’s letter first, and propose the package it asks for.
When it applies
Who has to recertify in Miami-Dade, and when
Miami-Dade County
- Applies to
- Almost every building type — condominiums, co-ops, apartments, offices, retail and industrial. Outside the program: single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings with both an occupant load of 10 or less under the Florida Building Code and a gross area of 2,000 sq ft or less.
- First due
- At 30 years — 25 for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more stories within 3 miles of the coast. Age is counted from the year built on the Property Appraiser’s record.
- Then
- Every 10 years, for the life of the structure.
- 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.
- If repairs are needed
- 150 days from the Notice to finish repairs that need no permit and to obtain permits for the rest. Permitted work then follows its permit, and an amended report closes the recertification.
- Condominiums & co-ops
- The recertification serves as compliance with the state milestone inspection — no separate milestone report is filed.
Code of Miami-Dade County, Section 8-11(f) · Last verified:
The notice comes from the Building Official of your city, or from the county in unincorporated areas, and the report is filed with that same office. For condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more, the recertification report serves as 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 city or the county, tell unit owners about the required inspection and the date it must be completed.
- Within 45 days of receiving the recertification 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 recertification report and the summary on the association’s website, where the association is required to have one.
Building in Broward?See the BSIP→
The proposal is free. We usually reply within two hours.
Questions & answers
Questions boards ask about Miami-Dade recertification
Is this the 40-year recertification?
Yes. “40-year recertification” is the name most owners still use for Miami-Dade’s building recertification, from the years when the first inspection fell due at that age. The program is the same; the first inspection now falls due earlier, at the ages under “First due” in the table above.
We received a Miami-Dade recertification notice. What do we do first?
Send it to us — a phone photo of the letter is enough. We read the notice and the building’s history, confirm what your Building Official is asking for and by when, and reply with a proposal for the complete recertification, not only its structural report. 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 a Miami-Dade recertification include the electrical report, thermography and the parking-lot certificates?
Yes. The county asks for more than a structural report: an electrical report as well, an infrared thermography inspection where the building’s electrical service requires it, and its two parking-lot certifications, for illumination and for guardrails, where they apply. One team delivers all of it, so the board makes one call. Each part, and when it applies, is set out in the package list above.
How long do we have to recertify in Miami-Dade?
The “Time to file” row in the table above gives the time for the report, and “If repairs are needed” the time for what follows; both are counted from the Notice of Required Inspection. Send us the letter first: we confirm from it what your Building Official is asking for, and by when.
Does our building have to recertify, and which buildings are exempt?
Almost every building does. The “Applies to” row above lists the building types and the few that are outside the program, and “First due” gives the age at which the first recertification falls due, counted from the year built on the Property Appraiser’s record.
We never received a recertification notice. Are we exempt?
No. A building comes under the program because of its type and its age — the “Applies to” and “First due” rows above — not because a letter arrived. Courtesy notices should arrive ahead of time, and not receiving them does not move the deadline. No notice yet? Send the address and the year built.
Can we get an extension on the recertification?
One can be requested, to file the report or to obtain permits, and it is the Building Official who grants it. The request comes from the engineer, signed and sealed, and states that the building can remain occupied. How long an extension may run is under “Good to know”, further down this page.
Does recertification require bringing the building up to today’s code?
No. The building is judged against the code in force when it was built. Recertification does not require bringing it up to today’s code.
Is recertification the same as the state milestone inspection?
For condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more, the recertification report serves as the state milestone inspection, and no separate milestone report is filed. 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 county’s program.
What if the recertification report lists repairs?
The report is filed anyway: the county asks for it first, not after the work. Where repairs are needed, we define what has to be corrected so contractors bid the same work; repairs that need a permit wait for it, and an amended report stating that the repairs are complete closes the recertification. The time allowed is in the “If repairs are needed” row above.
What happens if we miss the recertification deadline?
Miami-Dade County’s recertification page says that when a recertification is not obtained in time, a citation is issued without further notice and the case is referred for enforcement; penalties can then accumulate, and a lien can follow. Each city handles its own cases, so the office that sent your notice sets the steps and the amounts. Past the date on your notice? Send the notice and any citation; the first step is getting the inspection done and the report filed.
Our older building was never recertified. Are we late?
It may be. When the county shortened the schedule, it set a single catch-up date for the buildings that were already past the new ages, and that date has passed; buildings already recertified under the earlier schedule keep the one they were on. Send the address and the year built, and we confirm what applies to the building before we propose.
Your city
Who sent your notice?
The notice comes from the building office of your own city, or from the county in unincorporated areas, and the report goes back to that same office. Find yours below.
- City of Miami City of Miami Building Department, Unsafe Structures Section
- Miami Beach City of Miami Beach Building Department
- Hialeah City of Hialeah Building Division
- Coral Gables City of Coral Gables Building Division
- Doral City of Doral Building Department
- North Miami City of North Miami Building Department
- North Miami Beach City of North Miami Beach Building Department
- Aventura City of Aventura Building Division
- Sunny Isles Beach City of Sunny Isles Beach Building Department
- Miami Gardens City of Miami Gardens Building Services
- Homestead City of Homestead Development Services, Building Safety
- Surfside Town of Surfside Building Department
- Key Biscayne Village of Key Biscayne Building, Zoning and Planning Department
- Unincorporated Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources
Your city is not on the list? Each Miami-Dade municipality handles its own recertifications, 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: Miami-Dade County: recertification guidelines and report templates
Office names last checked:
How the work runs
How a recertification runs, step by step
Notice review
We read the notice and the building’s history, and confirm what the Building Official is asking for and by when.
Inspection
Structural and electrical inspection on site — the frame, slabs, balconies, facade, roof and exposed foundations, and the building’s electrical systems — documented with photographs tied to their locations. Thermography and the parking-lot measurements are done where they apply.
Report filed
The structural and electrical reports go on the county’s own forms, signed and sealed, with the certificates and attachments your building needs, and are filed even when they list repairs. The county asks for the reports first, not after the work.
Repairs under permit
Where repairs are needed, we define what has to be corrected so contractors bid the same work. Repairs that need a permit wait for it, then follow its schedule.
Reinspection
Completed repairs are reinspected and documented against the original findings.
Close-out
An amended report states that the repairs are complete. That is what closes the recertification, until the next cycle.
Good to know
Recertification reports, the county’s forms and the limits of an inspection.
- Buildings over three stories or 50 feet are “threshold buildings”, and their structural report must come from an engineer with the additional qualifications Miami-Dade County requires. We confirm this for your building before we propose.
- Only the county’s own forms are accepted for the structural and electrical reports — a firm’s own form is not — and each building on a property is reported separately.
- The parking-lot certifications record what was measured and found, not a promise that a lot passes: light levels that meet the county’s standard or do not, and whether a lot beside water has the guardrail the county requires. Where a guardrail is missing, the owner needs a permit to install one.
- A complete package is not yet a closed recertification. Where the reports list repairs, the repairs come first — under permit where one is needed — and the amended report is what closes it.
- The Building Official may grant an extension of up to 60 days to file the report or to obtain permits, on a signed and sealed request from the engineer stating that the building can remain occupied.
- The amended report that closes a recertification comes from the engineer or architect who filed the original report. If another firm filed yours, say so when you write — we confirm what closing it will take before we propose.
- A condition that puts life or property in danger is reported to the owner and to the Building Official of your city, or of the county in unincorporated areas; the engineer has a duty to do so.
- A recertification report documents observed conditions; concealed ones may need further investigation, and no engineer can guarantee how a reviewing office 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.