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Florida’s community associations are under more scrutiny than ever. The collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside in 2021 changed the conversation permanently. Since then, new state laws have placed additional inspection and reporting obligations on condominiums and cooperative buildings, and CAMs are now expected to help boards navigate a landscape that few were trained for.
The problem is that most board members are volunteers. They’re homeowners, not Engineers. Most CAMs, no matter how experienced, were never taught to read a structural report, evaluate a repair bid, or explain deferred maintenance in terms that residents can understand without panicking.
This guide is written from the perspective of a licensed Florida Structural Engineer who works regularly with community associations throughout the state. The goal is straightforward: give CAMs a practical framework to make smarter engineering decisions and help their boards do the same.
One of the most common mistakes CAMs and boards make is waiting too long or calling the wrong professional first. A contractor can give you a price; an Engineer can tell you whether you actually need the work, what scope is appropriate, and whether the proposed solution will hold up.
Here are the signals that warrant an engineering consultation:
Contractors build and repair. Engineers assess, design, and certify. When a problem is unknown in scope or involves structural safety, the Engineer should be the first to respond. This protects the association legally, ensures the right scope of work is identified, and gives you defensible documentation if repairs are ever questioned.
Practical tip: If a contractor tells you what’s wrong without an Engineer’s assessment, ask how they know. If the answer is “I’ve seen this before,” that may not be enough, especially for structural or life-safety issues. An Engineer’s signed-and-sealed report is your best protection.
Not every repair warrants a full engineering engagement. Routine cosmetic issues, minor plumbing repairs, painting, landscaping, and mechanical system maintenance typically fall within the scope of a contractor or specialist. Save the engineering budget for situations where the unknowns carry meaningful risk.
Scoping is where associations consistently overpay or underinvest, sometimes at once. A well-scoped project gives you accurate bids, avoids costly change orders, and ensures that the repair actually solves the problem.
Before any work is scoped or bid, have an Engineer assess the condition. This may be a visual inspection, a detailed investigation with probes or testing, or a full structural evaluation, depending on what you’re dealing with. You can’t scope what you haven’t diagnosed.
Work with your Engineer to define a clear standard of completion, not just “repair the balcony” but “restore balcony to structural adequacy per Florida Building Code with a minimum 15-year service life.” Vague scope leads to vague bids and disputes at project closeout.
For any significant repair, your Engineer should produce bid documents, drawings, specifications, and sometimes a scope of work before contractors price the job. Bidding from engineer-produced documents means you’re comparing apples to apples across contractors.
Concrete and waterproofing repairs almost always reveal more damage once work begins. A well-scoped project includes an allowance for unknown conditions, typically 20% of the base contract, so the board isn’t blindsided mid-project with an emergency special assessment.
An Engineer who designs the repair should ideally observe the construction. Periodic site visits by your Engineer, not just the contractor’s superintendent, help catch installation errors before they’re buried under sealant and paint. This is especially important for structural and waterproofing work.
A structural report can be 40 pages long and full of technical language that most board members will not and should not have to fully understand. Your role as a CAM is to translate. Here’s how to do it effectively.
Frame engineering findings around three questions boards actually care about:
Lead your board presentation with these three answers before diving into the technical details. Boards make better decisions when they understand urgency and consequence, not pore over failure modes and material properties.
Residents have two primary concerns: safety and money. Acknowledge both directly. Vague or overly technical communications create anxiety and distrust. Clear, honest, matter-of-fact language, even about bad news, is almost always better received than reassurances that turn out to be wrong.
“Our Engineer inspected [area] and found [brief plain-language summary]. This means [impact on residents’ access, safety, timeline]. The board is moving forward with [action]. Estimated cost is [range]. More updates will follow as the project progresses.”
You will be asked this. Residents will ask about it at town halls, in the elevator, and in strongly worded emails. Defer to your Engineer’s language on safety determinations; don’t editorialize. If the Engineer has placed restrictions (limited access, load restrictions, evacuation) on the site, they must be communicated clearly and followed. If the Engineer has not placed restrictions, say so, but don’t minimize the issue either.
Every engineering engagement should be documented: the report, the board’s receipt of it, the decisions made, and the timeline for follow-up actions. This creates a defensible record that protects the board, the management company, and the association in the event of future litigation or regulatory inquiry.
Florida Senate Bill 4-D, enacted in 2022 following the Surfside collapse, introduced new mandatory inspection requirements for residential condominiums and cooperative buildings three stories or taller. CAMs working with affected communities need to understand the basics.
A licensed Engineer or Architect performs a visual inspection of the building’s primary structural members, systems, and components. This must occur by December 31, 2024, for buildings 30 years or older (25 years if within 3 miles of the coast), and at 10-year intervals thereafter. Newer buildings trigger their first inspection at 30 years.
If Phase 1 reveals evidence of substantial structural deterioration, a Phase 2 inspection must follow. Phase 2 is more intensive; it may involve destructive testing, probing, and analysis, and typically results in a repair plan. Repairs identified in Phase 2 must be completed within a time frame established by the local building official.
Associations subject to the Milestone Inspection law must also maintain a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, a detailed analysis of the condition and remaining useful life of major structural and common area components. Unlike traditional reserve studies, the SIRS carries funding requirements: associations are prohibited from waiving reserves for SIRS-covered components after December 31, 2024.
Letting the contractor diagnose the problem. Contractors have a financial interest in the scope of work. Engineers don’t think their job is to tell you what’s actually needed.
Deferring repairs because the budget is tight. Deferred maintenance compounds. A $50,000 repair today is frequently a $300,000 repair in five years. Help your board understand the cost of waiting.
Bidding without engineering documents. Without drawings and specifications, every contractor bids something different. Comparing those bids is not apples-to-apples; it’s apples-to-pickup-trucks.
Over-communicating technical details to residents. Residents don’t need a materials science lecture. They need to know what’s happening, how it affects them, and what the board is doing about it.
Under-communicating to residents. Silence creates rumors. A brief, factual update, even if the update is “we’re still evaluating,” is better than nothing.
Skipping construction observation. Having an Engineer design the repair but not observe the work is like having a doctor prescribe medication and then leaving the pharmacy to figure out the dosing.
Confusing cosmetic and structural repairs. Staining on a concrete ceiling may be cosmetic. It may also signal active corrosion of reinforcing steel. Know the difference or have someone who does.
Situation | Recommended Action | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
Visible concrete cracking or spalling | Call the Engineer for assessment | Immediately |
Water intrusion into structural elements | Call the Engineer; document with photos | Immediately |
The building is 30+ years old, and there is no inspection | Schedule Milestone Phase 1 inspection | Urgently |
Reserve study flags structural concern | Engage an Engineer to evaluate and plan | Within 60–90 days |
Planning roof, balcony, or garage repair | Retain an Engineer to produce bid documents | Before bidding |
Contractor proposes the scope of work | Have the Engineer review the scope before approval | Before authorizing |
Board asks, “Is it safe?” | Get a written assessment from the Engineer | Before communicating with residents |
Resident asks about structural findings | Use a plain-language summary; refer technical questions to the Engineer | At the time of inquiry |
SIRS not yet completed | Engage a qualified professional | Per statutory deadline |
BillerReinhart is a structural engineering firm serving community associations, property managers, developers, and attorneys throughout Florida, with offices in the Tampa Bay, Southwest Florida, and Southeast Florida regions. Licensed in the State of Florida.
www.billerreinhart.com
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This resource is published for informational purposes and does not constitute engineering advice. Consult a licensed Structural Engineer for project-specific guidance.
