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Fla. Stat. Chapter 718
The Florida Condominium Act
Governs the formation, management, powers, and operation of condominium associations in Florida. Sections cover creation of condominiums, association powers and duties, financial reporting, common-element responsibility, milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies (SIRS), member meeting rules, and developer-to-owner control transfer.
Official source on leg.state.fl.us§ 718.103
Defines the terms used throughout Chapter 718: condominium, unit, association, common elements, limited common elements, declaration, bylaws, board member, developer, and dozens more. The cited definitions in this section govern interpretation of every other section.
§ 718.104
Sets out what must be in the condominium declaration recorded in the public records: legal description, identification of units, common elements, percentage of ownership in common elements, voting rights, and amendment procedures. This is the foundational document — every association's rights flow from what the declaration says.
§ 718.110
Common Elements summary — Section 718.110 sets the rules for amending a condominium declaration. The default approval threshold is the percentage stated in the declaration itself (commonly two-thirds or 75% of total voting interests), but the statute imposes hard floors: amendments that change unit boundaries, change a unit's appurtenances, or change the percentage by which the unit owner shares common expenses generally require the consent of the affected owner and all record-mortgage holders. For HOA-side comparison this parallels 720.306(1)(b), but condo amendments are stricter because the declaration is a property right. Practical traps: (1) a "scrivener's error" correction under 718.110(5) is a lower-threshold path that boards routinely abuse — courts will void a substantive change dressed up as a typo fix; (2) amendments must be recorded in the public records of the county or they don't bind successors. Always run a proposed amendment past association counsel before circulating it for vote. The cost of a $500 legal review is trivial compared to a quiet-title action three years later from a buyer who relied on the unamended declaration.
§ 718.111
Defines the association as the corporate entity responsible for operating the condominium, lists its powers (contracting, levying assessments, hiring management, enforcing covenants), and imposes specific obligations including records inspection rights for owners, fidelity bonding for those handling funds, and limits on what the association can do with common elements.
§ 718.11111
Common Elements summary — Section 718.111(11) tells every Florida condominium association what insurance it must carry and what the unit owner must carry. The association's policy must cover everything "as originally installed" plus all replacements of like kind and quality — meaning the building shell, the original cabinets, the original drywall, the original flooring. Unit owner HO-6 policies pick up everything inside the unfinished walls plus betterments and improvements. This is the most-litigated insurance allocation in Florida real estate. Post-loss the recurring fight is whether granite countertops upgraded by a prior owner are "association" property (covered by the master) or "unit owner" property (covered by HO-6). 718.111(11)(f) tries to draw the line at "as originally installed" but in practice you need policy endorsements, a clear declaration definition, and an insurance counsel review every renewal. Boards must obtain "adequate" property insurance based on the replacement-cost value determined by an independent insurance appraisal at least every 36 months. Skipping the appraisal is a fast path to a coinsurance penalty after a major loss.
§ 718.112
The most-cited section in Chapter 718. Mandates what the bylaws must contain: form of administration, board composition + terms, member meeting notice + quorum rules, election procedures, budget and assessment rules, reserves, fining procedures, recall elections, emergency powers, and (post-SB 4-D, 2022) Structural Integrity Reserve Studies. If you're a board member or CAM, this is where your meeting + voting procedures live.
§ 718.112
Subsection (2)(f) of § 718.112 — the post-Surfside reserves overhaul. Requires every condominium of three or more stories to commission a Structural Integrity Reserve Study by December 31, 2024, and at least every 10 years thereafter. Funds for reserve items identified in the SIRS must be reserved (no waiving) starting with the 2025 budget year. This rewrote condo financial planning across Florida.
§ 718.1122(f)
Common Elements summary — Section 718.112(2)(f) is the heart of condo financial governance. It requires the board to adopt an annual budget that includes estimated revenues, estimated operating expenses, AND fully funded reserves for roof, building painting, pavement resurfacing, AND any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost over $10,000. The budget must be mailed to every owner with the meeting notice — 14 days minimum. For decades unit owners could vote each year to waive or partially fund reserves under 718.112(2)(f)(4). SB 4-D (2022) and its 2023 follow-ups eliminated the waiver for buildings three stories or taller starting with the 2024 budget — those reserves must now be fully funded based on a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (see 718.704). For non-SIRS items (paint, pavement, pool resurface, etc.) waiver is still possible by majority vote of those present at a noticed meeting. The trap for boards: failing to mail the budget on time invalidates the assessment. Re-noticing a meeting after the fiscal year starts is embarrassing and creates a billing gap.
§ 718.113
Spells out who maintains what — association responsibility for common elements, unit-owner responsibility for the unit interior, and the gray-area items in between (windows, doors, balconies, in some cases). Also covers material alterations (board-only vs unit-owner-vote thresholds), display of the US flag, and hurricane-protection installations.
§ 718.1122(j)
Common Elements summary — Section 718.112(2)(j) gives unit owners the right to recall any board member, with or without cause, by a majority of the total voting interests. The recall is initiated by a written agreement signed by the requisite owners or by a vote at a unit owners' meeting called for that purpose. The recalled director's term ends on the date the recall is "served on the association" — meaning the day the petition is hand-delivered or mailed certified mail to the registered office. The board has five full business days to either (a) hold a meeting and certify the recall (in which case the recalled directors are out immediately) or (b) file a petition for arbitration with DBPR's Division of Florida Condominiums challenging the recall. There is no other option. A board that ignores the petition is automatically deemed to have certified it. Common board mistakes: (1) "investigating" the recall instead of certifying or arbitrating within five business days; (2) refusing to recognize signatures the board thinks are stale; (3) holding a board meeting "to discuss" the recall without certifying or rejecting. All three are losing positions. When a recall petition lands, call counsel that day.
§ 718.116
How assessments work: liability for assessments runs with the unit (joint and several with prior owners for delinquent amounts subject to limits), the lien arising automatically, recording of claims of lien, statutory interest, late fees, and the foreclosure path when assessments go unpaid. This is the collection playbook for every Florida condo association.
§ 718.115
Common Elements summary — Section 718.115 defines what counts as a common expense (and therefore what the association can assess against units) and confirms that every unit owner is liable for their share. The list is broad: maintenance and repair of the common elements, casualty insurance, operating expenses of association property, professional fees, security, utilities serving the common elements, and any other expense expressly authorized by the declaration. The section also addresses two perpetual fights: (1) limited common element expenses — costs that benefit only a subset of units (a specific stack's balconies, a specific tower's roof) can be charged only to those benefited units if the declaration authorizes it; (2) communications services — bulk cable, internet, and similar are allowed as common expenses if the declaration permits or the board contracts under 718.115(1)(d). Practical takeaway: when an owner challenges a charge as "not a proper common expense," the analysis is always (1) does the declaration list it, (2) does 718.115 authorize it, and (3) is the allocation among units consistent with the declaration's percentage schedule. Get any of those three wrong and the assessment is voidable.
§ 718.117
Procedures for dissolving a condominium — voluntary by 80% owner vote, or court-ordered when the property has been substantially damaged or destroyed. Covers division of insurance proceeds, distribution of association assets, and protection of mortgagees. Increasingly relevant after structural failures.
§ 718.61
§ 718.62
§ 718.124
Common Elements summary — Section 718.124 gives an association a special tolling rule for any cause of action the association could bring against a developer, contractor, or supplier related to design or construction defects. The statute of limitations does not begin to run until the unit owners other than the developer elect a majority of the board (turnover, see 718.301). This matters enormously in construction-defect cases. Florida's general construction statute of limitations under 95.11 is four years, with a ten-year statute of repose. Without 718.124, an association that didn't reach turnover until year five would have already lost its claim. The tolling rule preserves the right to sue until the owners actually control the board and can make an informed decision about litigation. For boards: if you're newly post-turnover and you suspect construction or design defects, get a forensic engineer in within months — the SOL clock is now running. Waiting "to see if it gets worse" is how associations lose multi-million-dollar claims.
§ 718.121
How a contractor or vendor can place a lien on common elements (or individual units) for unpaid work, and the procedural protections for the association before such a lien attaches. Limits joint liability of unit owners for common-element work to their proportionate share.
§ 718.71
§ 718.125
Common Elements summary — Section 718.125 is the fee-shifting statute that drives almost every condo dispute. If a unit owner or the association sues to enforce the declaration, bylaws, or chapter 718, the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the non-prevailing party. The right is mandatory once prevailing-party status is established, not discretionary. The practical consequences are massive: (1) a board that wins an enforcement action against a defaulting owner recovers fees — but a board that loses pays the owner's fees; (2) a unit owner who successfully challenges a board action recovers fees — which is why pro-se owners with strong claims attract aggressive plaintiff's counsel; (3) settlements almost always carry a fee clause negotiated against this baseline. For boards: never file an enforcement action you're not confident you'll win. The asymmetric risk of a fee award against the association swamps the underlying dispute. Send the demand letter, exhaust pre-suit mediation under 718.1255, then file only with counsel's written sign-off that the case is a winner.
§ 718.301
When the developer must turn association control over to unit owners (typically when the developer has sold 90% of the units in all phases, or by a fixed time cap). Covers the transition meeting, the developer's obligations to deliver records and funds, and the post-transfer window for the association to bring construction-defect claims against the developer.
§ 718.303
Common Elements summary — Section 718.303 is the condo enforcement statute. It confirms that every unit owner, tenant, occupant, and guest must comply with the declaration, bylaws, rules, and chapter 718. The association's remedies are (a) a damages action, (b) injunctive relief, (c) any other relief available at law or in equity, AND (d) the right to levy a fine of up to $100 per violation, with a cap of $1,000 in the aggregate for a continuing violation, after notice and a hearing before an independent committee of unit owners. Two procedural rules trap boards: (1) the fine cannot be levied until the violator has been given at least 14 days' written notice and an opportunity to be heard before a committee of at least three owners who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association and who are not related to officers, directors, or employees; (2) the committee must vote to approve the fine — if it doesn't, the fine cannot be imposed. For boards: build the committee BEFORE you need it, document the hearing in writing, and never let a board member sit on the committee. Skipping the hearing is the #1 way associations lose fine-collection suits.
§ 718.501
Defines the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (under DBPR) — the state regulator with jurisdiction over condo associations. Lists its investigative + enforcement powers and limits its reach (it doesn't arbitrate every dispute; many disputes go to mandatory non-binding arbitration or court).
§ 718.502
Common Elements summary — Section 718.502 requires every developer of a Florida condominium to file the proposed documents with the Division of Florida Condominiums (DBPR) before offering any unit for sale or lease for more than five years. The filing includes the declaration, articles, bylaws, prospectus, and all required disclosures (see 718.503, 718.504). The Division reviews for facial compliance — it is not a merits review of the project. For a developer this is the gatekeeper: no DBPR approval, no sales contracts. For unit-buyers and resale brokers it is the public-records source for the original developer documents — a critical resource when chain-of-title questions arise years later about whether an amendment was properly recorded against the as-filed declaration. For HOA/COA practitioners: when an owner asks for the "original" governing documents and the management company can only produce a current restated set, the DBPR filing under 718.502 is where to look. The Division's online portal maintains historical filings going back decades for most projects.
§ 718.503
What a seller must give a buyer before closing on a condominium unit (resale): the condominium documents, financials, and a Q&A sheet. The buyer has a 3-day rescission window after receiving the full package. Procedural failures here are a frequent source of post-closing litigation.
§ 718.101
§ 718.102
§ 718.105
§ 718.504
Common Elements summary — Section 718.504 lists what every condominium prospectus must disclose to a prospective buyer: the name and address of the developer, a description of the condominium, the proposed budget for the first year of association operation, a list of all recreational and other commonly-used facilities, all contracts and leases the association will assume at turnover, all "estimated" assessments for the first 12 months, and copies of every governing document. The prospectus is the consumer-protection backbone of new-condo sales in Florida. Buyers have a 15-day rescission right under 718.503(1)(a) running from the later of contract execution or delivery of the prospectus, which means a defective or late-delivered prospectus extends the cooling-off window indefinitely until the developer cures. For resale boards: the original 718.504 prospectus is often the cleanest historical record of what assessments were SUPPOSED to fund versus what they actually fund today. When an owner alleges a current charge is improper, comparing it to the original prospectus disclosure is a useful sanity check — though the controlling document is always the declaration as currently amended, not the marketing prospectus.
§ 718.106
§ 718.107
§ 718.108
§ 718.109
§ 718.114
§ 718.703
Common Elements summary — Section 718.703 is one half of Florida's post-Surfside structural reform (SB 4-D, 2022, amended 2023). It requires every condominium building three stories or taller to undergo a milestone inspection by a licensed engineer or architect by December 31 of the year the building turns 30 years old (25 years if within three miles of the coast), and every 10 years thereafter. The inspection has two phases. Phase 1 is a visual inspection of the building's structural elements; if the inspector finds no substantial structural deterioration, the report is filed and the building waits another 10 years. If Phase 1 identifies substantial structural deterioration, the engineer must conduct Phase 2 — a destructive or non-destructive testing protocol — and recommend repairs. Phase 2 reports must be submitted to the local building official and to every unit owner. For boards: the milestone is non-discretionary. Failing to commission the inspection by the deadline is a code violation that the building official can enforce by issuing a notice of unsafe structure. Start scheduling 12-18 months before the deadline — qualified engineers in South Florida are booked solid. See also 718.704 for the SIRS that pairs with this inspection.
§ 718.118
§ 718.119
§ 718.120
§ 718.122
§ 718.123
§ 718.704
Common Elements summary — Section 718.704 is the other half of Florida's post-Surfside reform and is, for boards, the more financially consequential one. It requires every condominium association with a building three stories or taller to commission a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) by December 31, 2024, and every 10 years thereafter. The SIRS is a visual inspection plus a 30-year funding projection for these specific items: roof; load-bearing walls and other primary structural members; floor; foundation; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; and any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost over $10,000 that, if not maintained, will negatively affect any of the above. The bombshell is the funding mandate. For SIRS items, the association MUST fund reserves at the level the study requires. Owners cannot vote to waive or reduce SIRS reserves — the historical 718.112(2)(f)(4) waiver right is dead for these line items. For many South Florida associations this has meant 50-100% special-assessment increases starting with the 2024 budget. Some buildings have voted to terminate the condominium rather than fund the SIRS-mandated reserves; the termination market is real and growing. For boards: get a SIRS engineer on contract now if you don't have one, and start communicating the funding consequences to owners 12 months ahead of each budget cycle. Surprise SIRS assessments are how recalls happen.
§ 718.127
§ 718.128
§ 718.129
§ 718.202
§ 718.203
§ 718.302
§ 718.401
§ 718.402
§ 718.403
§ 718.404
§ 718.405
§ 718.406
§ 718.407
§ 718.505
§ 718.506
§ 718.507
§ 718.508
§ 718.509
§ 718.604
§ 718.606
§ 718.608
§ 718.612
§ 718.614
§ 718.616
§ 718.618
§ 718.621
§ 718.622
§ 718.701
§ 718.702
§ 718.705
§ 718.706
§ 718.707
§ 718.708
§ 718.1035
§ 718.1045
§ 718.1085
§ 718.1124
§ 718.1224
§ 718.1225
§ 718.1232
§ 718.1255
§ 718.1256
§ 718.1265
§ 718.3025
§ 718.3026
§ 718.3027
§ 718.4015
§ 718.5011
§ 718.5012
§ 718.5014
§ 718.50152
§ 718.50153
§ 718.50154
§ 718.50155
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