Fla. Stat. § 718.115
Common expenses and common surplus.
common-expensesassessmentslimited-common-elementsbudget
Plain-English summary
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.
Not legal advice. Statute reference is for education only — confirm citations on official sources and consult a Florida attorney for your situation.
Statutory text
(a) Common expenses include the expenses of the operation, maintenance, repair, replacement, or protection of the common elements and association property, costs of carrying out the powers and duties of the association, and any other expense, whether or not included in the foregoing, designated as common expense by this chapter, the declaration, the documents creating the association, or the bylaws. Common expenses also include reasonable transportation services, insurance for directors and officers, road maintenance and operation expenses, in-house communications, and security services, which are reasonably related to the general benefit of the unit owners even if such expenses do not attach to the common elements or property of the condominium. However, such common expenses must either have been services or items provided on or after the date control of the association is transferred from the developer to the unit owners or must be services or items provided for in the condominium documents or bylaws. Unless the manner of payment or allocation of expenses is otherwise addressed in the declaration of condominium, the expenses of any items or services required by any federal, state, or local governmental entity to be installed, maintained, or supplied to the condominium property by the association, including, but not limited to, firesafety equipment or water and sewer service where a master meter serves the condominium, shall be common expenses whether or not such items or services are specifically identified as common expenses in the declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, or bylaws of the association. (b) The common expenses of a condominium within a multicondominium are the common expenses directly attributable to the operation of that condominium. The common expenses of a multicondominium association do not include the common expenses directly attributable to the operation of any specific condominium or condominiums within the multicondominium. This paragraph is intended to clarify existing law and applies to associations existing on the effective date of this act. (c) The common expenses of a multicondominium association may include categories of expenses related to the property or common elements within a specific condominium in the multicondominium if such property or common elements are areas in which all members of the multicondominium association have use rights or from which all members receive tangible economic benefits. Such common expenses of the association shall be identified in the declaration or bylaws as originally recorded or as amended under the procedures provided therein of each condominium within the multicondominium association. This paragraph is intended to clarify existing law and applies to associations existing on the effective date of this act. (d) If provided in the declaration, the cost of communications services as defined in chapter 202, information services, or Internet services obtained pursuant to a bulk contract is a common expense. If the declaration does not provide for the cost of such services as a common expense, the board may enter into such a contract, and the cost of the service will be a common expense. The cost for the services under a bulk rate contract may be allocated on a per-unit basis rather than a percentage basis if the declaration provides for other than an equal sharing of common expenses, and any contract entered into before July 1, 1998, in which the cost of the service is not equally divided among all unit owners, may be changed by vote of a majority of the voting interests present at a regular or special meeting of the association, to allocate the cost equally among all units. The contract must be for at least 2 years. 1. Any contract made by the board on or after July 1, 1998, may be canceled by a majority of the voting interests present at the next regular or special meeting of the association. Any member may make a motion to cancel the contract, but if no motion is made or if such motion fails to obtain the required majority at the next regular or special meeting, whichever occurs first, following the making of the contract, such contract shall be deemed ratified for the term therein expressed. 2. Such contract must provide, and is deemed to provide if not expressly set forth, that any hearing-impaired or legally blind unit owner who does not occupy the unit with a non-hearing-impaired or sighted person, or any unit owner receiving supplemental security income under Title XVI of the Social Security Act or food assistance as administered by the Department of Children and Families pursuant to s. 414.31, may discontinue the cable or video service without incurring disconnect fees, penalties, or subsequent service charges, and, as to such units, the owners are not required to pay any common expenses charge related to such service. If fewer than all members of an association share the expenses of cable or video service, the expense shall be shared equally by all participating unit owners. The association may use the provisions of s. 718.116 to enforce payment of the shares of such costs by the unit owners receiving cable or video service. (e)1. Except as provided in s. 718.113(5)(d), if the installation of hurricane protection is the responsibility of the unit owners pursuant to the declaration of condominium or a vote of the unit owners under s. 718.113(5), the cost of the installation of hurricane protection by the association is not a common expense and must be charged individually to the unit owners based on the cost of installation of hurricane protection appurtenant to the unit. The costs of installation of hurricane protection are enforceable as an assessment and may be collected in the manner provided under s. 718.116. 2. Notwithstanding s. 718.116(9), and regardless of whether the declaration requires the association or unit owners to install, maintain, repair, or replace hurricane protection, the owner of a unit in which hurricane protection that complies with the current applicable building code has been installed is excused from any assessment levied by the association or shall receive a credit if the same type of hurricane protection is installed by the association. A credit is applicable if the installation of hurricane protection is for all other units that do not have hurricane protection and the cost of such installation is funded by the association’s budget, including the use of reserve funds. The credit must be equal to the amount that the unit owner would have been assessed to install the hurricane protection. However, such unit owner remains responsible for the pro rata share of expenses for hurricane protection installed on common elements and association property by the board pursuant to s. 718.113
and remains responsible for a pro rata share of the expense of the replacement, operation, repair, and maintenance of such hurricane protection. Expenses for the installation, replacement, operation, repair, or maintenance of hurricane protection on common elements and association property are common expenses. (f) Common expenses include the costs of insurance acquired by the association under the authority of s. 718.111(11), including costs and contingent expenses required to participate in a self-insurance fund authorized and approved pursuant to s. 624.462. (g) If any unpaid share of common expenses or assessments is extinguished by foreclosure of a superior lien or by a deed in lieu of foreclosure thereof, the unpaid share of common expenses or assessments are common expenses collectible from all the unit owners in the condominium in which the unit is located.
Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, funds for payment of the common expenses of a condominium shall be collected by assessments against the units in that condominium in the proportions or percentages provided in that condominium’s declaration. In a residential condominium, or mixed-use condominium created after January 1, 1996, each unit’s share of the common expenses of the condominium and common surplus of the condominium shall be the same as the unit’s appurtenant ownership interest in the common elements.
Common surplus is owned by unit owners in the same shares as their ownership interest in the common elements. (4)(a) Funds for payment of the common expenses of a condominium within a multicondominium shall be collected as provided in subsection (2). Common expenses of a multicondominium association shall be funded by assessments against all unit owners in the association in the proportion or percentage set forth in the declaration as required by s. 718.104(4)(h) or s. 718.110(12), as applicable. (b) In a multicondominium association, the total common surplus owned by a unit owner consists of that owner’s share of the common surplus of the association plus that owner’s share of the common surplus of the condominium in which the owner’s unit is located, in the proportion or percentage set forth in the declaration as required by s. 718.104(4)(h) or s. 718.110(12), as applicable.
Synced from the Florida Legislature’s official site. Verify the current version before citing.
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Reference only — not legal advice. Verify the current official text on leg.state.fl.us before citing. Printed from Common Elements (June 9, 2026).