Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee — Meeting Packet (February 18, 2025)
Summary
A meeting packet for the Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee of the Florida House of Representatives, for a meeting on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 3:30 PM-5:30 PM at Morris Hall (17 HOB). The agenda lists a call to order, roll call, opening remarks, a panel discussion on condominiums, closing remarks and adjournment; listed panelists include Pete M. Dunbar of Jones Walker LLP and Melanie Griffin of the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation. The packet includes Ron Leiseca's Condominium Inspections Brief Overview, which describes initial safety inspections and more in-depth inspections when defects are detected, followed by possible improvements, topics not addressed and cautions.
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“Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee — Meeting Packet (February 18, 2025).”
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Housing, Agriculture & Tourism
Subcommittee
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
3:30 PM- 5:30 PM
Morris Hall (17 HOB)
Meeting Packet
Daniel Perez Michelle Salzman
Speaker Chair
The Florida House of Representatives
Commerce Committee
Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee
Daniel Perez Michelle Salzman
Speaker Chair
Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Morris Hall (17 HOB)
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
III. Opening Remarks
IV. Panel Discussion on Condominiums:
• Pete M. Dunbar, Special Counsel, Jones Walker LLP
• Ron Leiseca, Chair, Legislative Committee, Building Officials Association of Florida
• Melanie Griffin, Secretary, Florida Department of Business & Professional
Regulation
• Tarcisio Noguera, Civil Engineer and Senior Project Manager, Walter P. Moore
Engineering
• Emilio Rodriguez, President, Florida Lemark Corporation
V. Closing Remarks
VI. Adjournment
214 House Office Building, 402 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1300
(850) 717-4870
Ron Leiseca
Condominium Inspections
Brief Overview
Florida House of Representatives – Housing, Agriculture & Tourism
Subcommittee
Overview
• Phase 1 – initial safety inspections conducted by Florida Licensed Architect
or Engineer who may have additional team members under their
supervision
• Phase 2 – if defects or issues detected during Phase 1 process, a more in-
depth inspection to identify type, scope, and determine remediation steps
required
• Reports are submitted to the HOA, AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction –
local Building Department) for record. In the case of the HOA, they are
required to notify and make available to all owners
• Timing is determined by CO (Certificate of Occupancy) issue date. Initial is
30-years from date of CO (some locales have option to adopt 25-years),
then every 10-years (CO date controls timing)
Phase 1 and 2 Notifications
• Database challenges for some jurisdictions
• DBPR challenges
• Current Division of Condominiums – did not include relevant data
• Voluntary database update requirement
• Property Assessor database not inclusive of relevant information
• Was not set up to reflect needed information
Flexibility
• Date of CO controls initial and next inspection due date in cycle
• In some cases, due to gathering of information delay, initial due date
extended
• If Condo/Coop hampered due to availability of qualified architect or
engineer for Phase 1 inspections, evidence of schedule or requests for
professional services allowed extension
• On Phase 2, if delays due to securing qualified contractors, AHJ would
work with them for extension, within reason
Where is the Data?
• Not a stated requirement nor is there a central repository at State level
• Unfunded mandate
• Locally, no organized breakdown
• To get the data, report by report analysis required including that for Phase 2 to
categorize by repair types required
• Older programs in Miami-Dade and Broward do not segregate information,
only compliance or follow-up due dates if compliance is not reported
• Remember – Only Miami-Dade and Broward had such a program in place,
so the other 65 counties and over 300+ cities, towns, and villages had to
gear up for this
Trend
• Established programs in Miami-Dade and Broward only mention some confusion tied to SIRS
requirements
• Other areas have typical questions about who does observations, what is role of AHJ, and impact
if Phase 2 is required
• Customer Service shares information and some jurisdictions have education outreach via mailers with notices
and via front desk personnel
• Depending on type of construction and age, certain types have higher Phase 2 follow up
requirements
• OSB sheathing
• Indications of maintenance habits or lack thereof
• Repairs
• Timing – when do we have to get them done
• Costs
• SIRS and questions on AHJ involvement – who enforces it
• 30-year versus 25-year initial timeline option – questions on difference received from public
Other Observations
• Updating database – initially work in progress; now an issue with securing
updated information due to changes in HOA contacts
• We have an unsafe structure issue
• Reported by professional doing observation
• Reported by tenant/owner
• Process
• AHJ in most cases refers this to Unsafe Structures or Code Enforcement if that is the
set-up by local governmental unit – AHJ does not have legal authority to proceed
with investigation (local ordinances define)
• In a minority of cases, the complaint is referred to local Administration for action
• Building Official MUST refer the complaint in an expedited manner
• How the complaint is routed initially may delay the process
Possible Improvements
• Possible added items for initial and follow-up observations (similar to
Miami-Dade approach; more areas covered by process)
• Life safety protection
• Fire Marshal wish list on fire related features being part of review scope
• Unified survey on key issues and comments
• Record keeping of maintenance activity
• Equipment log
• Key contact defined
Topics not Addressed
• Central depository of reports for statistical analysis
• Who gets to do it and foot the bill
• What information are you trying to gather
• Will this benefit our Code approach
Cautions
• This is still early stages, so need to be careful on abrupt changes as
they cause confusion
• Jurisdictions
• HOAs
• Do not overload the system
• Capacity versus demand
• Qualified professionals
• Educate, not confuse
Thank you for your time
RJ (Ron) Leiseca, BOAF, CSI, AIA Allied
Chair – BOAF Legislative Committee
O – 904-261-3327
E – ron@rjlassoc.com
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