Recertification and ERRCS: plan them together

Three different inspections can land on a Florida condo board in the same few years, and they answer different questions:

So the honest answer is: recertification does not include radio coverage. It is a separate requirement, with its own inspector and its own deadlines. The good news is that the two can share a calendar, a walk-through and a budget meeting.

Miami-Dade County's program comes from Section 8-11(f) of the county code. The county has run recertification since 1975 and amended it on June 1, 2022. Buildings built on or after 1993 are inspected when they reach 30 years, then every 10 years; condominium and cooperative buildings three stories or taller, within three miles of the coastline and built on or after 1998, at 25 years, then every 10 years. Older buildings keep their established schedule or had a December 31, 2024 date (Miami-Dade RER). Single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings with an occupant load of 10 or less and 2,000 square feet or less are not part of it (Miami-Dade RER).

After the Notice of Required Recertification, the owner submits reports within 90 days, prepared by a Florida-registered professional engineer or architect, "certifying each building or structure is structurally and electrically safe for the specified use for continued occupancy" (Miami-Dade RER).

The electrical half follows the county's Minimum Inspection Procedural Guidelines for Building Electrical Recertification. The 2025 form has 29 items, including the electrical service, metering, electric rooms, panels, branch circuits, grounding, conduit and wiring, thermography where it applies, emergency lighting, exit signs, the existing fire alarm system, the emergency generator, garage wiring and lighting, and below-grade garage items such as sump pumps (Miami-Dade electrical recertification form 01/25R2.01). None of the 29 items is emergency responder radio coverage. The fire alarm item checks the condition of the existing alarm system; it is not a radio signal test.

In Broward, the Board of Rules and Appeals runs the Building Safety Inspection Program under Policy 05-05 (effective August 9, 2024). It applies when a building reaches 25 years from its certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years, and the inspection must be completed within 180 days of the Notice of Required Inspection (BORA Policy 05-05, III.B and III.E). It is "a structural and electrical inspection" by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, and for threshold buildings the structural part is done by a licensed special inspector (BORA Policy 05-05, II.C and III.D).

The policy says it serves as compliance with both phases of the state milestone inspection (BORA Policy 05-05, I.E), and that its purpose "is not intended to determine if the condition of an existing building is in compliance with the current edition of the Florida Building Code" (I.H). Exempt buildings include one- to four-family dwellings of three or fewer habitable stories and minor structures under 3,500 square feet (I.C). Radio coverage is not in its scope.

We read the August 9, 2024 policy as republished by the City of Pompano Beach; Broward County's own site did not let our checker download its copy. Your city's building department sends the notice and can confirm the current version.

Florida added the milestone inspection in 2022 (CS/SB 4-D, chapter 2022-269, Laws of Florida). It applies to buildings three habitable stories or more that are residential condominiums or cooperatives (F.S. 553.899(3)(a)). The first one is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years; the local agency may require it at 25 years where conditions such as proximity to salt water call for it (F.S. 553.899(3)(a) and (b)).

It is a structural inspection by a licensed architect or engineer: phase one is a visual examination, and phase two follows only if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration (F.S. 553.899(7)). The statute says plainly what it is not: "The purpose of such inspection is not to determine if the condition of an existing building is in compliance with the Florida Building Code or the firesafety code" (F.S. 553.899(2)(a)).

Emergency responder radio coverage comes from the fire code (IFC 2021 Section 510) and, in Florida, from F.S. 633.202(18). It is enforced by the fire marshal, not the building official, and it is proven with a radio signal test, not a visual inspection. It has its own dates:

• Existing Florida high-rises had to apply for a permit by January 1, 2024 and meet the minimum signal strength by January 1, 2025 (F.S. 633.202(18)(a)).
• A building the fire marshal cites after those dates gets at least 1 year from the notice of code violation to finish a required retrofit (F.S. 633.202(18)(g)).
• The fire marshal may require a new coverage assessment no more than every 3 years for a high-rise or a building over 12,000 square feet, and every 5 years for others, with exceptions (F.S. 633.202(18)(c)2).

None of these dates moves because a recertification or milestone report was filed. The building checker shows which Florida exemptions fit your building, with the citation for each.

This part is our advice, not a rule. These are the practical reasons a board gains by scheduling the two at the same time:

• The same rooms. Recertification walks the electric rooms, panels, generator, fire alarm and garages. A radio coverage system lives in the same places: it reports trouble through the fire alarm system (NFPA 1225 18.14.1) and needs at least 12 hours of standby power (IFC 2021 510.4.2.3). One access plan, one set of keys, one week of notices to residents.
• Repairs can change the radio signal. Recertification and milestone repairs often mean concrete, wall or window work. The fire code requires a new radio test after structural changes that could change coverage (IFC 2021 510.6.1), and in Fort Lauderdale a city commissioner described a building that failed after it installed high-impact windows (Sun Sentinel via Firehouse, November 2025). Knowing the radio picture before the repair scope is final avoids testing twice.
• One budget conversation. Repairs from the inspection, the reserve study and an ERRCS project all land on the same owners. Florida's structural integrity reserve study covers items including "fireproofing and fire protection systems" and "electrical systems" (F.S. 718.112(2)(g)1.). The statute does not name radio systems, so ask your reserve professional whether to list the ERRCS. The cost per owner calculator splits a quote across the owners.
• One person keeps the paper. The recertification letter, the milestone report, the ERRCS acceptance report and every annual radio test report are records the next board will be asked for. The model code says lost acceptance records can mean rerunning the acceptance test (IFC 2021 510.5.4 item 6).

1. Put the dates side by side. The recertification or milestone notice date and deadline, and any fire marshal notice about radio coverage. Write down who sent each one.
2. Check whether the ERRCS rule applies. Run the building checker.
3. Ask for a radio signal test in the same window as the recertification walk. Give both teams the same access schedule.
4. Share findings before the repair scope is final. Tell the engineer about planned radio work, and tell the radio designer about planned window, wall or concrete repairs.
5. Bring both to one board meeting, with the costs on one page. The Board Brief prints the ERRCS side.
6. Follow the ERRCS steps. The ERRCS project, step by step shows who does what, from the signal test to the annual test.

When the board is ready for prices, request up to 3 quotes. Your request goes to up to 3 vetted installers who serve your area. We send no texts and make no cold calls, and owners never pay us.

This is guidance, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm recertification requirements with your building department, radio coverage requirements with your fire marshal (AHJ), and cost sharing with your association's attorney.