According to Florida's condominium FAQs, since January 1, 2026, Florida condo associations managing 25 or more units, not counting timeshare units, have had to post their inspection reports and latest Structural Integrity Reserve Study on a website. That website section has to be protected from public access, though, so it's built for owners and closed to shoppers. A buyer looking at a unit on Perdido Key Drive usually sees these documents only after signing a contract. At that point Florida law gives them a short window to read the documents and decide whether to stay in the deal.
That window is the most useful time in a Perdido Key condo purchase. The documents that arrive during it often say more about what the next decade of ownership will cost than the list price or the monthly dues do.
The clock starts when the paperwork arrives
Under Section 718.503 of the Florida Statutes, a resale buyer is entitled to a specific packet, paid for by the seller. It includes the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the latest annual financial statement and budget, the milestone inspection summary if one applies, and the latest SIRS or a statement that it isn't finished yet. It also includes any turnover inspection report for an inspection performed on or after July 1, 2023, the state's question-and-answer sheet and a governance form.
The buyer can cancel within seven days of signing the contract and receiving those documents. Weekends and legal holidays don't count. The right ends at closing. For contracts signed after December 31, 2024, the contract itself must state clearly whether a required milestone inspection, turnover report or SIRS is incomplete or not required, or confirm that the completed documents were delivered.
For a military family buying from another duty station, or a second-home buyer closing from out of state, those seven business days may be the only time anyone reads the engineering. It helps to know beforehand what you're reading for.
Two buildings on the same road
Under Section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes, Florida requires milestone inspections for condo buildings of three or more habitable stories. The statewide trigger is 30 years after the certificate of occupancy, and the local building official can set 25 years where conditions warrant, including closeness to salt water. The SIRS is a separate requirement. It sets how much money an association has to set aside for the structural parts of the building. A shortfall can mean higher regular assessments, a special assessment or a loan.
Two Perdido Key associations show how different those documents can look.
| Indigo East and West | Seafarer | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 13621 Perdido Key Drive area | 16401 Perdido Key Drive |
| Built | 2004 and 2005 | 1975 |
| Form | Two 20-story towers | Three connected buildings of four, six and four stories, 46 units |
| Latest engineering document reviewed | April 2023 milestone reports; reserve plan approved October 10, 2025 | SIRS dated May 2024 |
| Headline finding | Phase II "not required," "no repairs required" | Deteriorating, delaminating exterior cladding; excessive movement at corridor expansion joints |
| Reserve figure | $420,000 annual reserve assessment in 2025, planned to rise to $500,000 | Recommended $300,000 contribution in 2024, then $132,500 a year |
These documents date from 2023 to 2025. They show what each association's paperwork looked like when it was prepared, not where either building stands today. A buyer should ask for the most current versions.
What Seafarer's study puts in per-unit terms
The Seafarer study converts its reserve recommendation into a per-unit figure. The $300,000 recommended for 2024 averaged $6,522 per residential unit for that year. The $132,500 annual figure after that averaged $2,880 per unit per year. For a buyer, that's the step from "the building needs work" to "this is roughly my share."
The same summary also covers what the study leaves out. The engineer wrote in the Seafarer 2024 reserve study that the doors and windows are understood not to be the association's responsibility, and that because the building is grandfathered, it has no life-safety systems or sprinklers, so those aren't part of the milestone and SIRS review. A buyer comparing reserve figures across buildings needs to know which components each study covers. The windows and sliders on a Gulf-facing unit are a cost of their own.
What Indigo's paperwork shows about a building that has been through a storm
Indigo's documents show a newer building that has already been through the big expense. Hurricane Sally hit Indigo on September 16, 2020. The reserve plan lists planned spending of $3,863,414 in 2021, $8,681,610 in 2022 and $3,123,850 in 2023, covered by the insurance settlement, reserve contributions and a special assessment. The association's buyer page says the board approved the Sally special assessment on March 6, 2021, that an insurance settlement was reached on October 7, 2021, and that no further Sally special assessments were anticipated when the page was posted.
The plan also shows the separate accounting the 2022 law brought in. Since 2023 Indigo has kept three reserve funds: SIRS-East, SIRS-West and Standard. Estimated 2025 balances were $323,512, $256,510 and $1,145,570. Indigo publishes these materials on its own Realtors/Buyers page. That page labels one file "SIRS Report," but the file itself is titled as a 2025 reserve funding plan. A buyer should confirm with the association which document is the most recent completed SIRS.
The table makes the point. Building age, storm history and engineering findings produce different ownership costs on the same stretch of road, and you'll find those costs in the reserve documents.
Questions to answer during the review window
With the packet in hand, these questions turn a stack of PDFs into a decision:
- Is the SIRS complete, or is there only a statement that it is pending? The contract has to disclose which.
- Did the milestone inspection call for a Phase II? If it did, Florida's condominium inspection guidance says repairs for substantial structural deterioration must begin within 365 days of the Phase II report.
- Has the board voted to pause or reduce reserve contributions? A 2025 law, HB 913, lets a qualifying association that recently had a milestone inspection pause or reduce reserves by majority vote for no more than two consecutive budget years so it can pay for recommended repairs. This applies to budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028. Lower dues during a pause can look like a bargain, but they reflect a decision about timing.
- Does the study's reserve figure match the current budget? Seafarer's 2024 recommendation and Indigo's planned rise to $500,000 can both be checked against the budget the seller provides.
- What do the board minutes say? Minutes can show repair bids, assessment discussions and, on Perdido Key, the association's record on beach access.
Florida's 2026 legislative session didn't change these inspection and reserve rules. HB 797 took effect July 1, 2026 as a broad update to nonprofit corporation law, and SB 638, which proposed a statewide database of turnover certificates, died in committee on March 13, 2026.
The market gives you room to read
For condos, current conditions in the Pensacola area favor a careful buyer. The Pensacola Association of REALTORS August 2026 report covers its whole market, not Perdido Key alone. In it, condos priced at $500,000 and up had a median of 83 days on market, compared with 33 days for single-family homes in the same price range. Condos from $300,000 to $499,999 had a median of 69 days. In August 2026, 236 of 473 condos in inventory, counting contingent listings, were priced at $500,000 or more. New condo listings that month totaled 105, up from 68 in August 2025.
In ZIP code 32507, which includes Perdido Key and a wider stretch of southwest Escambia County, condos sold for an average of 96.1% of original list price in August 2026. At these price points, condos aren't selling in a weekend. A buyer has time to ask for the documents early, read them closely and adjust an offer to what they show.
The beach question still being decided
One more Perdido Key issue won't be settled by any reserve study. Escambia County is collecting evidence on whether historical public use of privately owned dry-sand beach supports a customary use ordinance. The Pensacola News Journal reported on September 23, 2026 that county staff received roughly 1,200 to 1,400 submissions before the August 28 deadline, plan to map where people report using the beach, and don't expect to present findings to commissioners until after the first part of 2027. If commissioners decide to pursue an ordinance, there would be public hearings and another round of testimony.
Association records are already part of this process. County staff said Indigo Condominium submitted board minutes showing it adopted a wristband policy soon after incorporating, along with other steps to identify who was using its section of beach. Staff also noted that such records don't necessarily settle whether customary use rights existed before the restrictions began. For a Gulf-front buyer, the association's minutes and beach rules show how the building has handled its beach. The county's eventual decision is still open, and questions about property rights are best taken to a Florida real estate attorney.
FAQ
Can I see a building's SIRS before I make an offer? Sometimes. Some associations, Indigo among them, post materials on a public buyer page. The statutory posting requirement only covers an owner-protected section of the website, though, so in most cases the documents come through the seller.
Does a newer building mean lower reserve costs? Not necessarily. Indigo's 2004 and 2005 towers needed no Phase II in 2023, but the association still budgets a reserve assessment that rises from $420,000 toward $500,000 a year, and it went through millions in hurricane restoration.
Does Escambia County use the 25-year or 30-year milestone trigger? Florida's default is 30 years, and local officials can choose 25. Ask the Escambia County building official to confirm how a particular building is classified.
Buying a condo from another duty station or another state shouldn't mean signing without reading the engineering. If you're looking at a building on Perdido Key Drive, I'll ask for the milestone report, SIRS, budget and minutes as early as the transaction allows, and we'll go through them together on a video call, page by page, during your review window. Let's connect through Cynthia Zalar.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
