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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the My Safe Florida Condominium 2
Pilot Program; creating s. 215.5587, F.S.; 3
establishing the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot 4
Program within the Department of Financial Services; 5
providing legislative intent; providing definitions; 6
providing requirements for associations and unit 7
owners to participate in the pilot program; providing 8
voting requirements; requiring the department to 9
contract with specified entities for certain 10
inspections; providing requirements for such entities; 11
authorizing the department to conduct criminal record 12
checks of certain inspectors; requiring inspectors to 13
submit a full set of fingerprints to the department or 14
other authorized entities; providing requirements for 15
state and federal fingerprint processing; provid ing 16
requirements for hurricane mitigation inspectors and 17
inspections; requiring applications for inspections 18
and grants to include specified statements; 19
authorizing an association to receive an inspection 20
without applying for a mitigation grant; providing 21
mitigation grants for a specified purpose; providing 22
requirements for an association receiving a mitigation 23
grant; authorizing an association to select is own 24
contractor if such contractor meets certain 25
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requirements; requiring the department to 26
electronically verify a contractor's state license; 27
requiring construction to be completed and the 28
association to submit a request for a final inspection 29
within a specified time period; requiring mitigation 30
grants to be matched by the association; providing a 31
maximum state contribution based on the General 32
Appropriations Act; providing requirements for 33
mitigation projects; providing how mitigation grants 34
may be used; requiring the department to develop a 35
specified process to ensure efficiency; authorizing 36
the department to contract for certain services; 37
providing requirements for such contracts; requiring 38
the department to implement a quality assurance and 39
reinspection program; requiring the department to 40
submit to the Legislature an annual report with 41
specified information; providing an effective date. 42
43
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 44
45
Section 1. Section 215.5587, Florida Statutes, is created 46
to read: 47
215.5587 My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program. —There 48
is established within t he Department of Financial Services the 49
My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to be implemented 50
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pursuant to appropriations. The department shall provide fiscal 51
accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership 52
for the pilot program, consist ent with this section. This 53
section does not create an entitlement for associations or unit 54
owners or obligate the state in any way to fund the inspection 55
or retrofitting of condominiums in the state. Implementation of 56
this pilot program is subject to annu al legislative 57
appropriations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the My 58
Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program provide licensed 59
inspectors to perform inspections for and grants to eligible 60
associations as funding allows. 61
(1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 62
(a) "Association" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 63
(b) "Association property" means property, real and 64
personal, which is owned or leased by, or is dedicated by a 65
recorded plat to, an association for the use and benefit of its 66
members and is located in the service area. 67
(c) "Board of administration" has the same meaning as in 68
s. 718.103. 69
(d) "Condominium" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 70
(e) "Condominium property" means the lands, leaseholds, 71
and personal property that are subjected to condominium 72
ownership, whether or not contiguous, and all improvements 73
thereon and all easements and rights appurtenant thereto 74
intended for use in connection with the condominium and are 75
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located in the service area. 76
(f) "Department" means the Department of Financial 77
Services. 78
(g) "Property" means association property and condominium 79
property, as applicable, located in the service area. 80
(h) "Rebuild" means property under construction to replace 81
a structure that was destroyed or significantly damaged by a 82
hurricane and deemed unlivable by a regulatory authority. 83
(i) "Service area" means the area of the state which is 15 84
miles inward of a coastline, as that term is defined in s. 85
376.031. 86
(j) "Unit" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 87
(k) "Unit owner" has the same meaning as in s. 718.103. 88
(2) PARTICIPATION.— 89
(a) In order to apply for an inspection under subsection 90
(4) or a grant under subsection (5) for association property or 91
condominium property, an association m ust receive approval by a 92
majority vote of the board of administration or a majority vote 93
of the total voting interests of the association to participate 94
in the pilot program. 95
(b) In order to apply for a grant under subsection (5) 96
which improves one or m ore units within a condominium, an 97
association must receive both of the following: 98
1. Approval by a majority vote of the board of 99
administration or a majority vote of the total voting interests 100
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of the association to participate in a mitigation inspection . 101
2. A unanimous vote of all unit owners within the 102
structure or building that is the subject of the mitigation 103
grant. 104
(c) A unit owner may participate in the pilot program 105
through a mitigation grant awarded to the association but may 106
not participate individually in the pilot program. 107
(d) The votes required under this subsection may take 108
place at the annual budget meeting of the association or at a 109
unit owner meeting called for the purpose of taking such vote. 110
Before a vote of the unit owners may be t aken, the association 111
must provide to the unit owners a clear disclosure of the pilot 112
program on a form created by the department. The president and 113
the treasurer of the board of administration must sign the 114
disclosure form indicating that a copy of the fo rm was provided 115
to each unit owner of the association. The signed disclosure 116
form and the minutes from the meeting at which the unit owners 117
voted to participate in the pilot program must be maintained as 118
part of the official records of the association. Wit hin 14 days 119
after an affirmative vote to participate in the pilot program, 120
the association must provide written notice in the same manner 121
as required under s. 718.112(2)(d) to all unit owners of the 122
decision to participate in the pilot program. 123
(3) HURRICANE MITIGATION INSPECTORS. — 124
(a) Licensed inspectors are to provide inspections of the 125
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property to determine the mitigation measures that are needed, 126
the insurance premium discounts that may be available to the 127
association, and the improvements to existi ng properties of the 128
association that are needed to reduce a property's vulnerability 129
to hurricane damage. 130
(b) The department shall contract with wind certification 131
entities to provide hurricane mitigation inspections. To qualify 132
for selection by the dep artment as a wind certification entity 133
to provide hurricane mitigation inspections, the entity must, at 134
a minimum, meet all of the following requirements: 135
1. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who are licensed or 136
certified as: 137
a. A building inspector under s. 468.607; 138
b. A general, building, or residential contractor under s. 139
489.111; 140
c. A professional engineer under s. 471.015; 141
d. A professional architect under s. 481.213; or 142
e. A home inspector under s. 468.8314 who has completed at 143
least 3 hours of hurricane mitigation training approved by the 144
Construction Industry Licensing Board, which must include 145
hurricane mitigation techniques, compliance with the uniform 146
mitigation verification form, and completion of a proficiency 147
exam. 148
2. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who have undergone 149
drug testing and a background screening. The department may 150
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conduct criminal record checks of inspectors used by wind 151
certification entities. Inspectors must submit a full set of 152
fingerprints to the department o r to a vendor, an entity, or an 153
agency authorized under s. 943.053(13). The department, vendor, 154
entity, or agency shall forward the fingerprints to the 155
Department of Law Enforcement for state processing and the 156
Department of Law Enforcement shall forward t he fingerprints to 157
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national processing. 158
Fees for state and federal fingerprint processing shall be borne 159
by the applicant. The state cost for fingerprint processing 160
shall be as provided in s. 943.053(3)(e). The resul ts must be 161
returned to the department for screening. The fingerprints must 162
be taken by a law enforcement agency, designated examination 163
center, or other department -approved entity. 164
3. Provide a quality assurance program including a 165
reinspection component . 166
(4) HURRICANE MITIGATION INSPECTIONS. — 167
(a) The inspections provided to an association under this 168
section must, at a minimum, include all of the following: 169
1. An inspection of the property, and a report that 170
summarizes the results and identifies rec ommended improvements 171
the association may take to mitigate hurricane damage. 172
2. A range of cost estimates regarding the recommended 173
mitigation improvements. 174
3. Information regarding estimated insurance premium 175
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discounts, correlated to the current mitig ation features and the 176
recommended mitigation improvements identified by the 177
inspection. 178
(b) An application for an inspection must contain a signed 179
or electronically verified statement made under penalty of 180
perjury by the president of the board of admini stration that the 181
association has submitted only a single application for each 182
property that the association operates or maintains. 183
(c) An association may apply for and receive an inspection 184
without also applying for a grant under subsection (5). 185
(5) MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants may be used to 186
encourage associations to retrofit the property the association 187
operates and maintains in order to make such property less 188
vulnerable to hurricane damage. 189
(a) An application for a mitigation grant must: 190
1. Contain a signed or electronically verified statement 191
made under penalty of perjury by the president of the board of 192
administration that the association has submitted only a single 193
application for each property that the association operates or 194
maintains. 195
2. Include a notarized statement from the president of the 196
board of administration containing the name and license number 197
of the contractor the association intends to use for the 198
mitigation project. 199
3. Include a notarized statement from the president of the 200
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board of administration which commits to the department that the 201
association will complete the mitigation improvements. If the 202
grant will be used to improve units, the application must also 203
include an acknowledged statement from each unit owner who is 204
required to provide approval for a grant under paragraph (2)(b). 205
(b) An association may select its own contractor for the 206
mitigation project as long as such contractor meets all 207
qualification, certi fication, or licensing requirements in 208
general law. A mitigation project must be performed by a 209
properly licensed contractor who has secured all required local 210
permits necessary for the project. The department must 211
electronically verify that the contractor 's state license number 212
is accurate and up to date before approving a grant application. 213
(c) An association awarded a grant must complete the 214
entire mitigation project in order to receive the final grant 215
award and must agree to make the property availabl e for a final 216
inspection once the mitigation project is finished to ensure the 217
mitigation improvements are completed in a matter consistent 218
with the intent of the pilot program and meet or exceed the 219
applicable Florida Building Code requirements. Construct ion must 220
be completed and the association must submit a request to the 221
department for a final inspection, or request an extension of 222
time, within 1 year after receiving grant approval. If the 223
association fails to comply with this paragraph, the application 224
is deemed abandoned and the grant money reverts back to the 225
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department. 226
(d) All grants must be matched on the basis of $1 provided 227
by the association for $2 provided by the state up to a maximum 228
contribution as provided in the General Appropriations Act . 229
(e) When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection 230
report, grants for eligible associations may be used for the 231
following improvements: 232
1. Opening protection. 233
2. Exterior doors, including garage doors. 234
3. Reinforcing roof -to-wall connections. 235
4. Improving the strength of roof -deck attachments. 236
5. Secondary water barrier for roof. 237
(f) Grants may be used for a previously inspected existing 238
structure on the property or for a rebuild. 239
(g)1. If improvements to protect the property which 240
complied with the current applicable building code at the time 241
have been previously installed, the association must use a 242
mitigation grant to install improvements that do both of the 243
following: 244
a. Comply with or exceed the applicable building code in 245
effect at the time the association applied for the grant. 246
b. Provide more hurricane protection than the improvements 247
that the association previously installed. 248
2. The association may not use a mitigation grant to: 249
a. Install the same type of improvement s that were 250
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previously installed; or 251
b. Pay a deductible for a pending insurance claim for 252
damage that is part of the property for which grant funds are 253
being received. 254
(h) The department shall develop a process that ensures 255
the most efficient means to collect and verify grant 256
applications to determine eligibility and may direct hurricane 257
mitigation inspectors to collect and verify grant application 258
information or use the Internet or other electronic means to 259
collect information and determine eligibilit y. 260
(6) CONTRACT MANAGEMENT. — 261
(a) The department may contract with third parties for 262
grants management, inspection services, contractor services, 263
information technology, educational outreach, and auditing 264
services. Such contracts are considered direct c osts of the 265
pilot program and are not subject to administrative cost limits. 266
The department shall contract with providers that have a 267
demonstrated record of successful business operations in areas 268
directly related to the services to be provided and shall e nsure 269
the highest accountability for use of state funds, consistent 270
with this section. 271
(b) The department shall implement a quality assurance and 272
reinspection program that determines whether initial inspections 273
and mitigation improvements are completed i n a manner consistent 274
with the intent of the pilot program. The department may use a 275
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valid random sampling in order to perform the quality assurance 276
portion of the pilot program. 277
(7) REPORTS.—By February 1 of each year, the department 278
shall submit a report to the President of the Senate and the 279
Speaker of the House of Representatives on the activities of the 280
pilot program and the use of state funds. The report must 281
include all of the following information: 282
(a) The number of inspections requested. 283
(b) The number of inspections performed. 284
(c) The number of grant applications received. 285
(d) The number of grants approved and the monetary value 286
of each grant. 287
(e) The estimated average annual amount of insurance 288
premium discounts each association receiv ed and the total 289
estimated annual amount of insurance premium discounts received 290
by all associations participating in the pilot program. 291
(f) The estimated average annual amount of insurance 292
premium discounts each unit owner received as a result of the 293
improvements to the building or structure. 294
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 295