Milestone Inspections in Palm Beach County: What WPB Condo Buyers Should Know

In the wake of the 2021 Surfside collapse, Florida established a statewide milestone inspection program requiring condo and co-op buildings above a certain age — particularly those near the coast — to undergo a formal structural inspection by a licensed engineer. The inspection evaluates the building's structural integrity, identifies any substantial deterioration, and determines what repairs are needed and on what timeline. A second, more detailed phase is required if the initial inspection finds significant structural issues.

For WPB condo buyers, this matters in a very practical way: a building's milestone inspection status is now one of the clearest signals available about its physical condition and near-term financial exposure. A building that has completed its inspection with no significant findings is a meaningfully lower-risk purchase than one that hasn't yet been inspected, or one where the inspection revealed structural issues requiring remediation.

What to ask before buying an older WPB condo. Has the building completed its required milestone inspection? What did it find? If repairs were identified, has the association already approved a special assessment or reserve draw to fund them, and is that work underway or complete? Your real estate attorney should request the milestone inspection report directly as part of your due diligence — a verbal assurance from a listing agent isn't a substitute for reading the actual engineering findings.

This is a genuine driver of the new construction market. Buildings delivering now or in the next few years — Olara, South Flagler House, the Ritz-Carlton Residences, and others — simply don't carry this inspection exposure; they're being built to current code with fully funded initial reserves. That's not a marketing point, it's a structural fact that genuinely affects long-term ownership cost and risk, and it's one reason buyers who are inspection-cautious gravitate toward this segment of the market.

It's not a reason to avoid every older building. Many of WPB's established resale towers — including buildings we represent — have completed their milestone inspections cleanly and maintain well-funded reserves. Age alone isn't the risk; unaddressed structural findings and underfunded reserves are. The inspection report is what tells you which category a specific building falls into.

If you're evaluating an older WPB condo and want the real, documented answer on its inspection and reserve status before you make an offer, contact DO Homes Group — we build this review into every transaction we handle.

Written by John Oliver, Luxury Condo Specialist · DO Homes Group — SRS, ABR, RENE-certified WPB luxury condo specialist at Premier Brokers International.