Florida has identified more than 2,500 condominium and cooperative buildings requiring advanced structural reviews due to signs of deterioration. According to a recent report, 54 of these properties were labeled unsafe or uninhabitable during 2024 and 2025.
The 2,535 Buildings Facing Phase Two Inspections
A report by the Florida Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) reveals that 2,535 condominium and cooperative buildings were flagged for Phase Two structural reviews across 2024 and 2025... Under current Florida law, buildings three stories or taller must undergo milestone inspections; if a Phase One visual check finds substantial deterioration, a more rigorous Phase Two engineering assessment is triggered to recommend critical repairs.
The scale of the deterioration is significant, with building officials reporting 54 structures as unsafe or uninhabitable during this period. While the majority of these buildings remain occupied, five properties were forced into evacuation due to immediate safety risks, as reported by OPPAGA.
Miami-Dade and Palm Beach's Aging Coastal Infrastructure
The highest concentration of structural risk is centered in South Florida's coastal hubs, specifically Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. In 2024, these regions reported between 218 and 543 buildings requiring Phase Two evaluations, a trend that continued into 2025 with 155 to 308 buildings flagged per county.
This regional vulnerability is a direct legacy of the 2021 collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, which resulted in 98 deaths. the tragedy, which federal investigators linked to failures in column-to-slab connections beneath a pool deck, prompted the state to mandate the very milestone inspections now uncovering these widespread deficiencies.
The Conflict Between a 90,000-Unit Shortage and Safety Mandates
The push for structural integrity in South Florida is colliding with a severe housing affordability crisis, characterized by a shortage of approximately 90,000 affordable units. This scarcity creates a precarious environment where the need for emergency evacuations—such as the 23 buildings deemed unsafe in Miami-Dade County in 2025—could further destabilize the local housing market.
This tension exists alongside a massive economic boom in the region. Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach have become magnets for corporate relocations, including firms like Citadel, and high-profile residents. The influx of wealth and population increases the pressure on aging infrastructure that was often constructed before the stringent safety reforms enacted after the Surfside disaster.
The Missing Data from 36 Percent of Jurisdictions
A critical gap remains in the state's understanding of its building safety, as the OPPAGA report was based on incomplete data . The agency received inspection figures from only 71 percent of local enforcement jurisdictions for 2024 and a mere 64 percent for 2025, meaning more than a third of the state's data is missing for the most recent year.
This lack of transparency leaves several questions unanswered: which specific jurisdictions are failing to report their data, and whether those gaps hide a higher number of unsafe buildings? Furthermore,while the report identifies 54 unsafe buildings, it remains unclear how many of the remaining 2,500 flagged structures have the reserve funding necessary to complete the mandated repairs without displacing residents.
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