Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 592
       
       
        
       By Senator Leek
       
       
       
       
       
       7-01039-25                                             2025592__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the My Safe Florida Condominium
    3         Pilot Program; amending s. 215.55871, F.S.; revising
    4         the definition of the term “condominium”; limiting
    5         participation in the My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot
    6         Program to certain condominiums; revising the approval
    7         requirements to receive a mitigation grant; deleting
    8         the amount of grant funding designated for certain
    9         projects; revising the improvements for which a grant
   10         may be used; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Present paragraphs (a) through (d) of subsection
   15  (2) of section 215.55871, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
   16  paragraphs (b) through (e), respectively, a new paragraph (a) is
   17  added to that subsection, and paragraph (d) of subsection (1),
   18  present paragraph (b) of subsection (2), and subsection (5) of
   19  that section are amended, to read:
   20         215.55871 My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program.—There
   21  is established within the Department of Financial Services the
   22  My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program to be implemented
   23  pursuant to appropriations. The department shall provide fiscal
   24  accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership
   25  for the pilot program, consistent with this section. This
   26  section does not create an entitlement for associations or unit
   27  owners or obligate the state in any way to fund the inspection
   28  or retrofitting of condominiums in the state. Implementation of
   29  this pilot program is subject to annual legislative
   30  appropriations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the My
   31  Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program provide licensed
   32  inspectors to perform inspections for and grants to eligible
   33  associations as funding allows.
   34         (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
   35         (d) “Condominium” has the same meaning as in s. 718.103.
   36  For purposes of this section, the term does not include detached
   37  units on individual parcels of land.
   38         (2) PARTICIPATION.—
   39         (a) Participation in the pilot program is limited to
   40  condominiums that are three stories or more in height, and the
   41  structure or building that is the subject of the mitigation
   42  grant must include at least one residential unit within such
   43  structure or building.
   44         (c)(b) In order to apply for a grant under subsection (5)
   45  which improves one or more units within a condominium, an
   46  association must receive both of the following:
   47         1. Approval by a majority vote of the board of
   48  administration or a majority vote of the total voting interests
   49  of the association to participate in a mitigation inspection.
   50         2. Approval by at least 75 percent A unanimous vote of all
   51  unit owners who reside within the structure or building that is
   52  the subject of the mitigation grant.
   53         (5) MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants may be used by
   54  associations to make improvements recommended in a hurricane
   55  mitigation inspection report which increase the condominium’s
   56  resistance to hurricane damage.
   57         (a) An application for a mitigation grant must:
   58         1. Contain a signed or electronically verified statement
   59  made under penalty of perjury by the president of the board of
   60  administration that the association has submitted only a single
   61  application for each property that the association operates or
   62  maintains.
   63         2. Include a notarized statement from the president of the
   64  board of administration containing the name and license number
   65  of each contractor the association intends to use for the
   66  mitigation project.
   67         3. Include a notarized statement from the president of the
   68  board of administration which commits to the department that the
   69  association will complete the mitigation improvements. If the
   70  grant will be used to improve units, the application must also
   71  include an acknowledged statement from each unit owner who is
   72  required to provide approval for a grant under paragraph (2)(c)
   73  (2)(b).
   74         (b) An association may select its own contractors for the
   75  mitigation project as long as each contractor meets all
   76  qualification, certification, or licensing requirements in
   77  general law. A mitigation project must be performed by a
   78  properly licensed contractor who has secured all required local
   79  permits necessary for the project. The department must
   80  electronically verify that the contractor’s state license number
   81  is accurate and up to date before approving a grant application.
   82         (c) An association awarded a grant must complete the entire
   83  mitigation project in order to receive the final grant award and
   84  must agree to make the property available for a final inspection
   85  once the mitigation project is finished to ensure the mitigation
   86  improvements are completed in a manner consistent with the
   87  intent of the pilot program and meet or exceed the applicable
   88  Florida Building Code requirements. Construction must be
   89  completed and the association must submit a request to the
   90  department for a final inspection, or request an extension of
   91  time, within 1 year after receiving grant approval. If the
   92  association fails to comply with this paragraph, the application
   93  is deemed abandoned and the grant money reverts back to the
   94  department.
   95         (d) Grant projects shall be funded as follows:
   96         1. All grants must be matched on the basis of $1 provided
   97  by the association for $2 provided by the state toward the
   98  actual cost of the project.
   99         2. For roof-related projects, the grant contribution is $11
  100  per square foot multiplied by the square footage of the
  101  replacement roof, not to exceed $1,000 per unit, with a maximum
  102  grant award of 50 percent of the cost of the project.
  103         3. For opening protection-related projects, the grant
  104  contribution is a maximum of $750 per replacement window or
  105  door, not to exceed $1,500 per unit, with a maximum grant award
  106  of 50 percent of the cost of the project.
  107         2.4. An association may receive grant funds for both roof
  108  related and opening protection-related projects, but the maximum
  109  total grant award may not exceed $175,000 per association.
  110         3.5. The department may not accept grant applications or
  111  maintain a waiting list for grants after the cumulative value of
  112  the grants awarded have fully obligated the appropriation,
  113  unless otherwise expressly authorized by the Legislature.
  114         (e) When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection
  115  report, grants for eligible associations may be used for the
  116  following improvements:
  117         1. Opening protection, including exterior doors, garage
  118  doors, windows, and skylights.
  119         2. Roof-related improvements, as follows:
  120         a. For buildings with a pitched roof:
  121         (I)2. Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections.
  122         (II)3. Improving the strength of roof-deck attachments.
  123         (III)4.Providing secondary water resistance for the roof.
  124         (IV) Replacing the roof covering, if necessary, for any of
  125  the improvements listed in sub-sub-subparagraphs (I)-(III).
  126         b. For buildings with a flat roof,
  127         (f) Grants may be used for a previously inspected existing
  128  structure on the property.
  129         (g)1. if improvements to protect the property that which
  130  complied with the current applicable building code at the time
  131  have been previously installed, the association must use a
  132  mitigation grant to install improvements that do both of the
  133  following:
  134         (I)a. Comply with or exceed the applicable building code in
  135  effect at the time the association applied for the grant.
  136         (II)b. Provide more hurricane protection than the
  137  improvements that the association previously installed.
  138         (f)2. The association may not use a mitigation grant to:
  139         1.a. Install the same type of improvements that were
  140  previously installed; or
  141         2.b. Pay a deductible for a pending insurance claim for
  142  damage that is part of the property for which grant funds are
  143  being received.
  144         (g)(h) The department shall develop a process that ensures
  145  the most efficient means to collect and verify inspection and
  146  grant applications to determine eligibility. The department may
  147  direct hurricane mitigation inspectors to collect and verify
  148  inspection and grant application information or use the Internet
  149  or other electronic means to collect information and determine
  150  eligibility.
  151         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.