40 Year Inspection
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40 and 10 Year Inspection Step by Step Process:
The process of a (40) Year and (10) year subsequent certification may be confusing at times and the Step by Step process below should at a minimum simplify to a certain extent the rigorous rules and regulations that govern the safety certification program so that the average citizen, Board member, Property Manager, property owner or any person can understand.
Step (1):
When a Building age approaches the 40 years ( or 10 year) mark or when the city sends a notice that a 40 year or 10 year certification is required, this milestone will involve the services of an Architect or a Professional Engineer who are licensed in the State of Florida. There are specific forms that need to be filled out during the structural and electrical systems inspection. The reason for the inspections is to identify problem areas of the Building with regard to the structural and electrical systems and any areas or issues identified must be repaired by a certified contractor after the issuance of a building permit. Licensed contractors are not permitted nor qualified to prepare the 40 year re-certification reports. Beware that in some cases, contractors who may be licensed or not may represent to the owner(s) that they are qualified to prepare such reports by making false statements and mis-representation in order to induce owners to engage the contractor's services. This may be a fraudulent or false misrepresentation.
Step (2):
After engaging the services of an Architect or a Professional Engineer the reports will be completed predicated on time consuming field site inspections, data gathering, and documentation of issues found and submitted to the building owner, Association, property manager or an Authorized agent of the owner who will in turn submit such reports along with a permit fee to the Local Building Department where the Building is located and has Jurisdiction Note: The Architect or Engineer does not submit the reports directly to the Building Department.If the Client elects that the professional submits such reports, permission must be granted by the Client as well as issuing required documents and payments as required by the Building Department.
Step (3):
Following the submittal of the certified reports, both the Electrical and Structural documents will be reviewed by the city staff, structural and electrical plans examiners who will review, and if there are no repairs required or has no questions, approve and return a copy back to the building owner. The owner is then given a time frame of 90 days to repair any and all the defects found in the report.
Step (4):
The owner, Association, property manager or an Authorized agent of the owner will now solicit contractors to submit bids for repairs.
If significant structural or electrical defects were found that requires major repairs, the building owner will need to engage the services of a Professional Engineer or Architect to provide the repair specifications and engineering drawings to be filed when applying for a permit at the Building Department. Concrete restoration and repairs may also be required as part of the overall repairs to bring the Building in to compliance.
Once the bids are received, reviewed and approved, the contractors will perform the repairs once they submit an application for a permit to perform the repairs and pay permit fees. Then the contractor will proceed with the repairs and has the responsibility to schedule required inspections with the city building official. Upon completion the city will issue a certificate of completion and a certification that the Building now is certified for another (10) ten years.
Step (5):
Referrals of Third Parties:
In some cases, the client will request from the engineer or architect to provide names of other engineers or architects to perform the 40 year inspection or in some cases the names of contractors who will perform the repairs. In such cases, when the professional refers the name of other professionals or contractors to perform either the inspection or the repairs, the client needs to agree and understand that any names referrals should be checked or qualified by the client and including references. This will avoid the "Blame Game" if the referred party does not perform what was agreed upon even delay in submitting a proposal or a bid. Clients in some cases may construe that by referral of names by the professional that the professional is responsible for the conduct of the referred party and will blame the referee for mishaps. This in no way will be the fault of the professional who provided names of other professionals. Therefore, the client will be the only party responsible for qualifying the referred party to perform the requested services not the person who made the recommendation. In few cases clients even went to accuse the professional who provided the referrals for the negligent conduct of the parties the client hired, even though the engineer did not have any control for the conduct , action or inaction of the referred party. Some architects and engineers want to help the client by selecting other entities but at the same time, beware of the consequences if problems occur.The client will more than likely blame the A/E firm who recommended the referred party, since the client in his or her mind will conclude that if the referral was not credible why did the A/E make the referral in the first place. So, there is a liability in making the referral such that it saved the client time, and provided a benefit to the client but at no benefit to the referee, thus it is considered a free service. However, may have negative or positive consequences depending on the performance of the third party.
Therefore, the client has the responsibility of finding contractors and other professionals to perform the 40 year certification.
Summary Steps
A. In simplified terms the process is to file the engineer's certification reports including repairs required with the city, pay the required fees, then the city will issue a repair permit upon review of engineering reports outlining what repairs are required or necessary and a permit application filed by the contractor with permit fees paid to the city.
B. Once the city issues the repair permit then a contractor hired by the owner or client will perform the repairs pursuant to the issued permit ( a permit number should have been issued to the contractor). After completion the contractor will schedule and request that the city perform an inspection of the repairs that the work done is in compliance with the permit, engineer's report and code.
D. After the city inspects and approves the work, then it is the client's responsibility to request and authorize the engineer ( additional services may be required beyond the contract scope and fee to be agreed upon in advance per the engineer-client agreement) to perform a follow up inspection(s) on site and issue a second amended 40 year report to certify that the building has now met the 40 year certification.
WHAT IS A BUILDING RE CERTIFICATION?
In accordance with the Miami-Dade County Code, Section 8-11 (f)(ii)(1), all buildings, which are 40 years or 10 years old, or from the date the building was given its original Certificate of Occupancy must be re certified by the Building Official. The first Re certification is mandated when the structure becomes 40 years old and then every 10 years thereafter. Re certification is due on the anniversary of the original Building or Structure Certificate of Occupancy. Then the Ten(10) year intervals again are based on the year of completion of the building or structure. The exceptions to this ordinance are: single-family residences, duplexes, and minor buildings defined as any occupancy group having an occupant load of 10 or less, having a gross area of 2,000 square feet or less.
It is the owner’s responsibility to obtain the 40 Year Re-certification and to re-certify their building/s every 10 years thereafter regardless of whether they have received a “Notice of Required Re-certification” or not. The owner or owner's representative must hire a Registered Architect and/or a Professional Engineer to perform electrical and structural inspections for the building and submit a completed report of the inspection performed to the Violations Section in the City of Miami Beach Building Department for review and approval.
40 Year Inspections and re-certification Projects:
1) Church of Christ, William Des Ravines 2012/2013
2) Luthern Shelter Building 2012
3) Granada Rental Apartments – John Furguson 1/21/2013
4) Wincast Arms North Condominium 2013 Naomi
5) Mitch Ramoo (2014)
6) Mr. Jureidini ( 2012)
7) Park Side Community, (4) condominium buildings, 5 story 2013
8) Naomi Castle Condo 2015
9) Dr. Lamarca Commercial Center ( Broward):2016
10) Pompano by the Sea Building ( Broward):2014
11) Manuela Auguste, Commercial Building , Plaza and gas station Miami Beach, 2016
12) Bona Fortuna Condo Apartments, Hollywood, Florida 2016 ( 8000 SF Building)
13) The Native Sun Condo Resort - Lauderdale by the Sea (14000 SF Buildings)
14) The Soto Law Group- Warehouse and Office Building (2017)
15) Mariposa Condominium - Hollywood
16) Pompano By The Sea Condominium (2016)
Helpful Links
Building Officials Contacts ( Broward County)
For other counties, such as Dade or West Palm Beach, Search Using Google Search Engine.
Permit Procedures and Forms ( City of Margate) almost all Municipalities and Building Departments follow the same rules, and forms. A few may differ but you may want to contact the Local Building Department for a required List of Items needed, forms and documents necessary to file for a permit.
City of Fort Lauderdale Building Permits Division
Concrete Restoration Process and Sample project