TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida condominium boards heading into budget season are working under a rewritten reserve rule. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes amended Florida Administrative Code Rule 61B-22.005, the rule that governs condo reserves, and the new version took effect on October 4, 2026, according to the state’s official rules database.
The change matters most to buildings that already have, or are working on, a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS). It also touches every association that keeps reserves, because it spells out how reserve funding, accounting methods and reporting should work from here on.
What the amended rule says
The rule’s history on FLRules.org shows the final version effective October 4, 2026. It cites sections 718.112(2)(f) and (g) of the Florida Statutes, the reserve and SIRS provisions, as the law it implements, and it adopts two DBPR forms by reference: Form 6000-10 (the SIRS form) and Form 6000-11 (an affidavit of acknowledgement).
A summary published on October 19 by the law firm Roetzel & Andress describes the main points:
- Funding must follow the SIRS. For buildings that need a SIRS, reserve funding for each item or group of items must line up with the association’s most recently completed study.
- Buildings without a SIRS must evaluate each reserve asset against a minimum threshold the Division publishes every year and adjusts for inflation.
- The ten-year SIRS can only be satisfied by a full study. Certain interim financial updates to the reserve schedule can be made without a new visual inspection, but only in limited cases, including where the last visual inspection was within the previous 36 months.
- Drafts don’t count. A preliminary draft prepared for board review is not a “completed” SIRS. The clock for distributing the study to owners and filing with the Division starts when the completed study is received.
- Pooled vs straight-line. An association may switch between pooled and straight-line reserve accounting without an owner vote, as long as the switch does not change the purpose, required funding level or restricted use of the money.
- Inflation cap. For pooled reserves, the inflation rate used in the reserve schedule is capped at the annual change in the Consumer Price Index.
It is not finished yet
The same FLRules page lists a new notice of proposed rulemaking for 61B-22.005, published on October 22, 2026. It says the Division wants to “clarify language about adjustments to annual reserve funding amount and language about changes between pooled and straight-line reserve accounting.” In other words, two of the points above may be tweaked again. Boards adopting 2027 budgets now should work from the rule in force, and check back before next year’s cycle.
What it means for owners and boards
For boards: if your building has a SIRS, the reserve line in the 2027 budget should trace back to it item by item. If your engineer has only delivered a draft, be clear in the minutes that it is a draft. Once the final arrives, the distribution and filing duties kick in. If you are thinking about moving to pooled reserves to smooth out contributions, the rule allows it without a vote only when the funding level and purpose stay the same; get that confirmed by your accountant or counsel in writing.
For owners: this is the season to ask for the numbers. Ask which SIRS the budget is based on, the date it was completed, and whether reserves are pooled or straight-line. If the reserve contribution jumps, the SIRS is usually the reason, and the rule makes it harder for a board to fund below what the study calls for. Our reserve study guide explains how to read one, and our explainer on special assessments covers what happens when reserves fall short.
For buyers: ask the seller or association for the most recent completed SIRS, not a draft, and compare its recommended funding with the current budget. A gap between the two is a warning sign for future assessments.
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Sources: Florida Administrative Code, Rule 61B-22.005 (FLRules); Roetzel & Andress, October 19, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.
