Costs and planning
Does a Florida condo's structural integrity reserve study have to include its turf?
The short answer
Does a Florida condo's structural integrity reserve study have to include its turf?
Not by name. Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g) lists roof, structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, and windows and exterior doors as the study's minimum items, plus any other item over the inflation-adjusted $25,000 threshold whose failure would harm one of those. Turf laid over a parking podium or pool-deck membrane sits on waterproofing. Whether that makes the turf itself part of the engineer's line is the SIRS professional's call, not ours. The requirement only reaches buildings three habitable stories or higher.
Turf isn’t on the list, but the deck underneath it can be
Start with what the statute actually names, because a lot gets read into it that isn’t there.
Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g) requires a structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS, at least every 10 years for each building on the condominium property that is “three habitable stories or higher in height, as determined by the Florida Building Code.” The study has to address a fixed list: roof; structure, including load-bearing walls and primary structural systems; fireproofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; and windows and exterior doors. It also has to pick up “any other item” with a deferred-maintenance expense or replacement cost that exceeds the inflation-adjusted threshold — $25,000, adjusted annually — where failing to replace it would negatively affect one of the named items.
Turf, by name, is nowhere in that list. Florida’s Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes confirms the same set of components in its own FAQ page. So a common-area lawn on grade, with no waterproofing under it, doesn’t put the SIRS in the picture at all — that’s the same ground-level project our condo common-area turf article walks through, and it turns on the declaration’s alteration vote, not on the reserve study.
The question changes when the turf sits on a structure. Turf laid over a parking podium deck, a pool deck slab, a balcony, or a roof terrace sits directly on a waterproofing membrane — and waterproofing is on the statute’s list. That’s the connection: not that turf itself is a reserve item, but that what’s under it might already be one, and the turf is part of what has to come up and go back down when that membrane is serviced or replaced.
What “three habitable stories or higher” actually screens out
This requirement doesn’t apply to every association. It’s tied to building height, building by building, not to the association as a whole. The statute measures each building against the Florida Building Code’s definition of three habitable stories or higher; buildings under that, and single-family through four-family dwellings, are excluded outright.
A property with one tall tower and a few two-story courtyard buildings can have a SIRS requirement for the tower and none for the low-rise buildings next to it. If your board is asking whether a pool deck or podium project needs to be reserved for under 718.112(2)(g), the first fact to pin down is which building, or which shared structure, the turf sits on or over — and whether that structure counts as part of a building that clears the three-story threshold. A rooftop or balcony application raises its own structural-load questions before turf goes down at all; our balcony and roof turf article covers that separately from the reserve-study question here.
The deadlines, if your association hasn’t filed one yet
For associations that existed before the requirement took effect, the statute set December 31, 2025 as the deadline to complete the first SIRS. An association also required to complete a milestone inspection may run the two together, but the statute is explicit that the SIRS itself may not be completed after December 31, 2026, regardless of when the milestone inspection lands.
If your association’s SIRS is still open, that’s the document to finish before any turf project on a podium, pool deck or roof terrace gets designed. The engineer doing that study is the one who decides whether the turf and its base belong inside the waterproofing line item, or sit outside it as a separate improvement the board funds another way. We’re not in a position to make that call, and neither is the board without the study in hand.
What a professional install plans for on a structural deck
None of this changes what the physical work looks like once the SIRS question is settled. On a podium, pool deck or terrace, the base under the turf has to work with what’s already there rather than compete with it. That means:
- A free visit to measure the deck and check the ground — in this case, the structural surface and the membrane condition, not soil.
- A custom layout you approve before any material orders go in, so the design matches what the engineer’s report allows.
- Site prep and a base built for the surface, not for open soil — drainage has to move water off the membrane the way the structure’s designer intended, not just off the turf.
- Turf laid, seamed and edged, with infill, finishing and cleanup once the base is set.
- A walkthrough of the care it needs, since a deck or podium install drains differently than a yard.
We install artificial turf, commercial turf and turf replacement work across northeast Florida coastal communities, including podium and pool-deck settings. Our commercial turf service starts with that measuring visit; nothing gets ordered until the association approves the layout.
Questions to settle before the project is final
Take these to your SIRS engineer or the association’s counsel before the board votes on a turf project over a structural deck:
- Does a building on our property meet the three-habitable-stories-or-higher threshold, and does that reach the deck, podium or roof area we’re proposing turf for?
- If our SIRS is already complete, does the waterproofing line item mention the turf-covered area, or only the membrane itself?
- Does removing and relaying turf count as part of routine waterproofing maintenance, or as a separate capital project the board has to fund and approve on its own?
- Does the SIRS reserve schedule assume the turf and base come up when the membrane is serviced, and is that cost built into the funding plan?
None of this is legal advice, and we don’t give it. The engineer who signs your SIRS, and the association’s own counsel, are the ones who answer these questions for your building.
Before the board votes on turf over a structural deck
- Confirm which buildings on the property meet the three-story SIRS threshold.
- Pull the current SIRS and find the waterproofing line for the deck, podium or terrace in question.
- Ask the SIRS engineer, in writing, whether turf and its base are inside or outside that line.
- Get the declaration’s approval process for the work, separate from the reserve question.
- Schedule a free visit so the layout and base plan match what the engineer’s report allows.
That last step is ours whenever the board is ready. We measure, plan around the structure, and don’t start until you’ve approved the layout.
Common questions
Which condo buildings need a structural integrity reserve study at all?
Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g) requires a SIRS at least every 10 years for "each building on the condominium property that is three habitable stories or higher in height, as determined by the Florida Building Code." Buildings under three stories, and single-family through four-family dwellings, are excluded.
What is the deadline for an existing association?
Owner-controlled associations that existed before the study requirement took effect had to complete their first SIRS by December 31, 2025, under 718.112(2)(g). An association pairing the study with a required milestone inspection may run them together, but the statute says the SIRS itself may not be completed after December 31, 2026.
Does the $25,000 threshold mean turf has to cost that much to count?
No. The threshold is about which non-listed items the study has to pick up, not about turf specifically. The statute catches "any other item" over the inflation-adjusted amount whose failure would negatively affect one of the named systems, such as waterproofing. A turf-topped deck or podium reaches that question through the membrane underneath it, not through its own price.
Who decides whether our podium or pool-deck turf belongs in the SIRS line item?
The licensed engineer or architect who prepares your association's study, not the board and not us. The statute names the systems; it does not walk through every surface an association might install over them. Ask the SIRS professional directly whether the turf and its base are part of what they're pricing, and get the answer in the report.
Does this apply to a garden-style condo or a townhome-style association?
Only if a building on the property is three habitable stories or higher, as the Florida Building Code measures height. A two-story courtyard building in the same association is outside the SIRS requirement even if a taller building elsewhere on the property is inside it. Confirm your building's story count with your association's engineer.
