Bay County, Florida
The milestone clock is state law. The enforcement is local.
Local enforcement of the milestone statute goes furthest in Bay County among the Northwest Florida counties we serve. The City of Panama City Beach adopted the 25-year inspection trigger by ordinance, five years earlier than the statewide 30-year default, and it operates a formal program around it: certified letters to associations, a 180-day deadline for the sealed report, submission to the city building official, and filing fees set by city resolution.
That ordinance covers the densest concentration of gulf-front condominium towers in the region. A Panama City Beach building that would still have years of runway under state law can already be past due under city code, and the city, not the association, decides when the letter goes out. Boards here should be working from the certificate of occupancy date and the city's program page rather than the statewide 30-year figure.
Outside city limits, unincorporated Bay County has published no local milestone program, so those buildings default to the statutory process through the county's Building Safety Division in Panama City. The city also notes that destructive testing during a Phase 2 inspection may itself require a demolition permit from the building official, and that permit belongs in the Phase 2 schedule before the first core is drilled. Our Panama City Beach office works inside this jurisdiction, and the firm's restoration record here includes one of the largest condominium buildings on the beach.
The local enforcement agency may determine, based on local circumstances including proximity to salt water under Fla. Stat. 379.101, that a milestone inspection is required at 25 years rather than 30. The determination is left to the agency and is not automatic. Panama City Beach has exercised that discretion: by city code, buildings three stories or more inside city limits must complete their first milestone inspection by December 31 of the year they reach 25 years of age, then every 10 years after. No 25-year trigger has been located for unincorporated Bay County, Panama City, or Lynn Haven. (Checked July 25, 2026.)
The building officials your report actually goes to.
- City of Panama City Beach Building & Planning Department · (850) 233-5100
- City of Panama City Building Services Division · (850) 872-3025
- City of Lynn Haven Building & Permitting
Inside these city limits, the city building official is the local enforcement agency. Everywhere else in the county, it is the county office.
Panama City Beach runs the most developed local milestone program in the region: the city mails certified letters to condominium and cooperative associations, the sealed report is due to the association and the city building official within 180 days of receipt, and city filing fees apply by resolution. Unincorporated Bay County has published no local milestone program page, so reports for buildings outside city limits go to the Bay County Building Official at the Building Safety Division.
Three bills decide what your board owes and when.
- SB 4-D (2022 special session, Ch. 2022-269, Laws of Florida): Created the milestone inspection requirement at Fla. Stat. 553.899 and the structural integrity reserve study requirement at Fla. Stat. 718.112.
- SB 154 (2023 regular session, Ch. 2023-203, Laws of Florida): Revised both requirements. Among other changes, it repealed the automatic 25-year coastal trigger and replaced it with local enforcement agency discretion.
- HB 913 (2025 regular session, Ch. 2025-175, Laws of Florida): Further revised condominium and cooperative association requirements, including reserve funding flexibility tied to the milestone inspection and reserve study process.
Not new to these buildings.
What boards here ask before they call.
Is the milestone deadline in Panama City Beach really 25 years, not 30?
Yes, inside city limits. Panama City Beach adopted the 25-year trigger by city ordinance under the discretion SB 154 gave local enforcement agencies. Buildings three stories or more must complete the first milestone inspection by December 31 of the year they turn 25, and every 10 years thereafter.
How does the city start the clock?
The city mails certified letters to condominium and cooperative associations. From receipt, the sealed Phase 1 report is due to the association and the city building official within 180 days. City filing fees apply by resolution.
Our building is in unincorporated Bay County. Who do we deal with?
The Bay County Building Safety Division at 840 W. 11th Street in Panama City, (850) 248-8350. The county has no dedicated local milestone program page, so the statutory process applies with the county building official as the local enforcement agency.
Does a Phase 2 inspection need its own permits in Panama City Beach?
It can. The city notes that destructive or exploratory testing may require a demolition permit from the building official. We sequence that permit into the Phase 2 plan so the 365-day repair-commencement clock is not spent waiting on paperwork.
Reviewed by Neill O'Connell, PE, Florida Professional Engineer license PE 63628 and Florida Special Inspector. County authority details verified against each government's published pages on July 25, 2026.
Send the building address and the notice you received.
A licensed engineer who inspects in this county will tell you what the statute actually requires for your building, and what it does not.