40 Year Recertification Cost: Everything You Need to Know About It

If you are reading this blog, you have likely received the 40-year recertification notice. In short, when your building enters the 40th year of its construction, Florida requires you to get an inspection done, known as the 40 year structural recertification. Now, you want to know about the 40 year recertification cost.

In case you are unaware, you can check this blog on 40-year recertification, which helps you understand the process in depth. However, if you are aware of it, keep reading forward. In this blog, we will discuss the elements considered while estimating the 40-year recertification cost.

But to justify the cost quotient, let’s understand the reason behind the presence of such inspections.

Why are 40-year recertification inspections necessary?

The Florida legislature enforced a 40-year recertification program to protect the public. When the 1974 incident occurred, a Federal office building housing the US Drug Enforcement Administration collapsed. This incident took lives of seven DEA employees.

At present, many times, building owners make improvements and renovations to their structures. Also, they frequently neglect proper maintenance. As a result, numerous residences feature hazardous circumstances for their tenants. Such conditions include potential fire risks, hidden structural issues, deteriorating roofing systems, and exposed wiring.

The law states that only licensed professionals like home inspection engineers must conduct the inspection. They must also provide a signed and sealed report.

Elements to consider while estimating the 40-year recertification cost

Following are the elements that every construction and engineering firm considers while estimating the inspection cost, and these are also applicable for milestone building inspections and structural inspections in Florida.

Size

The building size is the most crucial element to consider while estimating the cost of 40-year recertification. If an engineer has to inspect a high-rise building consisting of 30 apartments, the inspection could take almost a day. Additionally, depending on the engineer’s inspection, the report could be lengthy, signifying more work and, therefore, a higher cost.

Location

Your building location is the next element that plays an active role in determining the 40 year recertification cost. It helps the engineer understand how the inspection should go. For example, if you are closer to the ocean or coastal lines, a detailed inspection will need to occur. It is since salt intrusion is constantly being sprayed into the building. However, if your location is distant from the ocean, the inspection intensity would be lower and, therefore, cost less.

Height

Your building’s height is another vital element to consider for a higher or lower inspection cost. If it’s a two-story building, it will be cheaper, and if it’s a twenty-story building, it will be more pricey because the inspection officer would have to check all the floors, which would take more time. Additionally, they’ll need to leverage inspection technologies like a drone to cover portions where they can’t reach or see to ensure a highly detailed review is done.

Structure Complexity

Consider the following hypothetical scenario: the inspector is contracted by FP&L to perform a 40-year examination of an electrical facility. When it comes to the structure, there are a lot of odd structures, like towers and trusses, which are tough to inspect.

On the electrical side, some high-power gadgets and mechanisms are not typical of a standard inspection. However, unless the inspector has a significant amount of previous expertise with buildings of this kind, it is only natural that he will have difficulty looking into all the intricacies.

On the contrary, a two-story building inspection that houses eight different families would be far less complicated. Most of the time, these structures are built out of concrete and block, and they feature a roof structure composed of trusses and a shingle roof. This straightforward structure will most likely be equipped with four separate electrical meters and a dedicated electrical panel for every individual unit.

The cost of a 40-year recertification inspection

Our package for a 40-year recertification inspection starts from $2,250 and goes up to $35,000. 80% of the inspections we have done so far are between $2,500 and $5,000

For small buildings with 5,000 square feet or less, the cost would be somewhere around $2,250

Next, for mid-size buildings having an area between 5,000 and 20,000 square feet, the cost would range between $2,500 and $8,000

Finally, for a high-rise building having multiple apartments, the cost would start at $35,000

Now, the prices you can see is for those in Broward county or Miami-Dade county because that’s what we cover. But, say if you live in Palm Beach county or Monroe county, the price would vary since we would need to drive up there as the distance increases from our main office.