Florida Statute 718.112 Bylaws: Board, Elections, and Reserves

Florida Statute 718.112 sets the rules that every condominium association’s bylaws must follow, covering officer positions, board eligibility, meeting notices, elections, recalls, budgets, reserves, and how the bylaws themselves can be changed. Once recorded in the county’s public records, those bylaws bind the association and every unit owner. The statute has been reshaped heavily since the 2021 Surfside collapse, most visibly through new reserve funding limits and a mandatory education program for directors.

What the Bylaws Must Contain

Section 718.112(2) lists the administrative and structural elements every association’s bylaws have to address. If the bylaws are silent on any of these points, the statute fills the gap automatically.

At a minimum, the bylaws must establish officer positions, including a president, secretary, and treasurer, with the duties those roles carry in any corporate setting. They must state whether directors receive compensation. Most Florida condo boards serve as unpaid volunteers; if an association wants to pay its directors, the bylaws have to say so explicitly and describe the payment structure.¹

The bylaws also have to set the rules for calling board and membership meetings, setting a quorum, and conducting votes. Unless the bylaws set a lower threshold, a quorum at a membership meeting requires a majority of the total voting interests to be present or represented.²

Directors and officers owe a fiduciary duty to unit owners under the neighboring provision at Section 718.111(1)(a): they must act in good faith, exercise reasonable care, and put the community’s interests ahead of their own. A director who breaches that duty through bad faith, self-dealing, or reckless disregard can face personal monetary liability.³

Who Can Serve on the Board

Section 718.112(2)(d) keeps two categories of unit owners off the ballot. Anyone delinquent on any monetary obligation to the association, whether unpaid assessments, fines, or late fees, cannot run. Anyone convicted of a felony in Florida or an equivalent offense elsewhere is ineligible unless their civil rights have been fully restored for at least five years before the election.¹

The statute caps consecutive board service at eight years, but the cap is not absolute. A director can serve beyond eight years if unit owners approve the extension by a two-thirds supermajority of votes cast in the election. The limit also does not apply when there are not enough eligible candidates to fill open seats, which happens more often in smaller communities than most people expect. Only service on or after July 1, 2018, counts toward the eight-year total.¹

Director Certification and Education

Every director elected or appointed on or after July 1, 2024, must complete two things within 90 days of taking office. The first is a written certification confirming they have read the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current policies. The second is a certificate showing completion of a four-hour educational course covering milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial transparency, fines, and meeting requirements. Directors already serving before July 1, 2024, had until June 30, 2025, to satisfy both requirements.¹

The initial certification lasts for seven years of uninterrupted service. Beginning one year after the initial certification and every year after, directors must also complete a one-hour continuing education course on recent changes to Chapter 718 and its administrative rules. Miss any of these deadlines and the consequence is immediate: the director is suspended from the board until the requirement is completed, and the remaining board members may temporarily fill the vacancy. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation runs a free four-hour certification program, and directors can also complete the course through a DBPR-approved private provider.⁴

Notice of Meetings

Routine board meetings require a notice posted in a visible location on the property at least 48 continuous hours in advance. The notice has to list every agenda item the board plans to discuss or vote on. Emergency meetings are the only exception.¹

Annual meetings, budget meetings, and any meeting involving assessments carry a longer 14-day notice requirement. The association must both post the notice on the property and mail, hand-deliver, or electronically transmit it to each unit owner. A notice about assessments has to state specifically that assessments will be considered and describe their nature and estimated cost. Owners who want electronic notice must consent in writing; otherwise, the association has to use mail or personal delivery.⁵

Elections and Recall

Board elections use a secret ballot and a double-envelope system. Each owner places their ballot inside an unmarked inner envelope, then seals that inside an outer envelope bearing the owner’s name and unit number.⁶ Boards typically use staggered terms unless the bylaws say otherwise. Florida also permits electronic voting through an internet-based system if each participating owner gives written or electronic consent and the system can authenticate voter identity while permanently separating identifying information from the ballot.⁷

Any board member can be recalled with or without cause by a majority of the association’s total voting interests, either at a special meeting or by written agreement. Once the association serves the recall agreement on the board, the board has five full business days to hold a meeting and determine whether the recall is facially valid. If the board confirms validity, the member is removed immediately at the close of that meeting. If the board fails to meet within five business days, the recall takes effect automatically, and the recalled director must turn over all association records and property within ten business days. If the board refuses to recognize the recall, the unit owners’ representative has 60 days to file a petition with DBPR or a court action challenging the decision.¹

Annual Budget

The board must adopt the annual budget at least 14 days before the start of the association’s fiscal year and send a copy of the proposed budget to every unit owner with the meeting notice, giving owners at least 14 days to review it. If the board fails to adopt the budget on time in a second consecutive year, the prior year’s budget automatically continues in effect until a new one is adopted.¹

When a proposed budget would increase assessments beyond 115 percent of the prior year’s level, the board must simultaneously present a substitute budget stripped of all discretionary spending. Unit owners then vote on whether to adopt the substitute; it takes a majority of all voting interests to approve. If the substitute fails, the board’s original proposal can go forward.

Reserves and the Structural Integrity Reserve Study

The budget must include reserve accounts for major capital items. Associations have historically been able to vote each year to waive or reduce reserve contributions by a simple majority of total voting interests. That option still exists for general reserve items. But as of December 31, 2024, associations required to obtain a structural integrity reserve study can no longer waive or reduce funding for any component covered by that study, and they cannot redirect those reserve dollars to unrelated purposes. Any proxy ballot for a reserve-waiver vote has to include a bold, capitalized warning that waiving reserves may expose owners to unanticipated special assessments.⁸

Any residential condominium with a building three or more habitable stories tall must now have a structural integrity reserve study completed every ten years. Associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022, had until December 31, 2025, to complete their first study, extendable to December 31, 2026, if a milestone inspection under Section 553.899 was also due in that window.² The study must examine roof systems, load-bearing walls and primary structural members, fireproofing and fire protection systems, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, windows and exterior doors, and any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above $25,000 whose failure would affect those structural components.

The practical consequence is significant. Once a study is completed, the association must fully fund reserves for every component the study identifies, and a majority vote to skip or reduce those contributions is no longer permitted for budgets adopted after December 31, 2024. Owners in older high-rise buildings should expect assessments to rise, sometimes substantially, to bring reserve balances in line with the study’s projections.

One narrow exception exists. If an association completed a milestone inspection within the previous two calendar years, the board can, with approval of a majority of total voting interests, temporarily pause or reduce reserve contributions tied to the study for up to two consecutive budget years to fund repairs the milestone inspection recommended. That exception expires for budgets adopted after December 31, 2028.⁸

Amending the Bylaws

A proposed amendment must show the full text of the existing provision, with new language underlined and removed language struck through. If the changes are extensive enough that this format becomes unreadable, the association can instead include a statement that the provision is being entirely replaced and present the new version in full.¹

Unless the current bylaws set a different threshold, amendments require approval by two-thirds of the total voting interests. The board alone cannot change the bylaws. Once approved, the association must record a certificate of amendment in the county’s public records for the new language to be enforceable against current and future owners.

Related Statutes to Know

Section 718.112 does not stand alone, and a few related provisions come up so often that owners and directors working with the bylaws should know they exist. Annual financial reporting requirements live in Section 718.111(13), with the tier of report required scaled to the association’s total annual revenue and delivery due within 180 days of the fiscal year’s end.⁹ Fines against owners, tenants, or guests are governed by Section 718.303, capped at $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate for a continuing issue, and no fine takes effect until the association gives 14 days’ written notice and holds a hearing before an independent committee of at least three members.¹⁰ Most condo disputes must go through non-binding arbitration with DBPR or pre-suit mediation under Section 718.1255 before anyone can file a lawsuit, though title disputes, warranty claims, assessment collection, evictions, and damage claims tied to common-element maintenance failures fall outside that system.¹¹ Milestone inspections themselves are set out at Section 553.899, with the first inspection due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30 (or 25 near salt water) and every ten years after.¹²

1
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 718.112 – Bylaws
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.112 – Bylaws
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.111 – The Association
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Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Education
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Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Condominium Meeting Notice Requirements
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Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Elections – Chapter 718 – Condominiums
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.128 – Electronic Voting
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 718.112 – Bylaws
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Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Financial Information – Chapter 718 – Condominiums
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 718.303 – Obligations of Owners and Occupants
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 718.1255 – Alternative Dispute Resolution
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 553.899 – Milestone Inspections