Under Florida Statute 718.112, every newly elected or appointed director of a residential condominium association must, within 90 days of taking a seat, do two things: complete a four-hour educational course from the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes or an approved provider, and submit a written certification to the association’s secretary. After that, the director owes one hour of continuing education every year. Miss the deadline and you are suspended from the board until you comply.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Who the Rule Covers and the 90-Day Clock
The requirement applies to every director of a residential condominium association board, whether elected by unit owners or appointed to fill a vacancy. Both the written certification and the educational certificate go to the association’s secretary. The clock runs 90 days from the date of election or appointment.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Candidates who want to get ahead of the clock can. A director may submit the written certification and educational certificate up to one year before being elected or appointed, which is useful if you know you plan to run and want the paperwork done before you take office.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
The Four-Hour Course
The course must be at least four hours long and administered by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes or a division-approved provider. It covers milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, recordkeeping, financial literacy and transparency, the levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation runs a free Board Member Certification Program that satisfies the course requirement. Sessions are available in English and Spanish, in person or virtually. DBPR also publishes a list of approved third-party providers on its education portal.2DBPR Condominium Information and Resources. Education
The Written Certification
The written piece is a statement, signed by the director and given to the association’s secretary, in which the director certifies that they have read the association’s declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current written policies. The director also affirms that they will uphold those documents to the best of their ability and faithfully carry out their fiduciary responsibility to the association’s members.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Chapter 718 spells out what that fiduciary responsibility means. Officers and directors have a fiduciary relationship to the unit owners, requiring them to act in good faith, exercise the care a reasonably prudent person would use in a similar position, and act in the interests of the association rather than their own.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.111 – The Condominium
The Annual One-Hour Course
The initial four hours are not the end of it. Starting one year after a director submits the initial written certification and educational certificate, and every year after that, the director must complete at least one hour of continuing education covering changes to Chapter 718 and its related administrative rules during the preceding year.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Directors who assume the initial certification covers them indefinitely are wrong. The annual hour must come from the division or a division-approved provider, and DBPR lists continuing education options on its education portal alongside the initial courses.2DBPR Condominium Information and Resources. Education
How Long the Certification Is Good For
The written certification and educational certificate are valid for seven years from the date of issuance. A director who serves continuously does not need to resubmit within that window, aside from the annual one-hour continuing education. Anyone who serves longer than seven years must retake the full four-hour course and resubmit the written certification when the seventh year expires.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Developer-appointed directors get a special break. A developer-appointed director’s educational certificate satisfies the requirement for any subsequent developer appointment within seven years of issuance, even if there is a gap in service or the appointment is to a different association’s board.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
Non-developer directors do not get the same treatment. A break in service ends the seven-year run, and a returning director must certify again on the way back onto the board even if the original certificate has time left.
What Happens if You Miss the Deadline
A director who fails to submit both the written certification and the educational certificate on time is suspended from board service until they comply. This is suspension, not removal. The seat is not lost; the director simply cannot participate until the paperwork is filed.1Justia Law. Florida Statutes 718.112 – Bylaws
The trouble spreads when several directors miss the deadline at once. Enough simultaneous suspensions can leave the board without the numbers to conduct business, so the sensible practice is to track each director’s 90-day date from the moment they take a seat rather than discovering the gap at a meeting.
What the Association Keeps on File
The association’s secretary retains a copy of each director’s written certification and educational certificate. Florida law classifies completed board member educational certificates as official records of the association, and official records generally must be kept within Florida for at least seven years, which matches the certification’s validity window.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 718.111 – The Condominium Unit owners may inspect those records at reasonable times, so directors should treat their submissions as documents that will be seen.