"The real takeaway here is: 'legally compliant' does not automatically mean that a building is insurable." Jay Adams, chief insurance officer at Citizens Property Insurance, said that in Marathon on August 25, 2026, at a town hall organized by Fair Insurance Rates for Monroe. Keys Weekly reported that the meeting centered on nonrenewals condominium associations had been receiving from Citizens because of the condition of their roofs.
If you are comparing a Key West condo with a cottage, the roof works differently on each. On a house, the roof is yours, and Florida law gives homeowners some protection against nonrenewal based on roof age alone. In a condo, the roof belongs to the association. The rules that decide when it has to be replaced come from the association's insurer, and that timeline can run well ahead of the reserve study the association uses to plan its savings. The gap usually shows up as a special assessment, and the buyer's best chance to see it coming is a short window written into the contract.
The Seven Business Days That Matter Most
Under Florida's condominium statute, a resale seller must give the buyer a set of association documents at the seller's expense. The list in Fla. Stat. 718.503(2) includes:
- the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws and rules
- the annual financial statement and budget
- the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, if one applies
- the association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS, or a statement that it has not completed one
- a turnover inspection report, for turnover inspections performed on or after July 1, 2023
- the required frequently asked questions document
For resale contracts entered after December 31, 2024, the contract must include conspicuous language about those inspection and reserve documents. The statute gives the buyer the right to void the agreement by written notice within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing and after receiving the milestone summary, the turnover report and the most recent SIRS, where each applies. The buyer may also extend closing by up to 7 business days after receiving those documents, if requested in writing. The statute says any waiver of these rights has no effect, and the right to void ends at closing.
Those seven business days are when the roof question can be answered. To read the documents well, it helps to know which rules the association's roof actually has to meet.
What Florida's Roof-Age Protection Is Written For
Florida's roof-age protection is in Fla. Stat. 627.7011(5). An insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a homeowner's policy solely because the roof is less than 15 years old. For a roof at least 15 years old, the insurer must allow an inspection by an authorized inspector before requiring replacement. If that inspection shows five or more years of useful life remaining, the insurer may not refuse coverage solely because of roof age. A roof's age is counted from the last date 100 percent of its surface was built or replaced to the code in effect at the time.
The same section says it does not apply to policies that are not "homeowners' policies," as that term is commonly understood in the insurance industry. It also keeps insurers free to decline or nonrenew for other lawful underwriting reasons. Citizens also publishes separate commercial underwriting rules, with their own roof-age schedule and their own exception process.
A legislative attempt to rewrite roof-age rules this year did not succeed. Senate Bill 808 would have treated low-slope and steep-slope roofs differently. It died in committee on March 13, 2026, and its identical House bill also died, so the 2022 framework still stands.
Same Metal Roof, Different Clock
The difference between the two rulebooks is clearest in Citizens' own numbers. Citizens' roof-age FAQ for personal residential policies, last updated March 17, 2026, applies to homes. The commercial figures come from a Citizens policyholder notice for commercial multiperil policies, form PNCMPR-23, which applied to renewals on or after July 1, 2017. Citizens notes that its archived communications may be outdated and directs agents to its current manuals for the latest underwriting details.
| Roof covering | Personal residential: replacement documentation required above | Commercial notice: roof age threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | 50 years | 30 years |
| Clay, concrete or slate tile | 50 years | 50 years |
| Shingle | 25 years | 20 years |
| Flat roof: built-up, tar-and-gravel, modified bitumen, membrane | Not listed separately | 15 years |
The flat-roof figure is current. At the August town hall, Adams said a built-up, three-ply, tar-and-gravel or modified bitumen roof has an eligibility standard of 15 years. "If you're in year 15, we need to be thinking about replacing the roof because now we're at the end of our standards," he said, according to Keys Weekly's account.
On the commercial schedule, a metal roof reaches its threshold 20 years sooner than the same covering on a home's policy. Both schedules allow exceptions when documentation shows at least five years of remaining life, or, in the commercial case, when Citizens' commercial roof condition inspection form or equivalent contractor documentation establishes that remaining life.
When the Reserve Study and the Insurer Disagree
The town hall also showed how the state's post-Surfside safety documents relate to the insurer's decision. Adams explained that the milestone inspection focuses on safety and structural condition and does not determine a roof's remaining useful life. The SIRS does. It estimates the roof's remaining life and replacement cost and sets a funding plan, which Adams called "a long-term financial planning tool." He added that Citizens looks at how resistant a roof is to losses, as well as its age.
Those two clocks can be years apart. Keys Weekly reported that one board member said his association waited "many months" for an inspection report, then learned it had less than two months to replace a roof during hurricane season to keep coverage. Another speaker described a reserve study that gave a community 10 years to plan for replacement, against an insurer timeline of one year. Adams said one Keys association had five of its eight buildings nonrenewed over roof conditions.
Key West had its own example. According to the same report, the president of the Coconut Mallory Resort condominiums said an inspector called for a new roof on a building that had received a complete new metal roof and new underlayment five years earlier, with a 20-year warranty. That account came from an association leader speaking at a public forum.
A roof coating does not change the calculation. "You can't take a 15-year roof, put some coating on it and make it a one-year roof," Adams said, adding that a coating does not require a permit and doesn't address problems such as wet insulation or deteriorated fasteners. Citizens' vice president of underwriting, Stephen Mostella, said the company is aware of South Florida firms advertising coatings as acceptable to Citizens and that its legal team is working on the matter.
Citizens has a process for these cases. Its June 2024 commercial bulletin amended Commercial Lines Rule 103.11, effective August 1, 2024, to allow a one-time remaining-useful-life exception beyond the stated roof age once Underwriting approves the documentation. The bulletin also says Citizens sends a courtesy letter when roof age will lead to nonrenewal and the reported remaining life is one year or less. The letter comes in addition to a nonrenewal notice, not in place of one. A related Citizens notice says a roof with zero or one year of remaining life must be replaced before the policy expires in order to renew. If the nonrenewal was issued only for failure to replace, Citizens will rescind it once acceptable replacement documentation arrives before expiration.
In its September follow-up, FIRM described the core dispute as the gap between SIRS timelines and Citizens' own evaluation of roof life, and encouraged affected associations to contact their agent and act early.
What to Look For During the Seven Days
With that background, these are the details in a Key West condo's resale documents that relate most directly to the roof:
- The roof section of the SIRS. Find the roof type, the estimated remaining useful life and the replacement cost, then compare that remaining life with the commercial thresholds above.
- The date of the last full replacement. Insurers measure roof age from full replacement, and a coating doesn't restart that clock.
- The budget and reserve balance. Check whether the money set aside for the roof could cover a replacement on the insurer's timeline as well as the reserve study's.
- The association's insurance status. Board minutes or correspondence may show whether the master policy has received a courtesy letter, a roof inspection request or a nonrenewal notice.
- The statutory contract language. The statute calls for language either acknowledging receipt of the current milestone summary and SIRS or stating that they have not been completed or are not required, and a Florida attorney can confirm how that applies to a given contract.
The Cottage Side of the Comparison
On a single-family Key West home, the protections in 627.7011 apply to the owner's own policy, and for roofs 15 years or older the inspection path gives the homeowner a way to show remaining life. Citizens says older roofs need a Florida-licensed inspection on its roof form, and when remaining life is under five years, proof of full replacement is required before a policy is written.
In Old Town, a house brings a different authority into the roof decision. The city says exterior work in the historic district, including repairs, needs approval from the Historic Architectural Review Commission before any required building permit. The city's HARC guidelines, adopted in 2025, call for in-kind roof replacement. Historic metal shingles are replaced with similar metal shingles, not V-crimp, while an existing V-crimp roof may be replaced with metal shingles. V-crimp or asphalt shingles may be used on noncontributing structures if they do not detract from nearby historic properties. An unpermitted standing-seam roof needs Commission approval before it can be replaced in kind.
So a cottage owner works with the insurer, the inspector and HARC, but the decision and the timing are theirs. A condo owner shares a roof with every other unit, and the master policy's rules decide when everyone pays for it.
This post is general information about published rules and public reporting, not legal, insurance or financial advice. Please confirm how any of it applies to a specific property with a Florida attorney and a licensed insurance agent.
If you are weighing a Key West condo and want help gathering the SIRS, the milestone summary and the association's insurance history before your seven business days begin, I'm glad to work through those documents with you. Joyce Craul can help you plan your questions so you go into that window prepared. Let's Connect.
