Section 1: Overview — Condo safety inspections in Michigan

Michigan hasn't enacted a milestone or structural inspection statute for condominiums and has no structural integrity reserve study requirement of the kind Florida adopted in 2022.¹ Safety-inspection obligations for Michigan condominiums come from a layered set of sources rather than a single condo-safety-inspection law: the association's general duty to maintain, repair, and replace the common elements under the Michigan Condominium Act; the statewide construction code and local fire codes; property-insurance carrier requirements; and the recorded declaration and bylaws.²

The Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.101 et seq., enacted in 1978, is a detailed condominium statute that also governs site condominiums, but it imposes no scheduled structural or milestone inspection.³ Severe freeze-thaw cycles, heavy snow and ice loads, and Great Lakes moisture make structural maintenance a practical concern in Michigan, but those pressures get addressed through the construction code and insurance market rather than a statutory inspection mandate.⁴ Nationally, Michigan sits in the no-mandate category, apart from statutory-mandate states such as Florida.¹ The sections below lay out the statutory and regulatory framework, the concrete compliance obligations, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2: The statutory and regulatory framework

2A. The Michigan Condominium Act: maintenance, repair, and insurance

The Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.101 et seq. (1978 PA 59, effective July 1, 1978), is a detailed condominium statute that also governs site condominiums.³ Under the Act, the administration of a condominium project is governed by bylaws recorded as part of the master deed, and the bylaws, along with the other condominium documents, dictate the rights and obligations of a co-owner, including the allocation of maintenance responsibility between the association and unit owners.⁵

The Michigan Supreme Court has confirmed that a condominium association's bylaws obligate it to maintain the common elements in exchange for the dues co-owners pay.⁶ Every co-owner, tenant, and occupant must comply with the master deed, bylaws, and rules and this Act.⁷

On insurance, the Act treats insurance proceeds connected with common elements as receipts of administration and requires the bylaws to address the courses of action in the event of partial or complete destruction of the buildings; the Act permits, but doesn't by its own terms compel, bylaw provisions for insuring co-owners against project risks.⁸

The administrative rules under the Act require the bylaws to provide that the association carry fire and extended coverage, vandalism and malicious mischief, and, where applicable, liability and workers' disability compensation insurance.⁹

The maintenance duty under the Act is a general standard; the Act doesn't impose a scheduled structural or milestone inspection. On reserves, the Act requires the association to maintain a reserve fund for major repairs and replacement of common elements, and Michigan Administrative Code R 559.511 requires a reserve fund at least equal to 10 percent of the association's current annual budget, on a noncumulative basis, but Michigan doesn't mandate a reserve study, and a reserve study isn't a structural inspection.¹⁰

2B. The statewide construction code, fire and life safety, and elevators

Michigan's statewide construction code is administered by the Bureau of Construction Codes within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) under the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531, which authorizes rules relating to the construction, alteration, demolition, occupancy, and use of buildings.¹¹ The Michigan Building Code is based on the 2015 International Building Code with state amendments and governs construction and alteration; local governments generally enforce the code through a local enforcing agency and building official, while LARA oversees the system and enforces in jurisdictions without a local program.¹²

This code governs how multifamily and high-rise condominium buildings are built and altered; it doesn't impose a periodic whole-building structural inspection of the building envelope. Fire and life-safety enforcement runs through the Bureau of Fire Services and the State Fire Marshal within LARA, under the Fire Prevention Code, 1941 PA 207, and through local fire departments.¹³

The Bureau's Field Services/Fire Marshal Division conducts ongoing inspections of enumerated state-regulated facilities such as hospitals, homes for the aged, adult foster care homes, dormitories, and schools, a list that doesn't include general residential condominium buildings.¹⁴

Elevators are regulated by the Elevator Section of the Bureau of Construction Codes under the Michigan Elevator Code, which requires installation and alteration permits, annual safety inspections, and a current certificate of operation.¹⁵ These regimes impose obligations at the construction phase and for specific systems such as fire protection and elevators, but they don't create a comprehensive periodic structural inspection of the building envelope of the kind Florida mandates.

2C. Insurance, the declaration, and the practical inspection drivers

The Act and its administrative rules require property and liability insurance at the bylaw level, but the practical inspection cadence for many Michigan condominiums is set by carrier conditions and the declaration rather than by statute.⁹ Property-casualty carriers commonly impose their own inspection and condition requirements as a condition of coverage or renewal; these are market-driven, not statutory.¹⁶

The recorded declaration, master deed, and bylaws are the operative documents: they allocate maintenance responsibility, and any fixed inspection schedule a Michigan condominium follows typically originates in those documents and in board policy, not in the Condominium Act.⁵ Where an association incorporates, the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act, MCL 450.2101 et seq. (1982 PA 162), supplies corporate formalities such as director duties and record-keeping; it imposes no inspection duty.¹⁷ The operational takeaway: absent a statutory inspection mandate, a Michigan condominium's actual obligations come from the statewide construction code and local fire codes, insurer conditions, and the declaration, read together.

Section 3: Compliance obligations

There's no single Michigan condo-safety-inspection statute. The obligations below are code-based, insurer-driven, or declaration-based, grouped by category.

A. Structural and building-envelope obligations

The core structural obligation is a general duty to maintain, repair, and replace the common elements — as allocated by the bylaws — plus compliance with the state building code at construction and alteration; there's no periodic statutory structural inspection.⁶ Source type: statutory (general maintenance duty via the Condominium Act and bylaws) and building code (construction and alteration).¹¹ Building work must comply with the Michigan Building Code administered under the Stille-DeRossett-Hale Act. Source type: building code.¹²

B. Fire and life-safety obligations

Condominium buildings must meet the fire and life-safety provisions of the construction code at construction and alteration, and are subject to local fire department authority and the Fire Prevention Code administered by the Bureau of Fire Services. Source type: building/fire code.¹³ Ongoing state Fire Marshal inspections target enumerated state-regulated occupancies, not general residential condominium buildings. Source type: fire code.¹⁴

C. Elevator and mechanical-systems obligations

Condominium elevators require installation and alteration permits, annual safety inspections, and a current certificate of operation under the Michigan Elevator Code; building owners and managers are responsible for keeping the certificate current. Source type: building code (elevator).¹⁵

D. Reserve, insurance, and disclosure obligations

The association must maintain a reserve fund for major repairs and replacement of common elements — minimum 10 percent of the annual budget, noncumulative; Michigan doesn't require a reserve study. Source type: statutory/administrative rule.¹⁰ The bylaws must provide that the association carry fire and extended coverage and related insurance. Source type: statutory/administrative rule.⁹ An association with annual revenues greater than $20,000 must have its books and financial statements independently audited or reviewed annually unless it opts out by member vote. Source type: statutory.¹⁸ Carrier-imposed inspection or condition requirements attach as a matter of the insurance contract. Source type: insurance-driven.¹⁶

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

C. Active legislative debates

Post-Surfside momentum in Michigan is centered on reserve-study legislation — HB 5784 of 2026 and its predecessor HB 5019 — not on a milestone, structural, or building-envelope inspection mandate; no such inspection bill has been enacted.¹⁹

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Michigan is a no-statutory-mandate state for condominium safety inspections, in contrast to statutory-mandate jurisdictions. Florida, responding to the June 2021 Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, enacted a milestone structural inspection program (Fla. Stat. 553.899) through Senate Bill 4-D, signed in May 2022, along with a structural integrity reserve study requirement; a condominium association must have a milestone inspection performed for each building three or more stories in height by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years of age (25 years within three miles of a coastline) and every 10 years after that.²²

California requires the board of a condominium association to cause a visual inspection of exterior elevated elements — such as balconies and walkways — to be conducted by a licensed structural engineer or architect at least once every nine years under Civil Code 5551, a statute that originated in 2019's SB 326 after the 2015 Berkeley balcony collapse.²³ Michigan has neither regime.

For multi-state operators, the practical implication is that a firm managing Florida condominiums must not assume Florida's milestone or SIRS obligations exist in Michigan, and the absence of a Michigan mandate doesn't eliminate liability, either, because the duty to maintain, the building and fire codes, and insurer conditions still apply. As of this review, Michigan shows legislative momentum only toward a reserve-study requirement, not toward a structural or milestone inspection mandate.¹⁹ Michigan's existing 10-percent-of-budget reserve-fund floor under Rule 559.511 lines up with the reserve-funding threshold federal FHA project-approval review independently applies, so a Michigan association already meeting the state floor is generating documentation a federal reviewer would recognize — though FHA approval, like VA approval, remains a separate determination a project must obtain on its own.²⁴

1. Florida DBPR, Division of Condominiums, Milestone Inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Study requirements ↩
2. Michigan Condominium Act, 1978 PA 59, MCL 559.101 et seq. ↩
3. MCL Act 59 of 1978, Condominium Act (History: 1978, Act 59, Eff. July 1, 1978) ↩
4. Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, 1972 PA 230 ↩
5. MCL 559.153, Bylaws governing administration of condominium project ↩
6. Janini v London Townhouses Condominium Ass'n, 514 Mich 86 (2024) ↩
7. MCL 559.165, Compliance with master deed, bylaws, rules, and regulations ↩
8. MCL 559.154, Bylaws; mandatory provisions (insurance proceeds and destruction of buildings) ↩
9. Mich. Admin. Code R 559.508, Insurance (bylaws mandatory provisions) ↩
10. MCL 559.205, Reserve fund for major repairs and replacement of common elements ↩
11. Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act, 1972 PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531 ↩
12. LARA Bureau of Construction Codes ↩
13. LARA Bureau of Fire Services, State Fire Marshal (Fire Prevention Code, 1941 PA 207) ↩
14. LARA Bureau of Fire Services, Field Services Division (state-regulated facility inspections) ↩
15. LARA Bureau of Construction Codes, Elevator Section ↩
16. MCL 559.154 (insurance receipts of administration); carrier conditions arise by contract ↩
17. Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act, 1982 PA 162, MCL 450.2101 ↩
18. MCL 559.157, Books, records, and financial statements; audit or review; opt-out ↩
19. House Bill 5784 of 2026, Michigan Legislature ↩
20. House Bill 5019 of 2023, Michigan Legislature ↩
21. Letvin v The Village at Grand Traverse Commons Condominium Ass'n (Docket No. 376558, July 13, 2026) ↩
22. Florida DBPR, Milestone Inspections and SIRS (Fla. Stat. 553.899; SB 4-D, 2022) ↩
23. California Civil Code § 5551 ↩
24. HUD, Form HUD-9992 Instructions (Handbook 4000.1 Section II.C standards; reserve funding generally at least 10 percent of budget) ↩