Hurricane Checklist for Condo & HOA Boards

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

Published September 22, 2026
Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 23, 2026
Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Clubs · Marinas

Key takeaways

The legal work of hurricane recovery is done before June 1: a current insurance appraisal and policy review, an emergency-powers resolution, pre-qualified contractors with reviewed contract forms, records backed up off-site, and a communications plan.
Florida boards have statutory emergency powers during a declared emergency, but only for what is reasonably necessary and only for a reasonable time; a resolution adopted in advance tells directors how and when to use them.
Post-storm contracts are where associations lose the most money: no assignments of benefits, no advance payments to roofers, license and insurance verified, scope and price in writing.
Insurance claims run on statutory clocks (notice within one year of the loss) and on documentation the board must gather before the cleanup begins.

Every Southwest Florida association will face a hurricane, and the decisions that determine whether it recovers in a year or litigates for five are made before the storm forms. This checklist collects the legal and governance steps a condominium, cooperative or homeowners association board should complete each spring, organized by the order in which they matter. Hamilton Mikes has guided communities through Charley, Wilma, Irma, Ian and Milton; every item below reflects a problem we have seen a board face without it.

1. Governance: decide in advance who decides

Adopt an emergency-powers resolution. Chapters 718, 719 and 720 grant boards specific powers during a declared state of emergency: to meet on short notice, relocate the office, designate assistant officers, contract for debris removal, implement a disaster plan, determine whether the property is habitable, mitigate further damage, and levy assessments and borrow without an owner vote when reasonably necessary. A resolution adopted before the season identifies who exercises which power, how decisions are documented, and when the board returns to normal procedures. Our emergency powers article explains the limits.
Adopt or update the disaster plan the statutes let the board implement: evacuation triggers, shutdown procedures for elevators, pools, fuel docks and gates, re-entry rules, and a staffing plan for the manager and vendors.
Establish a line of succession for the president and treasurer and confirm bank signature authority for at least two directors who will be in the state.
Confirm spending authority. Know the dollar limits in the documents for board action without an owner vote, and the emergency exceptions.

2. Insurance: confirm coverage while you can still fix it

Appraisal. Chapter 718 requires the replacement cost used for property coverage to be determined by an independent appraisal at least every 36 months. Confirm the appraisal is current and that construction-cost inflation has not left the building underinsured.
Policy review with counsel and the agent. Windstorm deductible (percentage and calendar-year basis), ordinance-and-law coverage, flood coverage for common elements and its limits, business income or loss of assessments, debris removal sublimits, and D&O. Understand the association's deductible before the storm so the special assessment or reserve plan to fund it is not a surprise.
Owner notice. Send owners a pre-season letter explaining what the association's policy covers and what their HO-6 or homeowners policies must cover (contents, floor and wall coverings, cabinets, appliances, loss assessment coverage). Confusion about this allocation causes more post-storm disputes than any other insurance issue.
Claim contacts and documents in one place: policy numbers, agent and carrier claim numbers, appraisal, engineering reports, roof and window replacement dates and warranties.
Pre-loss documentation. Photograph and video every building elevation, roof, pool deck, seawall, dock, clubhouse interior and mechanical room each spring. Store it off-site with the policy file.

3. Contractors: sign nothing after the storm you did not review before it

Pre-qualify roofing, restoration, water-mitigation, debris-removal, tree and elevator contractors: license verification with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, certificates of insurance naming the association as additional insured, references from other associations.
Review contract forms now. Have counsel approve mitigation and repair agreement forms with unit pricing, a not-to-exceed authorization for emergency work, lien-release requirements, and no advance payments beyond what the statute and good practice allow.
No assignments of benefits. For policies issued on or after January 1, 2023, assignments of post-loss insurance benefits are prohibited; any contractor form that contains one is unlawful and a red flag. Roofing contractors may not offer to waive or pay the deductible, and price gouging during a declared emergency is illegal.
Engineer and adjuster on call. Retain the association's engineer and, if the board wants one, a public adjuster or claims consultant before the season, with fee agreements reviewed by counsel. Public adjuster fees are capped for claims arising from a declared emergency.

4. Records: assume the office will be unusable

Back up the official records to the cloud or an off-site location: governing documents, insurance policies, contracts, bank records, owner roster with emails and cell numbers, minutes, plans, permits, engineering reports, SIRS and milestone reports. The statutes allow electronic maintenance of records; a storm is when it pays off.
Website. If the association maintains a website or application, confirm the required documents are posted and the login list is current; it becomes the communication hub after the storm.
Owner contact and consent list. Collect email addresses and cell numbers and, for owners who consent, written consent to receive notices electronically, so that post-storm meetings and assessments can be noticed lawfully.
Financial access. Confirm online banking access for the treasurer and manager from outside the office, wire-verification procedures (fraud spikes after storms), and an emergency line of credit or reserve access plan.

5. Property: statutory items owners will ask about

Hurricane protection specifications. Chapter 718 requires condominium boards to adopt hurricane protection specifications (shutters, impact glass, code-compliant windows and doors); owners may install conforming protection and the board may not refuse it. Legislation enacted in 2024 imposed a parallel requirement on HOAs. Adopt or update the specifications before owners start installing. Since July 1, 2026, an HOA or its architectural committee may not require the owner to obtain a building permit before it reviews the application; section 720.3035(1)(c) bars the permit as a prerequisite for review. Approval may still be conditioned on any permit the work in fact requires.
Temporary flood barriers. Effective July 1, 2026, section 553.79(1)(h) requires a local government that issues building permits to exempt the owner of a single-family dwelling, or the owner's contractor, from the permit requirement for installing temporary residential hurricane and flood protection walls or barriers. The barrier must be non-habitable and non-load-bearing, installed on the property of a single-family or two-family dwelling or townhouse, constructed to mitigate or prevent storm surge or floodwaters from entering a structure or property, installed by a contractor licensed under part I of chapter 489, and compliant with local zoning, drainage, easement and setback requirements. The exemption does not apply to property partly or wholly in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code, and the owner or contractor must submit a written request for the exemption to the local enforcement agency with documentation of the work. Section 553.79(1)(g) separately exempts work on a single-family dwelling valued at less than $7,500, again excluding flood hazard areas and excluding electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical and gas work. These exemptions run against the local government's permit requirement. They do not by their terms waive the association's architectural review or the recorded covenants, and in our view a board may still require an application for a barrier the declaration reaches. Whether a temporary flood barrier is hurricane protection for which the board must adopt specifications is not settled; a board that writes barriers into its specifications removes the question before an owner asks it.
Common-element protection and shutdown. Written procedures for closing shutters on common areas, securing pool furniture and equipment, elevator recall, generator fuel, fuel dock and marina shutdown, landscaping and drainage clearance, gates left in fail-safe position.
Owner instructions. A pre-season notice on shutters, balcony furniture, unit water and electric shutoffs, vehicle removal from low-lying garages, keys and emergency contacts left with management, and what the association will and will not do inside units.

6. Communications: one voice, fixed channels

Designate one spokesperson (usually the president or manager) and one written channel (email plus the website), and tell owners in advance where information will appear.
Prepare templates now: pre-storm notice, evacuation notice, post-storm status report, habitability notice, claim status update, special assessment notice.
Coordinate with the management company on its own continuity plan and staff availability.

7. Immediately after the storm

Safety first: no re-entry until emergency officials or licensed professionals advise it is safe; document the basis for every habitability decision.
Photograph and video everything before cleanup that is not required to prevent further damage.
Give written notice of the claim to every carrier at once; Florida law generally bars new claims not noticed within one year of the loss and supplemental claims after eighteen months.
Sign only the pre-approved emergency mitigation authorization, then bring the full contracts to counsel.
Hold the board meeting the emergency-powers resolution contemplates, minute the decisions, and issue the first owner communication within 48 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hurricane Preparation

When should the board start its hurricane preparation?

In March or April, so that the appraisal, policy review, contractor pre-qualification and resolutions are complete before the season opens on June 1. Engineers, appraisers and counsel are far more available in the spring than in September.

Can the board decide who may return to the building after a storm?

Yes. Under the emergency-powers statutes the board may determine whether the property can be safely inhabited, based on the advice of emergency management officials or licensed professionals, and may require evacuation. The decision and its basis should be documented in the minutes.

Do we need an owner vote to hire a restoration contractor after a hurricane?

Usually not. Emergency repairs to protect the property are within the board's authority, and during a declared emergency the board may contract, assess and borrow without the votes the documents would otherwise require, when reasonably necessary. Competitive-bid requirements are relaxed for emergencies, but license, insurance and contract review are not.

What should owners insure themselves?

In a condominium, owners are responsible for personal property, floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, built-in cabinets and countertops and window treatments, and for loss assessment coverage; the association insures the rest of the building. Tell owners this every spring in writing.

Can we require owners to install shutters?

Boards must adopt hurricane protection specifications and may not refuse conforming installations; whether the association may require protection or install it as a common expense depends on the documents and the statute's provisions on owner-installed protection. Ask counsel before adopting a mandate. The board also may not make the owner produce a building permit before it reviews the application; section 720.3035(1)(c) has barred that since July 1, 2026.

Does an owner need a building permit for hurricane protection?

It depends on the work and where the home sits. Since July 1, 2026, section 553.79(1)(h) requires local governments to exempt temporary residential hurricane and flood protection walls and barriers that meet the conditions the paragraph lists, including installation by a contractor licensed under part I of chapter 489. Section 553.79(1)(g) exempts work on a single-family dwelling valued at less than $7,500. Both exemptions require a written request to the local enforcement agency, and neither applies to property in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code. The $7,500 exemption also excludes structural work, which a permanently attached shutter or impact-window installation usually involves. Confirm with the building department rather than assuming either way.

How long do we have to report a claim?

Florida law generally requires notice of a new property insurance claim within one year of the date of loss and of a supplemental or reopened claim within eighteen months. Report immediately anyway; late-discovered damage is much easier to add to an open claim than to a closed one.

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes helps Southwest Florida boards prepare for hurricane season and guides them through recovery, from emergency-powers resolutions and insurance reviews to restoration contracts and claims. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Disaster Recovery page.

Statutes and authorities referenced

§ 718.1265, § 719.128 and § 720.316, Fla. Stat. (emergency powers)
§ 718.111(11), Fla. Stat. (association insurance; appraisal every 36 months)
§ 718.113(5), Fla. Stat. (hurricane protection specifications for condominiums)
§ 720.3035(6), Fla. Stat. (HOA hurricane protection specifications, 2024)
§ 720.3035(1)(c), Fla. Stat. (HOA or architectural committee may not require a building permit as a prerequisite for its review; added by ch. 2026-63, effective July 1, 2026)
§ 553.79(1)(g)–(h), Fla. Stat. (building permit exemptions for single-family work valued at less than $7,500 and for temporary residential hurricane and flood protection walls and barriers; added by ch. 2026-63, effective July 1, 2026)
§ 627.70132, Fla. Stat. (claim notice deadlines)
§ 627.7152, Fla. Stat. (assignment of benefits prohibited for policies issued after Jan. 1, 2023)
§ 489.147, Fla. Stat. (roofing contractor solicitation and deductible practices)
§ 718.111(12) and § 720.303(4), Fla. Stat. (official records; electronic maintenance)

About this article. This article is published by Hamilton Mikes, P.A. for general educational purposes. It is not legal advice, it is not a legal opinion, and it is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer who has reviewed your association's governing documents and the facts of your situation. Reading it, downloading it, or corresponding with the firm about it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No such relationship arises until the firm and the client have signed a written engagement agreement. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information to the firm until a conflicts check has been completed and an engagement is confirmed in writing; information sent before that point may not be treated as privileged.

Scope and currency. This article addresses Florida law as applied to Florida community associations, and the firm is licensed to practice in Florida only. Nothing here should be taken as a statement of the law of any other jurisdiction. Florida's community association statutes have been amended in every regular session since 2021, and subsection numbering has moved more than once in that period. Each article states the edition of the Florida Statutes it was written against. The law may have changed after that date, an appellate court may have construed a provision differently, and an administrative rule or a local ordinance may impose requirements this article does not address.

Your governing documents control. Much of what governs a Florida association is not in the statutes at all. Declarations, articles of incorporation, bylaws, rules, plats and recorded amendments differ from community to community, and on many questions they set the rule while the statute sets only a floor or a default. A procedure that is correct in one association may be a breach of the documents in the association next door. No general article can tell you which is which for your community.

Why general information is not advice. Legal questions are resolved by applying the law to particular facts as a judge, jury, arbitrator or hearing officer finds them. An outcome that appears clear in the abstract frequently turns on the documents, the chronology, the board's own prior conduct, and the procedural posture, none of which an article can anticipate. A lawyer supplies what information cannot: the judgment to identify which facts matter, the experience to know how a court or the Division is likely to treat them, the ability to choose among the courses of action actually available, and the advocacy to carry the association's position through negotiation, hearing or trial.

The standard of care, and the protection the statute attaches to counsel. A director of a Florida community association is held to the standard in section 617.0830, Florida Statutes: to act in good faith, in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and to discharge the duties of the office with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would reasonably believe appropriate under similar circumstances. That standard is measured against the decision the board actually faced, on the record actually before it. The same statute supplies the protection that goes with the duty. Under section 617.0830(4) and (5)(b), a director who has no knowledge making reliance unwarranted is entitled to rely on information, opinions, reports and statements prepared or presented by legal counsel retained by the association as to matters the director reasonably believes are within counsel's professional competence. The Legislature has written the prudent course into the statute. A board that obtains advice on its own documents and its own facts, and acts on that advice, is standing on ground the statute expressly protects. Nothing on this website confers that protection. General information, however carefully prepared, is not advice on your declaration, your amendments, your board's history or your dispute, and a director who relies on it in place of counsel forgoes a statutory protection that was available for the asking.

Personal exposure is real. Service on an association board is usually uncompensated, but volunteer status is not itself immunity. Under section 617.0834, Florida Statutes, a director or an officer is not personally liable in monetary damages for a statement, vote, decision, or failure to act in that role unless two things are both true: the director or officer breached or failed to perform the duties of the office, and that breach was a violation of the criminal law, a transaction from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit, conscious disregard or willful misconduct in a proceeding brought by or in the right of the corporation, or recklessness or bad faith in a proceeding brought by anyone else. That protection turns on how the director acted, not on whether the director was paid. Chapters 718, 719 and 720 add consequences of their own, including removal from office, civil penalties assessed against the individual for certain willful and knowing violations, and in defined circumstances criminal liability. Whether any of that reaches a particular director depends entirely on the facts and on the director's conduct. The practical point is narrower and more useful: the decisions that generate this exposure — levying an assessment, enforcing a covenant, denying a transfer, withholding a record, entering a unit, terminating a contract, signing for construction work — are precisely the decisions on which general information is least adequate, and on which counsel costs least relative to what is at stake.

No guarantee; prior results. The firm makes no representation or warranty that the information in this article is complete, current or applicable to any particular matter, and disclaims liability to any person for any action taken or not taken in reliance on it. Any description of prior results does not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter; every case turns on its own facts, documents and record.

Do not act on this article alone. If your association faces a decision of consequence, obtain advice from a Florida-licensed attorney who has read your governing documents and the relevant record before the board votes, signs, sends or forecloses. Hamilton Mikes, P.A. represents community associations throughout Southwest Florida and can be reached at 239-594-7227.

Hurricane Preparation Checklist for Florida Condo and HOA Boards