When the Governor declares a state of emergency for the area in which a Florida condominium, cooperative or homeowners association is located, the board acquires a set of statutory emergency powers: to meet on short notice, implement a disaster plan, decide whether the property can safely be occupied, mitigate further damage, contract for emergency work, and levy assessments and borrow money without the owner votes the governing documents would otherwise require. Sections 718.1265, 719.128 and 720.316 grant these powers, and they are limited in two ways that decide most disputes: they extend only to what is reasonably necessary to protect health, safety and welfare, and they last only as long as the emergency and a reasonable time afterward. All three sections also condition the grant on the board acting "consistent with s. 617.0830," the Chapter 617 duty standard, which the Legislature rewrote effective July 1, 2026.
When the powers arise
The emergency powers may be exercised in response to damage or injury caused by, or anticipated in connection with, an event for which a state of emergency has been declared under Chapter 252 in the locale where the community is located. The trigger is the Governor's executive order, not the board's own assessment of conditions. For a hurricane, the order is typically issued days before landfall, so the powers are available for pre-storm decisions such as evacuation and shutdown as well as for the aftermath.
The powers apply "unless specifically prohibited by the declaration or other recorded governing documents." Almost no documents prohibit them, but the board should confirm.
What the board may do
The statutes list the powers. The board may, to the extent allowed by law:
- Conduct board and membership meetings with notice given as is practicable, by any available means, and cancel or reschedule any meeting.
- Designate assistant officers who are not directors, to act if an officer is incapacitated or unavailable.
- Relocate the association's principal office or designate an alternative office.
- Enter into agreements with local governments to have the property counted as part of a public right-of-way for debris removal and similar purposes.
- Implement a disaster plan before, during or after the event, including shutting down or turning off elevators, electricity, water, sewer, security systems, air conditioners or other equipment, and closing amenities.
- Determine any portion of the property that is unavailable for entry or occupancy, based on the advice of emergency management officials or licensed professionals, and require evacuation of the property; owners and occupants who fail to evacuate after such a determination do so at their own risk and may not hold the association liable.
- Determine whether the property can be safely inhabited or occupied, again based on the advice of emergency management officials or licensed professionals, and require the property to remain vacant until it can.
- Mitigate further damage, including taking action to contract for the removal of debris and to prevent or mitigate the spread of fungus or mold by removing and disposing of wet drywall, insulation, carpet, cabinetry and other fixtures on or within the property, even if an owner is responsible for those items, and even if the removal would otherwise require a vote.
- Contract, on behalf of owners, for items for which owners are otherwise responsible but which are necessary to prevent further damage; the owners are then responsible to the association for the cost.
- Implement a disaster plan's temporary measures, and contract for maintenance and repair of common elements and association property.
- Levy special assessments without a vote of the owners.
- Borrow money and pledge association assets as collateral to fund emergency repairs and carry out the association's duties, without a vote of the owners.
The two limits that matter
Reasonable necessity. Every emergency power is limited to what is reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the association and the owners, occupants and their families and guests. Replacing a roof that is leaking into units is necessary; re-landscaping the entrance is not. A special assessment sized to the insurance deductible and the mitigation contracts is necessary; one that also funds the clubhouse renovation the board wanted anyway will be challenged, and the association's fee exposure in that challenge runs both ways.
Duration. The powers may be exercised only during the emergency and for a reasonable time afterward. The statutes do not fix the period; it depends on the damage and on when normal governance (14-day notices, owner meetings, documents-based votes) becomes practicable again. A board that is still adopting assessments under emergency powers a year after the storm, when the community has power and owners are back, is on the wrong side of the line. Better practice is to adopt a resolution declaring the emergency period ended once the essential decisions are made, and to return to the ordinary procedures for everything else.
The Chapter 617 condition, and what changed in 2026
The grant is also conditioned on the board's own conduct. Sections 718.1265(1), 719.128(1) and 720.316(1) each give the board the listed powers only "consistent with s. 617.0830." That cross-reference is easy to read past, and until 2026 there was little reason not to. Chapter 2026-168, Laws of Florida, changed that. It reenacted all three emergency-powers sections on July 1, 2026 without altering a word of them, and in the same act rewrote section 617.0830. The condominium, cooperative and HOA text a board reads today is the text it read in 2025. The duty standard that text points to is not.
Section 617.0830 now states the duty in two subsections. A director must act in good faith and in a manner the director reasonably believes is in the best interests of the corporation. A director must also discharge the duties of the office with the care an ordinary prudent person in a like position would reasonably believe appropriate under similar circumstances, and subsection (2) says that standard governs "when becoming informed in connection with a decisionmaking function or devoting attention to an oversight function." That second phrase describes storm work precisely. A board deciding on incomplete information at eleven at night is performing a decisionmaking function; the same board watching a mitigation contractor work through the following month is performing an oversight function. Both are now named in the statute the emergency powers are measured against.
The reliance provisions are what a board should actually use. Under section 617.0830(3) through (5), a director who has no knowledge making reliance unwarranted may rely on officers and employees the director reasonably believes reliable and competent, on legal counsel, public accountants and other persons retained by the association as to matters within their professional or expert competence, and on a board committee of which the director is not a member. That protection was in the statute before the rewrite and survived it; the subsection numbers moved, so a policy or emergency-powers resolution that pinpoints an older number should be corrected. The practical consequence is the one stated below: habitability and closure decisions should rest on the written advice of an emergency management official or a licensed professional, because that is what converts an urgent judgment call into a decision the statute protects.
In our view the rewrite does not change what a board may do in a storm. The powers in Chapters 718, 719 and 720 are unchanged, the two limits above are unchanged, and a board that documented its emergency decisions correctly in 2025 is documenting them correctly in 2026. What changed is the standard a court or arbitrator will state when it measures those decisions, and the subsection numbers counsel will cite when defending them.
Documenting emergency decisions
Emergency decisions are the ones most likely to be questioned later, by owners, insurers, lenders and, in serious cases, the Division. Each should be recorded in minutes that state:
- The executive order that declared the emergency and the date.
- The power being exercised and the statutory basis.
- The facts making the action necessary, including the advice of the emergency official, engineer or other licensed professional relied on for habitability and closure decisions.
- The notice actually given for the meeting and why more was not practicable.
- For assessments and borrowing: the amount, the purpose, and the plan to return to normal governance.
Owners should receive prompt written notice of each significant decision, even where the statute did not require advance notice of the meeting.
Habitability, evacuation and liability
The power to declare portions of the property unavailable for occupancy, and to require evacuation, carries a corresponding protection: owners and occupants who do not comply act at their own risk and may not hold the association liable for their failure to evacuate. That protection depends on the board having made the determination properly, on the advice of officials or professionals, and having communicated it. Boards should not make habitability calls by consensus at the pool deck; obtain the engineer's or fire marshal's written or emailed advice and put it in the record.
Contracting under emergency powers
The emergency statutes relax the vote and notice requirements, not the rules of good contracting. Competitive bidding requirements are excepted for emergencies, but licensure, insurance, written scope and pricing, lien releases and the prohibitions on assignments of benefits and advance-payment demands all still apply. The firm's $368,000 judgment for Windsor West Condominium Association against ShieldTech Roofing Solutions, a roofing contractor that demanded advance payments after Hurricane Ian, arose from exactly this window. Our restoration contracts article covers the terms that matter.
Homeowners associations and cooperatives
Sections 720.316 and 719.128 grant HOA and cooperative boards materially the same powers, subject to the same limits. HOA boards should note that their communities' most common emergency issues, drainage, downed trees and fences, gate and road repairs, and debris removal from private roads, frequently involve county and utility coordination, and the power to contract with local governments for debris purposes is often the most valuable one on the list.
For community association managers: see The board needs to meet right away: what notice does an emergency meeting require? in the Manager Resource Center.
Frequently Asked Questions About Emergency Powers
When do our emergency powers begin and end?
They are available in response to damage or anticipated damage from an event for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency for your area, and they last for the emergency and a reasonable time afterward. The board should adopt a resolution when it returns to normal procedures.
Can we hold a board meeting by phone or email with no notice?
During the emergency, notice may be given "as is practicable," and meetings may be held by any means available. Some notice is still required; a text or email to owners the same day, posted where possible, is the practical minimum. On the mechanics, Chapter 617 is more explicit than it was before July 1, 2026. Section 617.0820(4) permits a board to meet through any means of communication by which all participating directors may simultaneously hear each other, and a director participating that way is deemed present in person. Section 617.0820(3) lets the chair of the board, the president or a similarly situated officer, or 20 percent of the directors then in office call a meeting unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, and section 617.0820(6) sets a floor of at least 2 days' notice of the date, time and place of a special meeting. Those are Chapter 617 defaults, and the governing documents and the condominium and HOA notice statutes displace them where they apply. Email votes without a meeting remain problematic. Section 617.0821 still requires all directors to act, and it now says when the action takes effect: when the last director signs the written consent and delivers it to the association, unless the consent specifies another date. A director may withdraw by delivering a signed revocation before the last consent arrives. An email thread that never produces a signed consent from every director has not produced a board action.
Can we levy a special assessment without the owner vote our documents require?
Yes, during the emergency window and for amounts reasonably necessary to protect health, safety and welfare, such as deductibles, mitigation and emergency repairs. Amounts and purposes beyond that should follow the documents' normal procedures.
Can we remove wet drywall and cabinets inside units?
Yes. The statute expressly permits the association to remove and dispose of wet drywall, insulation, carpet, cabinetry and other fixtures to prevent the spread of mold, even where the owner is responsible for those items, and to charge the owner for items the owner would otherwise have had to address.
Can we close the pool, gym and elevators?
Yes, as part of implementing a disaster plan, based on the advice of emergency management officials or licensed professionals. Document the advice and reopen when it is safe.
Do the emergency powers let us skip competitive bids?
Yes, the competitive-bidding statutes except emergencies. They do not excuse verifying licenses and insurance, reviewing the contract, or complying with the assignment-of-benefits and roofer-solicitation laws.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes drafts emergency-powers resolutions, advises boards in real time after storms, and defends emergency decisions when they are challenged. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Disaster Recovery page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 718.1265, Fla. Stat. (condominium association emergency powers)
- § 719.128, Fla. Stat. (cooperative association emergency powers)
- § 720.316, Fla. Stat. (homeowners' association emergency powers)
- § 252.36, Fla. Stat. (Governor's declaration of a state of emergency)
- § 718.112(2)(c), Fla. Stat. (board meeting notice; emergency exception)
- Session law: SB 630 (2021) (clarifications on facility closures and habitability decisions)