Anyone Can Sign
Your Reserve Study.
Reserve studies project decades of capital obligations. They are the single most important financial document a board produces. New York requires no credential to write one, no methodology to follow, and no review to ensure the study is honest. The 2018 Surfside engineer report is the case study no one wants to see repeated in New York.
WHAT A RESERVE STUDY DOES
The 30-year financial plan most owners never see.
A reserve study identifies every major capital component of a building (roof, facade, boiler, elevator, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, common-area finishes), estimates the remaining useful life of each, projects the replacement cost, and calculates the per-year contribution required to fund those replacements as they come due. It is the building's financial future, written down.
Done correctly, a reserve study tells the board whether the building is on track financially. It tells owners whether their common charges are funding the future or being spent down. It tells lenders whether the building is creditworthy. It tells buyers whether they are walking into a special-assessment pipeline.
Done poorly -- with optimistic life estimates, understated costs, ignored components, or methodology that hides the real numbers -- a reserve study is a public-relations document. The board can claim financial health while the building deteriorates. The owners pay current common charges that look reasonable while a hidden capital shortfall builds.
THE SURFSIDE PRECEDENT
2018 report. 2021 collapse. 98 deaths.
In October 2018, the consulting engineer for Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida produced a report identifying "major structural damage" to the concrete slab below the pool deck and "abundant cracking" throughout the parking garage. The report's recommendations were estimated at $9.1 million in repairs.
The board deferred. The condominium association debated. Years passed. Some repairs were initiated; others were not. The reserve fund was not increased to a level that could absorb the projected costs without a major special assessment. Owners pushed back on assessments and the building delayed.
On June 24, 2021, the building collapsed. Ninety-eight people died.
The engineer who wrote the 2018 report did his job. The standards under which he wrote it -- and the absence of mandatory reserve studies, mandatory follow-up, or independent review of structural-integrity findings -- did not. Florida's HB 913 (signed June 23, 2025; effective July 1, 2025) imposed mandatory Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (SIRS) on all condominium buildings statewide. The legislation passed because 98 people died and the failure to act was traceable.
New York has the same regulatory gap Florida had before Surfside. The lesson has been published. New York has not yet learned it.
THE NEW YORK CREDENTIALING VOID
Five different titles, no required standard.
In New York, a reserve study can be produced by any of the following, with no statutory standard governing the work:
- A Professional Engineer (PE) licensed by NY DOS
- A Registered Architect (RA) licensed by NY DOS
- A Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- A Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) certified by APRA (a private trade body)
- An RS designation through the Community Associations Institute (CAI)
- A managing-agent employee with no certification
- A board member with a spreadsheet
Lenders requesting reserve studies for financing typically prefer PE, RA, or PRA-credentialed studies. But there is no statutory requirement. A building can present its annual budget as if it were a reserve study, label a five-year capital plan as a reserve study, or sign a reserve study with no underlying engineering analysis. None of this is fraud. It is the current standard.
WHAT A GOOD RESERVE STUDY INCLUDES
If your study doesn't have these, it isn't one.
- Component inventory. Every major capital component identified by location, quantity, and replacement unit cost.
- Useful life. Industry-standard remaining-life estimates per component, supported by published references and on-site condition assessment.
- Replacement cost. Current-dollar replacement cost, supported by recent contractor bids or RS Means / industry pricing data.
- Reserve balance. Current reserve fund balance separated by component or pooled, with cash and investment detail.
- Funding analysis. Three or more funding scenarios: full funding, threshold funding (cash flow positive), baseline funding (assessments deferred until needed).
- Cash flow projection. Year-by-year cash flow over a 30-year horizon, showing reserve balance and contribution rate.
- Risk assessment. Components where useful life estimates are uncertain or where deferred maintenance has shortened the cycle.
- Engineer or analyst credentials. Name, credential, and certification number of the responsible professional.
- Site visit documentation. Photographs and notes from on-site inspection. A reserve study based on document review alone is not a reserve study.
If your building's reserve study is missing more than two of these elements, it should be redone by a qualified professional.
PROPOSED FIX
Required studies, required credentials, required follow-up.
- Mandatory reserve study every 3 years for buildings over 25 units. Studies older than 3 years are deemed stale and may not be relied on by lenders or buyers.
- Required credential. The responsible professional must be PE, RA, or PRA. CAM-only or board-member-only reserve studies are not recognized for statutory purposes.
- Statewide methodology standard. The Standards Committee of a governance authority publishes the required methodology, refreshed every 5 years.
- Public posting. Reserve study summary (component inventory, current funding status, funding scenario) posted to the governance authority portal. Owners get access without board permission.
- Trigger-event review. Any special assessment over $5,000 per unit, or any deferral of a recommended capital project, triggers a mandatory governance authority review of the underlying reserve study.
- Surfside-style structural review. Buildings over 30 years old or over 7 stories require a structural-integrity reserve study by a PE, with mandatory follow-up if structural deficiencies are identified.