Hi Bill,
billcook wrote:What is the criteria to determine what one hundred percent is, to be able to see what the fifty percent is?
- For improvements and repairs - the value before the improvement or repairs are started.
- For damaged buildings and restoration - the value before the damage occurred.
But that is only half way to knowing what is needed, all the above does is establish the 100% mark and the 50% mark, not what counts toward that cost. Now it gets complicated in determining what costs are, and are not, included to determine the cost of the improvement or restoration.
Being as you are in Florida, the reference starts with the Florida Building Code, Existing Buildings:
- CHAPTER 2
- - DEFINITIONS
- - - SECTION 202
- - - - GENERAL DEFINITIONS
- - - - - SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. See Section 3109.2 of the Florida Building Code, Building
Which takes us to the Florida Building Code, Building:
- SECTION 3109.2
- - SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. See definition in Section 161.54(12), Florida Statutes.
Which now takes us to 161.54(2) F.S.:
- (12) "Substantial improvement" means any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or improvement of a structure when the actual cost of the improvement or repair of the structure to its pre-damage condition equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure either:
- - (a) Before the improvement or repair is started; or
- - (b) If the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred.
- - The total cost does not include nonstructural interior finishings, including, but not limited to, finish flooring and floor coverings, base molding, nonstructural substrates, drywall, plaster, paneling, wall covering, tapestries, window treatments, decorative masonry, paint, interior doors, tile, cabinets, moldings and millwork, decorative metal work, vanities, electrical receptacles, electrical switches, electrical fixtures, intercoms, communications and sound systems, security systems, HVAC grills and decorative trim, freestanding metal fireplaces, appliances, water closets, tubs and shower enclosures, lavatories, and water heaters, or roof coverings, except when determining whether the structure has been substantially improved as a result of a single improvement or repair.
- - For the purposes of this definition, "substantial improvement" is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however, include either any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions or any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Inventory of Historic Places.