Today, I asked Claude to create a guideline for maintaining the common area of a Florida-based condominium. Here’s a handy guideline of tasks and reasonable costs involved.

BOARD GUIDELINE

Evaluating the Reasonable Cost of Common-Area Maintenance

Landscape, Pool, and Common-Area Cleaning Services — 52-Unit Condominium, Southeast Florida

Prepared for the Board of Directors •  August 16, 2026

1. Purpose and Legal Standard

This guideline gives the Board a consistent framework for evaluating whether the cost of landscape, pool, and common-area cleaning contracts is “reasonable.” It is intended to support, not replace, the Board’s business judgment, and to help the Board document decisions in a way that withstands scrutiny by owners or the legal community.

Under Fla. Stat. § 718.111, officers and directors owe a fiduciary duty to the unit owners and must act in good faith and with the care an ordinarily prudent person would exercise. Florida’s business judgment rule shields Board decisions from liability so long as the Board acted within its authority, in good faith, and not arbitrarily, capriciously, or in a manner involving self-dealing. A decision is far more defensible when the Board can show it solicited competitive information and relied on it before acting.

Fla. Stat. § 718.3026 requires competitive bids (at least two) whenever a contract for materials, equipment, or services will cost the Association more than 5% of its total annual budget, including reserves. The Board is not required to accept the lowest bid, but the bidding record itself is what demonstrates reasonableness. Contracts for landscape architect, engineering, legal, accounting, and management services are exempt from this bidding requirement, but routine landscape maintenance, pool service, and janitorial contracts are not.

2. General Framework for Evaluating Cost

• Competitive bidding: Obtain at least two to three written bids for any contract exceeding 5% of the annual budget, and as a best practice for any recurring common-area contract regardless of size.
• Written, itemized scope: Require each bid to itemize frequency, scope, materials, and any exclusions so bids can be compared on an apples-to-apples basis.
• Licensing and insurance: Confirm each vendor holds applicable state/county licenses (e.g., landscape/pest control, pool service, general liability) and current certificates of general liability and workers’ compensation insurance naming the Association as certificate holder.
• Market benchmarking: Compare pricing to prevailing rates for similarly sized communities in the same county (see Sections 3–5). A bid materially above the benchmark range should be justified in writing (e.g., larger grounds, additional amenities, storm cleanup).
• Re-bid periodically: Re-bid each service category at least every 2–3 years, even if the incumbent vendor is satisfactory, to confirm pricing remains competitive.
• Disclose conflicts: Any Board member or officer with a financial interest in a bidding vendor must disclose it and abstain from the vote, per § 718.3026(3).
• Document rationale: Record in the minutes which bids were received, why the selected vendor was chosen, and how the cost compares to the market. This record is the Board’s primary protection under the business judgment rule.

The figures in Sections 3–5 are general Southeast Florida market ranges compiled from industry sources as of 2026. They are a sanity check, not an appraisal — the Board’s own competitive bids for its specific property are the controlling evidence of a reasonable cost.

3. Landscape Maintenance

Scope of Service

Mowing, edging, and trimming of turf; shrub and hedge pruning; weeding and mulching of beds; fertilization and pest/disease control; irrigation system operation and repair; seasonal color rotation; and palm/tree trimming, including pre-hurricane-season canopy thinning.

Recommended Frequency

Task	Frequency	Notes
Mowing, edging, trimming	Weekly, Mar–Oct; biweekly, Nov–Feb	Matches St. Augustine/Bahia growing cycles common in SE FL
Shrub/hedge pruning	Monthly, or as needed for sightlines/signage
Bed weeding & mulch refresh	Bi-monthly weeding; mulch refresh 1–2x/year
Fertilization & pest/weed control	Quarterly (4–6 applications/year)	Coordinate with FL-Friendly Landscaping / local fertilizer ordinances
Irrigation inspection	Monthly	Check heads, timers, coverage
Palm & tree trimming	1–2x/year	Schedule before June 1 hurricane season start

Reasonable Cost Benchmark

For a 52-unit community, routine landscape maintenance contracts in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties typically run roughly $1,500–$4,000 per month, depending on grounds acreage, tree/palm density, and whether irrigation and fertilization are bundled or billed separately. Fertilization, pest control, and major tree/palm trimming are often quoted as separate line items rather than included in the base contract — confirm this when comparing bids.

4. Pool (and Spa, if applicable) Maintenance

Regulatory Floor

Florida Administrative Code 64E-9 (Florida Department of Health) sets minimum standards for public/community pools: free chlorine and pH must be tested at least every 2 hours during operating hours, with readings logged before opening and at midday at minimum, and cyanuric acid tested weekly where stabilized chlorine is used. Any contract below this standard is not merely a cost issue — it is a compliance risk.

Recommended Frequency

Task	Frequency	Notes
On-site chemical balancing, skimming, vacuuming	3–7x/week (daily in peak season)	Daily is common for amenity pools serving 50+ units
Chemical testing/logging	Minimum every 2 hours while open (per FAC 64E-9)	Vendor or on-site staff must maintain the log
Filter/equipment inspection	Weekly
Deep clean / acid wash	Annually
DOH permit renewal & inspection readiness	Annually / as scheduled by county

Reasonable Cost Benchmark

Professional community-pool service for a single amenity pool typically runs $400–$800 per month in Southeast Florida, roughly 60–80% more than residential pool service due to higher visit frequency, commercial-grade chemicals, and required compliance documentation. A spa, water feature, or second pool should be priced and evaluated as an additional line item, rather than assumed to be included.

5. Common-Area Cleaning / Janitorial

Scope of Service

Lobby, corridors, elevators, mailroom, stairwells, fitness room, clubhouse/social room, common restrooms, and trash/recycling staging areas: sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, trash removal, disinfecting high-touch surfaces, and glass/mirror cleaning.

Recommended Frequency

Area	Frequency	Notes
Lobby, elevators, mailroom	Daily	High traffic; daily service is standard for buildings this size
Corridors/stairwells	3–5x/week	Daily in high-rise or high-traffic buildings
Common restrooms	Daily	Sanitizing and restocking supplies
Fitness room/clubhouse	Daily to 3x/week	Higher frequency if amenity is heavily used
Glass, mirrors, entry doors	2–3x/week
Deep cleaning (floors, high-dust, light fixtures)	Monthly

Reasonable Cost Benchmark

Cost is driven primarily by the square footage of common areas and visit frequency, rather than by unit count. For a 52-unit mid-rise or garden-style community, routine common-area janitorial service typically runs $800–$2,500 per month for daily-to-several-times-weekly service; buildings with elevators, a clubhouse, and a fitness center tend toward the higher end of that range.

6. Documentation and Ongoing Review

• Review each service contract at budget time annually, comparing actual cost to the market ranges above and to at least one refreshed comparison quote.
• Re-bid every 2–3 years per category, or sooner if a vendor’s renewal increase exceeds roughly 10–15% without a clear scope change.
• Keep bid packages, vendor licenses/insurance certificates, and Board meeting minutes reflecting the selection rationale in the Association’s official records for owner inspection under § 718.111(12).
• Coordinate palm/tree trimming and any major landscape or pool capital work with the reserve study and hurricane-season timing.

7. Indicators a Cost May Not Be Reasonable

• A contract above the 5% budget threshold was awarded without competitive bids or a documented exemption.
• A Board member, officer, or manager has an undisclosed financial interest in the awarded vendor.
• Pricing is more than roughly 20–25% above comparable bids or benchmark ranges without a documented, property-specific justification (e.g., grounds size, storm damage, amenity scope).
• The vendor’s license or insurance cannot be verified, or the scope/frequency falls below the regulatory floor (e.g., pool testing below FAC 64E-9 minimums).
• No written contract exists, or the contract has not been re-bid or reviewed in over three years.

This guideline is informational and does not constitute legal advice. The Board should consult the Association’s legal counsel on the application of Fla. Stat. § 718.111, § 718.3026, and FAC 64E-9 to specific contracts.