An ERRCS notice landed on your desk. Here is your first week.

Treat the notice like any other code item with a date on it. The work in week one is mostly paper and phone calls.

In Florida, a required retrofit after the 2024 and 2025 statutory dates gets at least one year from the notice of code violation (F.S. 633.202(18)(g)). Do not plan to use all of it. Testing, design, the licensee's consent, permits and the acceptance test each take their own time.

Most board members have never heard the term. Give them the short version first: the fire code requires that firefighters' radios work inside the building, and the fire marshal wants proof or a fix by a date.

Then bring four things to the meeting:

• The notice and its deadline, with the date counted out in months.
• The rule and its citation. In Florida that is F.S. 633.202(18); everywhere, Section 510 of the International Fire Code is the model.
• What you know so far, including whether the checker found an exemption and when the signal test is booked.
• A decision to ask for: approval to spend on the test, and authority to collect bids.

The Board Brief prints all of this on one page, with six questions for installers. Board members who want more can read the plain-English page for condo boards.

Bids only compare when they cover the same scope. Ask every bidder to price against the same signal test report and to break the quote into lines.

Our BDA system cost page lists what a complete quote includes, line by line. When you request quotes through ERRCSCheck, the request goes to up to 3 vetted installers who serve your area. We send no texts and make no cold calls.

Owners will ask "how much" before anything else. Be honest that nobody can say until the test is done. What you can share is sourced:

• Reported high-rise figures. In coverage of Fort Lauderdale's citations of 69 high-rises, systems were reported to cost "$250,000 or more", with $200,000 and $275,000 cited for specific buildings; a retired fire chief worked out about $1,000 per owner in a 250-unit condo and about $10,000 per owner with 25 owners (Sun Sentinel via Firehouse, November 2025). One city's high-rise data, not a typical price.
• Fire department fees. Miami-Dade charges $281.48 per inspector per hour for the signal verification and acceptance test, $98.46 for a first or second re-inspection and $194.44 for a third or later one (Implementing Order 04-123, effective 10/01/2025). Check your own department's schedule.
• Costs that repeat. A test every year and after structural changes (IFC 2021 510.6.1); in Florida, a coverage re-assessment no more often than every 3 years for high-rises and buildings over 12,000 sq ft, or 5 years for others, with exceptions (F.S. 633.202(18)(c)2); and changes at the owner's expense if radio frequencies change (IFC 2021 510.6.2), with at least 180 days' notice in Florida (F.S. 633.202(18)(f)).

How the association funds the work, and how it is shared with unit owners, is a question for the association's attorney. Our sister site keeps a fuller cost guide for building managers.

The system is not done when it passes. From then on, it belongs on your maintenance calendar.

• Test every year, and after structural changes, with a report to the fire department (IFC 2021 510.6.1). BDACheck sends free test reminders and keeps a test log for the building.
• Keep the acceptance report and amplifier gain values. If they are lost, the owner must rerun the acceptance test (IFC 2021 510.5.4 item 6).
• Keep the licensee's consent in a recordable format (47 CFR 90.219(b)(1)(i)).
• Watch for changes. New windows, new walls and new floors can change the signal, which is why the code asks for a test after structural changes (IFC 2021 510.6.1).
• Let the fire department test. The agency may field test the system at any reasonable time (IFC 2021 510.6.4).

The annual inspection guide covers the yearly routine in detail.

This is guidance, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm with your fire marshal (AHJ) and the association's attorney.