by Raymond Daniel Burke | Aug 15, 2025
In a recent blog post, I discussed the Maryland Building Energy Performance Standards that have been established through regulations of the Maryland Department of the Environment (“the MDE”). The MDE regulations require annual “benchmark reporting” by the owners of buildings to which the program is applicable. Under this program, building owners are required to report whole building energy consumption data for the previous calendar year. Energy use information for 2024 must be submitted to the MDE by September 1, 2025. As reported in the prior blog post, among the buildings that are required to submit energy use information to the MDE are “one or more buildings held in the condominium form of ownership with a combined gross floor area of 35,000 square feet or more, excluding the parking garage area, and governed by a single board of managers.” In other words, for purposes of determining if a condominium meets the 35,000 square foot threshold, all buildings in the condominium were to be combined in the aggregate. However, yesterday, the MDE issued a compliance advisory that changes this. The advisory provides as follows: “An individual building held in the condominium form of ownership with gross floor area less than 35,000 ft, excluding the parking garage area, is not required to submit a benchmarking report. Gross floor area is defined by the area between the principal exterior surfaces of the enclosing fixed walls of the building.” The effect of this is that condominiums may now calculate their square footage on a per building basis rather than combining the square footage of all buildings in the condominium. Essentially, an individual condominium building that is less than 35,000 is not covered by the reporting requirements, regardless of the size of other buildings in the complex.
Of course, any condominium building containing 35,000 square feet of more of gross floor area, excluding a parking garage, still must report is energy usage for 2024 by September 1, 2025. Please see my prior blog post for details on the reporting program.
by Raymond Daniel Burke | Aug 13, 2025
[A Compliance Advisory has been issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment that changes condominium energy reporting requirements. Please see my subsequent blog post] Maryland Building Energy Performance Standards (“BEPS”) have been established through regulations of the Maryland Department of the Environment (“the MDE”). The BEPS are intended to improve building energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as one means of meeting the State’s legislatively mandated emissions reduction goals. The MDE regulations require annual “benchmark reporting” by the owners of buildings to which the program is applicable. Benchmarking is the process of tracking and evaluating a building’s energy performance against similar buildings or established performance targets, and establishing a baseline for measuring progress. Under this program building owners are required to report whole building energy consumption data for the previous calendar year 2024.
The benchmark reporting requirements are applicable to all existing buildings that meet the definition of a “Covered Building.” This term means a commercial or multifamily building that has a gross floor area of 35,000 square feet or more, excluding the parking garage area. The 35,000 square feet of gross floor area may be contained in a single building or two or more buildings that are served in whole or in part by the same electrical or gas meter, or the same heating and cooling system. Significantly, a “Covered Building” expressly includes one or more buildings held in the condominium form of ownership with a combined gross floor area of 35,000 square feet or more, excluding the parking garage area, and governed by a single board of managers. Condominium’s that meet this criteria are required to submit their energy use information for calendar year 2024 to the MDE by September 1, 2025.
Building owners create an account at the MDE website through the EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager (“the ESPM”). The registration of the building must include contact information for the building portfolio manager, the name of the organization, and the primary business type. The data entered should consist of the building’s 2024 energy bills. The ESPM account information can then be shared with the MDE. The required data can also be obtained from the electric and/or gas supplier. Such providers are required to provide the data within 90 days of receiving a request. Providers are listed on the website, and can be engaged directly through the website. The energy supplier can provide the information directly to an ESPM account, or can download the data to a building owner that can be uploaded by the building owner to the ESPM account.
While self-reporting will be accepted for this year for the reporting due on September 1, 2025 for calendar year 2024, beginning with the benchmark report for 2025, which will be due on June 1, 2026 third-party verification will be required, and will be required every five years thereafter. Building owners will need to have a third-party verify the quality of their benchmarking reports before they submit them to the MDE.
There are exceptions for historic properties, schools, manufacturing buildings, agricultural buildings, hospitals and other lifecare facilities, and buildings containing confidential areas used by national defense agencies or contractors. It is noteworthy that, during the 2025 session of the Maryland General Assembly, the MDE was directed to make specific recommendations for certain buildings including county-owned buildings, community colleges, emergency facilities, manufacturing buildings, and residential buildings, while giving consideration to tenants and condominium unit owners. Accordingly, it is possible that changes may be made with regard to whether condominiums are included in “Covered Buildings.” Presently, however, qualifying condominiums must meet the current reporting requirements.
by Raymond Daniel Burke | May 13, 2025
Since the collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida during 2021, adequate funding for building reserves has become a much-discussed topic. Under Section 11-109.4 of the Maryland Condominium Act, condominiums have been required to have reserve studies performed at least every five years. However, the law has only required that the reserve study be available for inspection by the unit owners; that the reserve study be “reviewed” by the board or other governing body in connection with preparation of the annual budget; and that a summary of the reserve study be provided to the unit owners with the proposed budget. However, legislation passed by both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly during the 2025 session (HB 0292 and SB 0063) amends the annual budget provisions of Section 11-109.2 to require that the budget include funding in accordance with the reserve study, and mandates that condominiums “develop a funding plan to determine how to fund” the amounts recommended in the reserve study. Under this legislation, it is required that a condominium’s annual budget under Section 11-109.2 include (a) the establishment of reserves in accordance with an adopted funding plan; (b) that the funds recommended in the most recent reserve study be funded as part of the budget; and (c) that those funds be deposited in the reserve account on or before the last day of each fiscal year. Under proposed new Section 11-109.4(f)(3), the funding plan, which must be developed in consultation with the author of the reserve study, is required to “prioritize adequate amounts for repair and replacement of common elements of the condominium that are necessary for (i) the health safety and well-being of the occupants; (ii) ensuring structural integrity such as roofing replacements and maintaining structural systems; (iii) essential functioning such as plumbing, sewer, heating and cooling and electrical infrastructure; and (iv) any other essential or critical purpose, as determined by the governing body.”
The new legislation makes provision for financial hardship that makes full funding of reserve amounts not possible. It provides that, by a two-thirds vote of the unit owners, it may be determined that “the condominium and the unit owners are experiencing a financial hardship that limits the ability to fund reserves that are required.” In that event, the condominium “may reasonably deviate from the reserve funding requirement,” and the “funding level under that requirement shall be at least the funding amount necessary for the purposes specified under Section 11-109.4(f)(3),” the requirements of which are described above. Moreover, deviation from the reserve study budget requirements may only be implemented for one fiscal year, unless it is extended for an additional fiscal year by another two-thirds vote of the unit owners. The board or other governing body is also required to make “good faith efforts” to resolve the financial hardship and resume funding reserves as required by the reserve study, and must “maintain detailed documentation of the good faith efforts,” such documentation to be made available for inspection a part of the condominium’s books and records.
The new legislation contains similar provisions that are applicable to homeowner associations and cooperatives. It is presently awaiting the Governor’s signature.
by Raymond Daniel Burke | Nov 6, 2024
During the 2024 Session, the Maryland General Assembly passed Senate Bill 665 and House Bill 1496, which changed the amendment process in Section 11-103(c) of the Maryland Condominium Act so, as to lower the percentage required for approval of an amendment from 80 percent to 66 -2/3 percent of the total eligible voters in the condominium. The legislation was signed by the Governor and took effect on October 1, 2024. However, the reduced percentage does not apply in the event that any units are still owned by the developer, in which case the 80 percent requirement is still applicable. Additionally, the reduced percentage requirement does not apply to a purely corrective amendment of a typographical error under Section 11-103.1, which can be accomplished by the condominium’s board of directors. Also remaining unchanged is the provision that the council of unit owners may amend the declaration to add or repeal a suspension of privileges provision by the affirmative vote of at least 60 percent of the total eligible voters of the condominium.
by Raymond Daniel Burke | Oct 22, 2024
House Bill 1227, passed during the 2024 session of the Maryland General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Moore, changes the special insurance requirements for “detached” condominium units that arose from legislation passed during the 2023 session. The 2023 legislation amended Section 11-114 of the Condominium Act concerning the mandatory insurance that is required to be maintained by the Council of Unit Owners. Those changes, which took effect on October 1, 2023, differentiated between “attached” and “detached” units for insurance purposes. Generally, a Condominium Council is required to maintain “[p]roperty insurance on the common elements and units, exclusive of improvements and betterments installed in units by unit owners other than the developer, insuring against those risks of direct physical loss commonly insured against, in amounts determined by the council of unit owners but not less than any amounts specified in the declaration or bylaws.” The 2023 law provided that the Council is only required to maintain insurance on “attached” units. With respect to detached units, the 2023 law specifically provided that the Council was required to maintain insurance only on the common elements and not any portion of the detached units. The new law, which took effect on October 1, 2024, now provides that the exception for detached units only applies to detached units “located within a condominium composed entirely of similar detached units.” The new law also requires that the Council must “give annual notice, in writing, of any obligation of an owner of a residential, detached unit to obtain property insurance coverage on the unit.” It also obligates the Council to provide prompt notice to unit owners of any change in insurance coverage requirements. Accordingly, the Council must now provide notice to owners of detached units that were not covered by the Council as a result of the 2023 law, but are now covered by the Council under the 2024 law because they are not located in a condominium composed entirely of detached units.
