Condo owners and associations
Condo dryer vents often run through walls and ceilings to an outside wall or the roof, and who maintains them depends on your declaration.
Wherever your system allows it, Blue Pelican Air & Attic starts with a camera look inside the whole run and shows you what we see, with photos whenever possible. Every visit starts with a free Whole-Home Air & Attic Check, so owners and boards can decide with facts in hand.
A longer run gives lint more places to settle. The US Fire Administration estimates about 2,900 clothes dryer fires in residential buildings each year, with failure to clean the leading factor at 34 percent, and 17 percent of those fires were in multifamily buildings. In a condo, the vent may pass through walls, ceilings and several bends, and you cannot judge any of that from the dryer. Wherever the run allows it, we look inside with a camera. Yearly cleaning removes the lint fire hazard, and your dryer dries faster and uses less energy.
Responsibility depends on your declaration. Florida Statute 718.113 puts maintenance of the common elements on the association, except for limited common elements the declaration assigns to the unit owner. Whether the vent inside the wall counts as yours or the association's is written there, not decided by us. Before you book, check the declaration or ask the board. If the vent is shared or runs through common walls, expect the association to want to approve the visit. This is not legal advice.
The residential model code caps a dryer exhaust duct at 35 feet, reduced for every elbow, with a permanent label when the equivalent length is longer. The 2023 Florida Building Code, Mechanical, also prohibits domestic booster fans in dryer exhaust and sets termination clearances from building openings. Older buildings were built under earlier rules, and some runs are engineered to be longer. A cleaning visit is not a code inspection. We describe what we find, with photos whenever possible, so you can raise it with the association or an engineer.
About 29 percent of housing units in Broward and 34 percent in Miami-Dade are in buildings of 20 or more units, so many boards face this question. A workable approach is one price confirmed by the technician and approved by the board, a schedule by line or floor, and photos for the association's records whenever possible. Our technicians are our own employees, never subcontractors, which matters when you are controlling who enters the building. Tell us your access rules, elevator reservations and parking limits when you book.
Wherever the run allows it, we look inside the whole vent with a camera, including long and rooftop runs. We remove the lint fire hazard and show you the result, with photos whenever possible. Yearly cleaning also means faster drying and lower energy use.
Inside the unit, wherever your system allows it, we look at the air handler and ducts with a camera first and show you what we see, then clean only what you approve. We remove dust, allergens and debris from every duct and vent in your home with a HEPA-filtered negative-pressure vacuum, so nothing is blown into your rooms. Rotary brushes loosen the buildup, and the vacuum pulls it out of your home. We finish with a botanical product made with thyme oil, with no harsh chemicals.
UV light helps keep the coil and drain pan cleaner, an extra layer of care, not a replacement for filters or duct cleaning.
Sometimes, but it depends on your declaration. If the vent line is yours, you can book it. If it is a common element or runs through shared walls or the roof, the association may need to approve the visit. Ask the board first, then send us the booking form and mention any building rules.
A board can ask for one price covering several units or lines. Send us the building details through the form and we will tell you what a schedule could look like. Every visit starts with a free Whole-Home Air & Attic Check, the technician confirms the price, nothing is added without approval, and any photos we take can go into the association's records.
Older runs and some engineered runs are longer than 35 feet. We do not rule on compliance during a cleaning visit. We show you what the camera sees, with photos whenever possible, and describe any bends, damage or blockages, so the association or an engineer can decide what comes next.
Whenever we can. Wherever the vent allows it, we start with a camera look inside and show you what we see, and when we finish we show you the result, with photos whenever possible. If the association wants photos per unit or per line, mention it when you book so we can plan for it.
