Construction rules and regulations

My HOA has voted on and approved guidelines to limit major contruction activity. In particular we limit the time of the year that these activities may take place. We are now being challenged by one homeowner who basically has ignored the regulations. Below is the actual terminology from our guidelines. Has anyone come across a situation such as this???

Construction Activity

1. In season is defined as November 1 through April 30.

2. Major outside Construction and or tear downs shall only be authorized from May 1 through October 30.

Note 1: The only exception to this is to provide for required construction and or demolition in season in the event of an act of God or some other unplanned failure requiring said work. In this event the PIHOA board of directors may give written approval required to carry on the work that is found to be necessary and the work hours may be extended. This extension is only granted for unplanned events and does not give Contractors the authority to extend their hours or days for normal construction activity.

FrankG1---- What State to do you live in ??? This is the most absurd rule I think I have ever seen ?? An HOA DICTATING construction time frames !!!!!!! LindaC

Frank:

Time to punt on this one. I don't know how can reasonably expect to limit construction to certain times of the year. Furthermore, there are times when you can get work cheaper because it is a down time for certain workers. Fires or a car through your living room or an explosion are not acts of God, but would they be determined to be unplanned events? What if an estranged spouse burned down his exspouse's home, that was a planned act, would they have to wait until open season to start rebuilding?

What is the purpose of limiting construction to certain times of the year? I can't seem to see any logic behind that. Seriously, before you lose a lot of your homeowner's money in court, punt, and live to fight another day.

LindaC3 thanks for your response. I am in Florida. The 21 homeowners 18 of which are snowbirds and are not here out of season approved this regulation so that they would not be disturbed in season. It applies only to major construction as as tear downs and rebuilds.

RogerB first thanks for replying. Let me try to clarify this situation. There are 21 homeowners 18 of which are snowbirds and are not here out of season. They unanimously approved this regulation so that they would not be disturbed in season. It applies only to major construction such as tear downs and rebuilds. Any acy of God or major catastrophy out of the homeowners control would of course be given a waiver by the board.

HaroldS first thanks for replying. Let me try to clarify this situation. There are 21 homeowners 18 of which are snowbirds and are not here out of season. They unanimously approved this regulation so that they would not be disturbed in season. It applies only to major construction such as tear downs and rebuilds. Any act of God or major catastrophy out of the homeowners control would of course be given a waiver by the board.

Well I guess 18 out of 21 is enough to enact anything. But I'm curious - if construction/demolition can only be accomplished while they are not there, and if the construction/ demolition is being done on their property, who is overseeing the work? Seems like I would want to be around while something major like that was happening to my property. Harold

The whole job does not have to be done in 6 months, only the outside of the structure so that all heavy equipment work is completed. Inside work of any kind and outside painting, trim work etc. can go on 12 months a year. A six month window to complete the outside structure is quite doable in our area of Florida. In fact the whole community which has 1200 doors as opposed to our 21 has an overall rule that says the complete structure inside and out must be completed 9 months from the start date.