Common practices? what is HOA responsibility for replacing what it must destroy in order to repair exterior surfaces

Hello,

I am looking for common practices of other associations when it comes to the HOA's responsibility vs. the home owner's responsibility for replacing materials that are typically the home owner's responsibility, but must be torn up by the HOA in order to repair exterior building envelope surfaces.

Our buildings are over 20 years old and our HOA is currently faced with two major repair issues:

1. We have suspension decks with deck roofs underneath. Historically, it has been the responsibility of the home owner to repair, replace, and maintain the deck. (The CC&Rs are silent on who has responsibility for the deck - the HOA is responsible for "exterior building surfaces".) But we have a number of roofs underneath the decks failing and in order to repair them, we have to pull up decks. The contractor won't accept responsibility for replacing the deck with the existing materials since it can likely get damaged on removal. The board is debating whether or not to assess the individual owners for the cost of the deck materials for replacement, or include the cost in the budget.

2. We have siding that is rotting and has to be repaired by the HOA. In some cases the HOA will have to remove old aluminum windows in order to replace the siding. The windows have historically been the responsibility of the homeowner. Again, the contractor cannot guarantee the windows won't get damaged on removal. Board is debating if it will invite a)individual homeowners to pay for new window replacement and assess the individual owners for cost of window replacement if they don't wish to, or b) if it should budget to replace the windows at HOA expense.

We are going to get a reserves study to determine what is actually feasible, but it would also be helpful to get feedback on what are common practices in these situations.

Thanks!

I am confused to why the Contractor feels the windows need to be removed to replace siding.... I am in the construction business and have never seen this done...There is always trim around the windows and drs..so why the removal of windows??? If "historically" the owners are responsible for maintaining th deck,then yes they would be held responsible for the damage to the deck ceiling below ......UNLESS... the roof deck ceiling was not properly installed from day one thus creating damage to the roof deck ceiling below......However ,in units where the decks are at the 20 year mark- why would you even consider re using the OLD DECK MATERIAL.......There are so many new products out there that have a lifetime warranty -- so maybe it would be feasible to do a "replacement" rather than a "repair" why follow bad with worse......LindaC

Hi Jocelyn:

I work for a master planned community, one of our subcommunities of townhomes recently went through a process whereby they did window replacement as part of a project. Some of the owners made a big fuss but it went through.

Some things to consider:
1) Most likely your current windows are nowhere near as engergy efficient as what they could be replaced with. Replacing all windows would pay for itself in a few years and save engergy in the meantime.
2) It's likely that some owners will want to replace their windows with something more energy efficient if the windows need to be pulled; replacing all would maintain the uniformity that is desireable in a project like yours.
3) Chances are, if you are replacing all the windows at once, you'll have some cost savings over each owner doing it independently.
4) The reason why most CC&R's/Bylaws make the windows a homeowner expense is that when a window is broken by a homeowner, the Association isn't stuck with the repair bill. What you would propose is totally different that this - it's a major upgrade of the building's windows; ultimately, it benefits both the community and society in general (lower energy usage).

In general, if the HOA has to destroy something in order to fix something else, the HOA should bear the cost. It's part of the whole repair. There are some exceptions (like a homeowner planting trees over a utility easement) but that's a totally different situation.

Best of luck in this venture.

J. Patrick Moore, CMCA