Whose responsible for maintenance of architectural modification

A homeowner’s request was approved to install gutter guards on her unit. At the time, there was no mention that she would be responsible for maintenance. The Association maintains and cleans the roofs and gutters annually but to do so on her unit would void her warranty and require a separate cleaning of her gutters. Is the association responsible since she never signed a waiver absolving the association of maintenance? Currently our association does not allow guards. Per our governing documents there is no mention of modification responsibility other than a request needs to be submitted.

What a mess.

Approving this modification appears to have been a violation of the covenants and incompetence by the Association. The owner relied on this approval when she installed the gutter guards.

The owner blundered as well, of course.

If push came to shove, it's hard to say what a court would say.

I suggest the Board aim for keeping attorney costs low. Be honest with the owner about the facts here. Mistakes were made by all sides. Give her the choice: The HOA will maintain the gutters separately yada, voiding her warranty. Or she can have the company maintain the gutters, at her expense.

Gutter guards should minimize the cleaning needed.
Most gutter guard companies advertise that if the gutters need cleaning, they will do it.
My suggestion is to contact the owner about this.

Unfortunately, since the owner acted in good faith by requesting and receiving approval from the Association for the gutter guards, if the Association wanted them removed they may have to reimburse the owner for the cost of them.

As I said, a simple, non-confrontational, conversation with the owner may clear up a lot of issues.

Why did the owner want the covers installed (perhaps the association wasn't cleaning the gutters or trimming the trees enough)?

Why did were the covers approved (check the paperwork and talk to those who approved them)?

You may already know these answers. If not, you should find those answers before making hard decisions.

One comment about gutter guards:

Yes, they keep debris out, but when we looked into them, there was disagreement on whether or not they also increased the likelihood of ice dams. May depend on the particular style, may also depend on whether or not the gutters and pipes are properly sized relative to each other. But bottom line, we opted to skip the guards and keep cleaning the gutters each year, since ice dams have been a thing in my community and they can involve expensive repairs.

I agree with others' advice on how to proceed with the OP's particular issue. The board may also want to officially grandfather this particular gutter guard, with the requirement that it be removed altogether when it's time to repair or replace *or the homeowner sells the unit*. In the meantime it should be listed as an official violation so that this will pop up if the owner tries to sell the unit without removing the thing.

Heaven save us from boards and homeowners who don't read their CC&Rs...