HOA Roof Responsibility

What Is HOA Roof Responsibility?

Whether an HOA or the individual owner pays for a roof is answered by the community's governing documents — the declaration (CC&Rs), plat, and bylaws — not by the building type's appearance. The common patterns: in condominiums, the roof is almost always a common element the association maintains and insures; in townhome communities the documents split — some assign roofs to the association as common or limited common elements, others make each owner responsible for the roof over their unit; in single-family HOAs the roof is nearly always the owner's, though architectural committees commonly control shingle color and material choices. The insurance follows the responsibility: association-maintained roofs are insured under the association's master policy (with its own, often large, wind/hail deductible that can be allocated to owners), while owner-maintained roofs run through the owner's policy. After a hailstorm, the first document to pull is the declaration's maintenance and insurance articles — before any claim is filed on the wrong policy.

Important Distinction

Note: There is no universal rule: identical-looking townhomes in different communities can put the roof on the association in one and on the owner in the other — only the CC&Rs and plat answer it.

Also Known As

These are the search terms and phrases that commonly refer to this topic, so you can find it however you describe it.