How do we make our HOA condo building smoke-free?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 30, 2026

How a condo board adopts a smoke-free policy: owner survey, board rule vs declaration amendment, TX, FL and CO vote rules, grandfathering and enforcement.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

A rule that bans smoking in the lobby, hallways, stairwells, garage and pool deck is usually within the board's rule-making power, and the board can adopt it at a regular meeting. Making the units themselves smoke-free almost always takes an amendment to the declaration, approved by the owners at the percentage your declaration and state law set. Balconies and patios fall in between, because many declarations make them limited common elements assigned to one unit. Most buildings do this in two steps. The board adopts the common area rule now, and the owners vote on the unit ban later, once a survey shows the votes exist. Our owner guide on whether an HOA can ban smoking covers the legal background, nuisance claims and medical marijuana. This one covers adoption. Rules vary by state and by governing documents, so read it as education, not legal advice, and have the association's attorney draft any amendment.

Survey the owners before anyone drafts

A failed amendment vote sets the idea back years, so count first. Send a short anonymous survey to every owner, since only owners vote. Ask how often smoke has entered their unit, whether anyone in the unit smokes or vapes, and which option they would support. Then do the math against your threshold. In a 60-unit building where each unit has one vote and the declaration needs 67 percent, you need 41 yes votes, not 41 percent of the people who answer. If only 30 owners support the unit ban, adopt the common area rule and come back in a year. Sample questions: 'In the past 12 months, how often has smoke or vapor from another unit or a common area come into your unit? Never / a few times / about monthly / weekly or more.' 'Which policy would you support? (a) No change. (b) No smoking or vaping in indoor common areas or within 25 feet of entrances, windows and air intakes. (c) Option b, plus no smoking on balconies and patios. (d) Option c, plus no smoking inside units, with current owners exempt until they sell. (e) Option c, plus no smoking inside units for everyone after a 12-month phase-in.'

Rule or amendment: what the state statutes say

Florida. When the board considers a rule about unit use, section 718.112(2)(c)1. of the Florida Statutes requires written notice of the meeting, mailed, delivered or sent electronically to owners and posted on the property at least 14 days ahead. The person who gives notice signs an affidavit for the official records. An amendment follows your declaration's procedure. If the declaration is silent on how to amend it, section 718.110(1)(a) requires approval by the owners of at least two-thirds of the units. Texas. Property Code 82.067(a) requires owners holding at least 67 percent of the votes, or any larger share the declaration sets. Section 82.067(e) then requires 100 percent approval for an amendment that changes the use restrictions on a unit, unless the chapter says otherwise. Whether an in-unit smoking ban counts as that kind of change is a question for your attorney before you pay for a vote. Section 82.102(a)(7) separately lets the board adopt rules on the use of units to the extent the conduct affects the common elements or other units, and 82.102(c) says a rule must not be arbitrary or capricious. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-217(1)(a)(I) requires owners holding more than 50 percent of the votes, or any larger share the declaration sets up to 67 percent. A declaration requirement above 67 percent is void and read as 67 percent. California's Civil Code 4360 requires 28 days' general notice before the board changes a rule on common area or unit use, and under 4365, owners of 5 percent of the units can force a vote to reverse it.

Define smoking and draw the map

'No smoking' written in 2005 does not clearly reach a vape pen or a cannabis joint, so name them. HUD's smoke-free rule for public housing, 24 CFR 965.653, is a useful benchmark. It bans cigarettes, cigars, pipes and hookahs in units, in interior areas such as hallways and laundry rooms, and in outdoor areas within 25 feet of the buildings. It does not require a ban on e-cigarettes, so a condo board that wants vapes covered has to say so. Write the definition to cover lighting, burning, heating or vaping tobacco, cannabis or any other substance. Then mark the property on a site plan: every indoor common element, the garage, the roof deck, balconies and patios if you are including them, and a buffer around entrances, operable windows and the fresh-air intakes on the roof or the side of the building. HUD's rule also allows designated smoking areas outside the restricted zone. A bench well away from the building gives smokers a legal place to go, which makes the rule easier to enforce.

Grandfathering and the phase-in

Owners who smoke in their units today will vote no on a ban that starts next month. The usual compromise exempts the owner of record on a set date, for that unit only, until title transfers. Florida's statute that limits a new amendment to consenting owners and later buyers, section 718.110(13), covers rental restrictions, not smoking, so in Florida grandfathering is a drafting choice and not a legal requirement. Make the exemption tight. The exempt owner registers with the association within 60 days of the effective date. The exemption ends on sale or other transfer of title. It does not pass to a tenant, a buyer or a relative moving in. And it never excuses smoke that drifts into another unit, because the nuisance clause in most declarations still applies. The other approach is a date certain for everyone, usually 12 months after recording. Tenants come under the ban at the next lease renewal, and owners who rent must give their tenants a copy of the rule.

Handling drift complaints and enforcement

The CDC's page on secondhand smoke says smoke can drift from other units through hallways, stairwells and ventilation systems, and that no level of exposure is safe. Drift comes and goes, which makes it hard to prove. Ask the complaining owner to keep a written log with the date, time, location and what they smelled or saw. Have the manager or a director confirm at least one incident in person. Fix the building where you can: have a contractor seal gaps around pipes, outlets and shared ducts and add door sweeps on hallway doors. Sealing may cut the smell, but it will not make the building smoke-free. Then follow your state's fining steps exactly. Texas 82.102(d) requires a written notice that describes the violation, states the fine, gives a date to cure, and says the owner may request a board hearing within 30 days. Florida 718.303(3) requires 14 days' written notice and a hearing before a committee of at least three owners who are not directors, officers or employees. It caps fines at $100 per violation and $1,000 in total, and a fine cannot become a lien. Colorado 38-33.3-209.5(1.7)(b) bans daily fines. For violations that do not threaten health or safety, it requires notice by certified mail, a 30-day cure period and a $500 cap on total fines. Violations the association reasonably finds threaten public health or safety get a 72-hour cure. The statute does not say whether drifting smoke qualifies, so assume the 30-day track unless your attorney says otherwise.

A sample timeline and wording

Month 1: send the survey. Month 2: share the results and hold an open forum. Month 3: adopt the common area rule, with Florida's 14-day posted notice or California's 28-day notice where they apply. Months 3 and 4: the attorney drafts the amendment, the definition and the exemption. Month 5: the owner vote, by written ballot or at a meeting noticed for that purpose. Then record the amendment. Texas 82.067(d) says it takes effect only when recorded in each county where the condominium sits. Set the effective date 6 to 12 months after recording. Motion: 'I move that the board adopt the Smoke-Free Common Areas Rule as presented, effective [date], prohibiting smoking or vaping of any substance in all indoor common elements and within 25 feet of building entrances, operable windows and air intakes, and that the secretary deliver the rule to all owners and residents.' Amendment clause: 'No person may smoke or vape tobacco, cannabis or any other substance in any unit, on any balcony, patio or other limited common element, or within 25 feet of any building entrance, operable window or air intake. The owner of record of a unit on [date] who registers with the association within 60 days may continue to smoke inside that unit until title transfers. The exemption does not pass to any later owner or occupant and does not excuse smoke that enters another unit or the common elements.'

Mistakes boards make

The first is drafting around one complaint. A policy written the week after a fight between two neighbors reads as aimed at one owner. Survey first and apply the rule to everyone. The next is banning smoking inside units by board rule in a building whose declaration gives the board no such power, then losing the first time an owner pushes back. Boards also forget to define vaping, forget to tell tenants, skip the posted notice in Florida, and never record the amendment. Some grandfather every current resident with no registration list, so five years later nobody knows who is exempt. Others enforce only against the owner they dislike. Accommodation requests are their own track. A resident who asks for a disability accommodation gets a written answer after the board talks to counsel, not a hallway reply. Our guide on how to amend HOA CC&Rs covers the ballot mechanics once you know the votes are there.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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