How do we get bats out of our HOA clubhouse or pavilion?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 28, 2026

How an HOA board removes bats from a clubhouse or pavilion: rabies exposure steps, legal exclusion dates in Texas, Florida and Colorado, bids and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Do not seal the holes or spray anything. Bats in a clubhouse attic or a pavilion roof come out with a one-way exclusion: devices over the entry points let the bats leave at night and stop them getting back in, and the openings are sealed only once the building is empty. Timing decides most of the job. In Florida, exclusion is legal only from August 15 through April 15. In Texas and Colorado, wait until the young can fly, usually late summer or fall. A person who may have been bitten never waits. That is a call to the health department today. Rules vary by state, by local ordinance and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

First, rule out a rabies exposure

Before anyone talks about contractors, ask one question: has anyone touched a bat, been touched by one, or woken up in a room with one? CDC says bat bites can be tiny and a person may not know they were bitten, and tells anyone who thinks they had contact with a bat to talk to the health department. The Texas Department of State Health Services, applying CDC's vaccine committee guidance, says that when a bat is physically present and a person cannot rule out a bite, treatment should be considered unless prompt testing of the bat has ruled out rabies. Colorado Parks and Wildlife names bats and skunks as the most common rabies carriers in the state. So a bat inside the clubhouse after a sleepover or a children's party is a health question first. CDC says not to release the bat until you talk with a public health expert, and describes how to hold it: wear leather work gloves, wait for it to land, cover it with a box or jar, slide cardboard under the opening and tape it shut. Then call the county health department or animal control. If nobody can catch it safely, close the room and call animal control. Texas DSHS says not to touch an injured, sick or dead bat at all. Our guide on what to do about a dead animal on HOA common area covers who to call when the bat is already dead.

What the law allows in Texas, Florida and Colorado

Texas. Parks and Wildlife Code 63.101(a) bars hunting a bat, and 63.104(c) makes a violation a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor. Subsection 63.101(b) allows a bat to be removed or hunted if it is inside or on a building occupied by people, and subsection (c) exempts licensed pest control operators. The code does not say whether a clubhouse used a few nights a month, or an open pavilion, counts as a building occupied by people, so do not lean on that exception. Hire a licensed pest control company and write a nonlethal exclusion into the contract. SB 1285 (2025), which would have required nonlethal exclusion, passed the Senate and stalled in a House committee, so it is not law. Florida. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says bats may be excluded from buildings only from August 15 through April 15, and that installing exclusion devices or sealing entrances during the maternity season, which its rule summary lists as April 16 through August 14, is illegal. Poison, fumigants, capture and relocation are illegal too, and FWC says harassing bats with lights, sounds or toxic substances is not allowed. FWC points to rule 68A-4.001, which bars killing bats, and rule 68A-9.010, the nuisance wildlife rule. Its method is a one-way device left up for at least four nights when overnight lows are forecast at 50 degrees or warmer. Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says bats can be excluded humanely by sealing access points, that timing matters so bats and pups are not killed, and that exclusion should avoid the June through August pupping season. It also says bats should not be killed out of fear of rabies. When unsure, call the local CPW office first.

Find the roost and choose a contractor

Walk the building at dusk with two people and watch where bats leave: soffit gaps, the fascia joint, loose flashing, torn vent screens, behind shutters and signs. In daylight, look for droppings under each gap. Mark every opening on a sketch so each one gets priced in the bid. FWC does not recommend specific excluders, but it says the job should go to someone with extensive bat experience and suggests asking about methods, checking references and comparing prices. Get at least two bids. In Texas, ask for the company's pest control license number. Each bid should answer, in writing: - Which openings get a one-way device and which get sealed right away - How many nights the devices stay up, and who confirms the bats have stopped using them - That no poison, glue boards, fumigants, trapping or relocation will be used - Who removes the droppings, and with what protective gear - How long the warranty runs if bats return through a sealed gap A company that offers to trap and move the colony, or to come in June and seal everything, has told you what you need to know.

How a proper exclusion works

Texas A&M AgriLife's bat guidance for schools lays out the method most good contractors follow. Seal the inactive gaps first with caulk, flashing, weatherstripping or quarter-inch hardware cloth, without disturbing the openings bats are using. Over each active opening, fit a one-way chute, such as a short piece of 2-inch PVC pipe or a clear plastic tube, or hang netting fastened at the top and sides with the bottom left open. Along a long crevice, space the tubes about every 4 to 6 feet. AgriLife says to leave the devices up at least one week in warm weather and two weeks when nights drop below 50 degrees, because bats may not leave every night when it is cool. Florida's four-night minimum is the legal floor, not the target. The active openings get sealed only after the devices come down and nobody has seen a bat leave for several evenings. Pull them early and bats die trapped in the walls.

Droppings, cleanup and repairs

Bat droppings can carry the fungus that causes histoplasmosis. CDC says large amounts of bird or bat droppings should be cleaned up by professional companies. AgriLife advises protective gear, dampening the guano before removal so the dust stays down, and bagging it or using a HEPA vacuum. Do not hand a volunteer a broom and a dust mask. Ask whether cleanup is in the exclusion price. If it is not, get a separate bid, and ask whether stained or soaked attic insulation has to come out. Then budget for the carpentry the colony exposed: soft fascia, loose soffit panels, missing vent screens. Fixing them is what keeps the next colony out.

A sample timeline

Boards usually find out in June, when the pups get noisy. For a Florida or Texas clubhouse: - Week 1: rule out exposures, post the owner notice, close any room bats can reach from the attic. Get bids. Seal nothing. - July: the board approves a contractor at its meeting. The contractor maps openings and orders materials. - August 15 in Florida, or late August into September in Texas once the young are flying: devices go up over the active openings. - One to two weeks later: a dusk check shows no bats leaving. Devices come down and the openings are sealed. - The following week: droppings and insulation are removed, then repairs. - Next March: walk the building at dusk again, before the maternity season starts. In Colorado, run the same plan after the June through August pupping season.

Owner notice and a board motion

A notice the board can adapt: "Bats are roosting in the [clubhouse attic / pavilion roof]. They are protected by state wildlife law, and the board has hired [company] to move them out with one-way doors after [date], once the young can fly. Until then, please do not touch any bat, alive or dead, and keep children away from them. If a bat is found inside the clubhouse, or anyone may have touched one, call [board phone] and the county health department right away, and do not let the bat go. The clubhouse stays open except for [room]." A motion for the next meeting: "I move that the association hire [company] to exclude bats from the [building] using one-way devices only, installed no earlier than [date], with no poison, trapping or relocation; that the contract include droppings removal and a [12]-month warranty; that the treasurer pay up to $[amount] from the [maintenance] line; and that the board inspect all common buildings at dusk each March." For other animals on common area, see our guide on responding to coyote sightings or aggressive wildlife in an HOA.

Mistakes boards make

Sealing the holes in spring. The adults leave or die, the pups die inside, and the smell arrives a week later. In Florida it is also illegal. Treating a bat in a room where someone slept as a maintenance ticket. It goes to the health department first. Taking the cheapest bid without asking how long the devices stay up or who checks them. Buying ultrasonic repellers or scattering chemicals in the attic. FWC lists harassing bats with sounds or toxic substances as not allowed. Forgetting the pavilion and the pool equipment shed. The same dates apply 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.

More on living with an hoa

Or browse all living with an hoa guides.