How do we hire a reserve study company for our HOA?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 26, 2026

How an HOA board hires a reserve study provider: which study level to buy, RS and PRA credentials, what a proposal should cover, and TX, FL and CO rules.

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

The short answer

Decide which kind of study you need before you call anyone. Then send the same written request to three providers, check each one's credential and independence, and compare the proposals on scope before price. Sign a short written agreement that ties the delivery date to your budget calendar. In most states the law says little about who may prepare an HOA reserve study, so the board sets the bar. This guide uses the Community Associations Institute (CAI) Reserve Study Standards as the yardstick. The big exception is a Florida condominium building three or more habitable stories tall, covered below. Rules vary by state and by your declaration, so read both before you sign. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Decide which study you are buying

CAI sorts reserve studies into levels. A Level I full study builds everything from scratch: component inventory, condition assessment, life and cost estimates, fund status and a 30-year funding plan. A Level II update includes a site visit, but the provider checks the existing inventory against what is on the ground instead of measuring every quantity again. A Level III update has no site visit. The provider revises costs, lives and the funding plan from the office. CAI calls a site-visit update at least every third year best practice. Buy a full study if the association has never had one, if the last one is more than about ten years old, if the community added or removed something large, or if the board doesn't trust the old counts. Under the CAI standards, a board that orders an update is treated as having accepted the earlier study's quantities as accurate. A new firm doing an update on another firm's report inherits its mistakes.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado require

Texas. Chapter 209 of the Property Code does not require an HOA to have a reserve study. What it does require is disclosure. Under section 207.003(b)(6), the resale certificate a buyer receives must state the amount of reserves, if any, for capital expenditures. Condominiums have a parallel rule in section 82.157(a)(5), which adds any part of the reserves set aside for a specific project. A study is how the board shows that number isn't a guess. Florida. Section 720.303(6) does not require an HOA reserve study either. Reserve accounts become mandatory once they are established, for example by a vote of a majority of the total voting interests, and the statute then says the amounts are computed with a formula based on estimated remaining useful life and estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense. A reserve study produces exactly those two numbers for each component. Condominiums differ. Section 718.112(2)(g) requires a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years for each building three habitable stories or higher, performed or verified by a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, or by someone certified as a Reserve Specialist by CAI or a Professional Reserve Analyst by the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts (APRA). Colorado. Section 38-33.3-209.5(1)(b)(IX) requires a written reserve policy that states when the association has a reserve study prepared, whether there is a funding plan for the recommended work, and whether the study is based on a physical and a financial analysis. An internally conducted study counts. Since August 12, 2026, section 38-33.3-209.2 also makes the declarant commission and pay for a 30-year reserve study by an independent professional before turnover, and section 38-33.3-303(9)(n) makes the declarant hand it to the owner-elected board. A newly turned-over Colorado board should ask for that study before hiring anyone. Elsewhere the rules can be stricter. California Civil Code section 5550 requires a visual inspection at least once every three years and a board review of the study every year.

Check credentials and independence

Two credentials are specific to reserve studies. CAI's Reserve Specialist (RS) designation requires, per CAI's standards, at least 30 reserve studies prepared within the past three years. APRA's Professional Reserve Analyst (PRA) designation requires five years of full-time reserve study work, a list of 50 site-inspection studies and eight continuing education credits a year. For a community with mid-rise buildings, balconies or structural questions, look for an engineer or architect on the team, or a provider who says in writing when it will send you to one. Independence matters as much as the letters after a name. The CAI standards require the study to disclose any other involvement with the association that could create a conflict of interest, and to state that the preparer has no family relationship with the client, no ownership interest in it and no ongoing business relationship with it. Ask directly whether the firm, or anyone it is affiliated with, sells roofing, paving, painting, engineering repairs or management services. A provider who will also bid the work has a reason to move a project earlier. Ask each finalist for a sample report from a community of similar size and type, two references from boards they served in the last two years, and a certificate of professional liability insurance.

What to put in the request for proposal

Keep the request short so every provider prices the same job. Include: 1. A description of the community: number of homes, whether the streets are private, and each amenity and structure the association maintains (pool, clubhouse, gates, fencing, ponds, retaining walls, mailbox kiosks, buildings). 2. The level of study you want, or a request that the provider recommend one and explain why. 3. The documents you will supply: the prior study, the site plan, the maintenance responsibility section of the declaration, and a list of projects completed since the last study with costs. 4. The date you need the final report, working back from the budget meeting. 5. The deliverables: a component list with photos, a 30-year cash flow table, the funding plan, the spreadsheet or data file, one round of revisions on the draft, and attendance at one board meeting by video. 6. Questions each proposal must answer: the fee, who does the site visit and what credential that person holds, the site visit date, the draft date, and the price of the next two updates. Ask providers to state which funding goal they plan to model. CAI names three: baseline, which keeps the reserve balance above zero; threshold, which keeps it above a chosen dollar or percent-funded floor; and full funding, which aims for about 100 percent funded. Our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal covers the bid process in more detail.

Compare proposals on scope, then price

Put the proposals on one sheet. Proposals often differ in price because they describe different jobs, so check these points before looking at the fee: How the provider measures. The CAI standards require the report to disclose whether the site work used representative samples or looked at every common area, and field measurements or drawing take-offs. Sampling three of twelve buildings is cheaper and less precise. The dollar threshold. The report must state the dollar value below which projects are left to the operating budget. A $1,000 threshold and a $10,000 threshold produce very different component lists for a small association. Long-life items. Ask how the provider handles things expected to last beyond 30 years, such as underground utilities or a masonry wall. The standards require the report to disclose long-life components that are left unfunded. Assumptions. The study must disclose its interest and inflation rates. Ask what the provider plans to use and why. Then compare fees. A proposal much cheaper than the rest is often an off-site update priced against a full study. Ask before you celebrate.

A hiring timeline and a sample motion

For a board that adopts a calendar-year budget in November: February: the board agrees on the study level and names one director to run the hire. March: send the request for proposal to three providers, with answers due in three weeks. April: check references and sample reports, and interview the top two by video. May board meeting: select a provider and approve the agreement. Early June: sign, and start the document packet for the site visit. A motion the board can adapt: "Motion to engage [provider] to prepare a [Level I full / Level II update with site visit] reserve study for the association, for a fixed fee of $[amount] per its proposal dated [date], with a final report due no later than [date], and to authorize the president to sign the agreement." Before anyone signs, read the agreement for the level of service, the delivery dates, the number of draft revisions included, the fee for extra meetings, and whether the association receives the data file. File the signed copy in the association's records.

Mistakes boards make when hiring

The most common mistake is hiring whoever the paving contractor or a friend of a director recommends, without asking about business ties. Another is buying the cheapest off-site update year after year until the component list no longer matches the property. Some boards switch providers every cycle to save a few hundred dollars and pay for a fresh inventory each time. Others let the provider pick the funding goal alone and then feel ambushed at the budget meeting. Hiring late is the costliest one. A study delivered in December arrives after dues are set, so the board runs another year on old numbers. Sign by early June, then turn to our guide on preparing for a reserve study site visit. When the draft arrives, our guide on how to read an HOA reserve study walks through checking it before the board accepts it.

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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