How do we keep an inventory of HOA equipment and property?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 1, 2026

How an HOA board builds an equipment and asset inventory: what to list, tags and serial numbers, a yearly count, matching the insurance schedule, and disposal votes.

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

The short answer

Keep one register of everything the association owns that can be carried, driven or unplugged and walked off with. List each item with a tag number, serial number, location, purchase date, cost and who holds it. Count it once a year, compare the count to the insurance schedule, and let nothing leave the books without a board vote in the minutes. Most small associations have no list at all. They find out what they owned when a new treasurer asks where the pool vacuum went, when an insurer asks for proof of a stolen mower, or when a director moves away with the clubhouse laptop. One weekend of work prevents all three. The rules on records and disposal vary by state and by your declaration and bylaws. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Decide what goes on the list

Set a simple threshold and write it down. A common choice is anything that cost $250 or more, plus anything with a serial number regardless of price. Smaller items that walk off easily, like pool cleaning poles or folding tables, can go on as one line with a count. Typical categories for a 26 to 150 home community: Grounds: mowers, trimmers, blowers, a utility cart, snow blowers, hoses and irrigation controllers kept in storage. Pool: the robotic or suction cleaner, spare pump motor, safety ring and shepherd's hook, chemical test kits, lounge chairs. Clubhouse: furniture, a television, a projector, kitchen appliances, a sound system. Safety: AEDs, first aid kits, fire extinguishers, cones and barricades. Office: laptops, a printer, external drives, the check scanner, the association phone. Seasonal: holiday lights, inflatables, event tents. Keep fixed parts of the property off this list. Roofs, fences, paving and the pool shell belong in the reserve study's component list. Keys and fobs usually get their own log. The equipment register covers what moves.

Set up the register

A shared spreadsheet in the association's own account is enough. Do not keep it on a director's personal drive. Use these columns: Tag number. Description. Make, model and serial number. Location. Custodian (the person or vendor holding it). Purchase date and cost. Warranty end date. Condition (good, fair, poor). Insured (yes or no). Last counted. Notes. A sample row: A-014 | Push mower, 21 inch | Make, model, serial | Storage shed, bay 2 | Grounds chair | 2025-04-12, $489 | Warranty to 2027-04-12 | Good | Yes | 2026-10-18 | Blade sharpened in May Link each row to a photo of the item and a photo of the serial plate. Scan the receipt and the warranty card into the same folder. Those three files are what an insurer or a police report asks for.

Do the first count in one weekend

Two people do this faster than one, and two people are what you want later if anything turns up missing. A workable plan: Saturday morning: walk every storage room, shed, closet and the clubhouse with a phone. Photograph each item and its serial plate. Stick on a numbered asset tag. Paint pens work on mowers and outdoor gear where labels peel. Saturday afternoon: enter the rows. Pull purchase dates and prices from the general ledger and old invoices. Where you cannot find a receipt, write 'unknown' instead of guessing. Sunday: email each director and committee chair the list of items marked as held by them and ask them to confirm. Ask vendors to confirm anything the association owns that they keep, such as a snow blower stored at the landscaper's yard. Next board meeting: present the register, note anything that could not be found, and adopt the threshold and the counting schedule by motion.

Count every year and match the insurance schedule

Pick a month and put it on the board calendar. The month before the insurance renewal works well. The treasurer and one other director walk the list, update condition and location, and initial the 'last counted' column. Then compare the register to the property policy. Ask the agent how the policy covers the association's contents and equipment, what limit applies, and whether items kept off site or in a vendor's trailer are covered. If the clubhouse now holds $18,000 of furniture and electronics and the contents limit is $10,000, raise it or accept the gap on purpose, in the minutes. Ask the same questions every year at renewal, because limits rarely rise on their own. Use the count to plan spending too. Items rated 'poor' with a replacement cost go into next year's operating budget. Big items that last more than a year, like a utility cart, can go to the reserve study preparer for review at the next update.

Give safety equipment its own checks

Some items need more than a yearly count. In Texas, a person or entity that owns or leases an AED must maintain and test it according to the manufacturer's guidelines and inspect it monthly to confirm it is in its spot, looks ready to use and has no visible damage, under Health and Safety Code section 779.003. Section 779.005 requires notifying the local EMS provider of the AED's existence, location and type when it is acquired. Florida's AED immunity statute, section 768.1325(3)(a), does not protect an acquirer whose harm came from failing to properly maintain and test the device. Colorado's AED statute, C.R.S. 13-21-108.1(3), expects maintenance and testing to the manufacturer's guidelines with written records. Add a column for battery and pad expiration dates, and a separate monthly log for each AED. Fire extinguisher service tags and first aid kit restocking belong on the same monthly sheet. Our guide on how to set up an HOA AED program covers placement, training and the rest of that job.

Lending, selling and throwing things out

Write three rules into the board's policy. Lending: equipment does not go home with owners or directors for private use. If the board allows it, require sign-out and return dates in the register. Disposal: anything on the register is removed only by a board vote. A motion the secretary can copy: 'Motion to declare the following items surplus and authorize the treasurer to sell them for not less than the listed amounts, or recycle them if unsold within 60 days: A-003 pressure washer, $75; A-011 projector, $40. Proceeds to be deposited to the operating account.' Record the sale price and buyer in the notes column, then archive the row. Do not delete it. Conflicts: when a director wants to buy surplus equipment, have that director disclose it and stay out of the vote. Colorado requires every association to adopt a conflict-of-interest policy under C.R.S. 38-33.3-209.5(1)(b)(II). Wipe laptops, phones and drives before they leave. They hold owner names, addresses and bank details. Remember too that equipment is different from land and fixed improvements. Colorado, for example, requires owners holding at least 67 percent of the votes to agree before common elements are conveyed, under C.R.S. 38-33.3-312(1). Ask the association's attorney before selling anything attached to the property.

Keep the paper trail

The register itself is not a record most statutes name, but the paper behind it is. Florida section 720.303(4)(a)1 lists copies of warranties for improvements on the common areas among the official records, and the statute requires official records to be kept for at least 7 years unless the governing documents require longer. Texas Property Code section 209.005(m) requires associations with more than 14 lots to adopt a retention policy that keeps financial books and records for seven years and contracts of a year or more for four years after they end. Colorado C.R.S. 38-33.3-317(1)(a) requires detailed records of receipts and expenditures, and 38-33.3-209.5(1)(a) requires accurate and complete accounting records. In practice, keep purchase receipts and warranties for as long as the association owns the item, then for your retention period after it is sold or scrapped. The disposal motion in the minutes closes the loop.

Mistakes boards make

Building the list once and never counting again. A register that is three years stale is worse than none, because people trust it. Letting the person who holds the equipment do the count alone. Pair the custodian with another director. Forgetting what vendors hold. Equipment in a landscaper's yard is easy to lose when the contract ends. Add it to the contract's exit checklist. Throwing broken items away without a vote. It looks innocent until an owner asks what happened to the $1,200 mower. Leaving the register out of a board handoff. When a director leaves, walk their custodian list with them. If items do not come back, our guide on what to do when a former HOA board member won't return HOA property covers the next steps.

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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