How do we plan a major HOA project like a roof replacement or repaving?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 23, 2026

A board timeline for a major HOA project like a roof, repaving, or siding: reserve study, consultant scope, bids, funding, owner notice, contract, and closeout.

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

Start two to three years before the work

A roof replacement, full repaving, or siding job is often the largest contract a small association ever signs. The trouble usually starts when the board treats it as a next-summer problem. The reserve study tells you which components are nearing the end of their useful life. When a big item shows up within three years, open a project file and assign one director or a small committee to own it. Their first job is to confirm the condition. Reserve studies estimate remaining life from visual inspection, and a roof listed at two years remaining may have five or may be leaking now. A rough timeline for a board working on its own: year one, confirm condition and funding; year two, scope, bid, and fund; year three, build and close out.

Hire the right expert to write the scope

For a roof, siding, balcony, or structural job, consider paying an independent engineer, architect, or building envelope consultant to inspect, write specifications, and oversee construction. Their fee is often a small percentage of the project, and it buys a scope that contractors bid the same way, plus someone on the association's side who inspects the work. For repaving, a civil engineer or paving consultant can core-sample the existing asphalt and tell you whether a mill and overlay will do or whether the base needs full replacement. Ask the consultant for a written scope, drawings where needed, an estimate range, a proposed schedule, and a list of permits. Avoid letting a contractor who plans to bid write the specification, since the scope will tend to fit that contractor's methods.

Bid the work and compare it properly

Send the consultant's specifications to at least three qualified contractors, hold a mandatory site walk, and answer questions in writing to all bidders. Check whether your governing documents or state law set bidding rules; Nevada, for example, requires associations to solicit at least three bids whenever reasonably possible for projects above a share of the annual budget and to open them at a board meeting. Compare bids on a single sheet by line item, with exclusions, allowances, unit prices for unknown conditions such as rotted sheathing per sheet, schedule, warranty, and insurance. Unit prices matter on old buildings. On a reroof, the price per sheet of replaced decking can swing the final cost by tens of thousands of dollars. There are separate guides on writing an RFP and on contract clauses to check before signing.

Settle the funding before you sign

Once you have real bids, add a contingency, commonly 10 to 15 percent for older buildings, plus consultant fees and permits. Compare the total with the reserve balance for that component. If reserves fall short, the choices are to delay the work, phase it, borrow, or levy a special assessment. Each has rules. Your documents may cap special assessments without an owner vote, and state law may add its own cap. In California, for example, Civil Code section 5605 bars the board from imposing special assessments that total more than 5 percent of the association's budgeted gross expenses for the year without approval of a majority of a quorum of members. A bank loan usually requires the association to pledge assessment income, and your documents may require owner approval for borrowing. Line up the money, and any vote, before signing a construction contract.

Tell owners early and more than once

Owners take a large project better when they hear about it early. Mention it in the annual budget and reserve disclosures the year before. Once bids are in, send a notice that explains what is being replaced and why, the cost, how it will be paid, the expected schedule, and what owners will need to do. Hold an open meeting where the consultant answers questions. Before work starts, send practical details: parking changes, dumpster locations, noise hours, which days each building is affected, how to protect items near the work, pets, and who to call with a problem. During construction, send a short weekly update. Most complaints on big projects come from surprise, not from the work itself.

Contract points that matter on large jobs

Use a written construction contract that attaches the specifications and the bid. Confirm the start and completion dates, what happens if the contractor is late, and weather delay terms. Tie progress payments to completed work that the consultant verifies, and hold back retainage, often 5 to 10 percent, until final completion. Require a conditional lien waiver with each payment and unconditional waivers from the contractor, subcontractors, and major suppliers before final payment; the FTC's contractor guide tells homeowners to get proof that subcontractors and suppliers have been paid before releasing the last check. Spell out who gets permits and inspections, how change orders are approved and priced, daily cleanup, protection of landscaping and cars, the insurance requirements, and the warranty terms from both the manufacturer and the installer.

Run the construction phase

Name one board contact for the contractor, and route all direction through that person or the consultant. Crews that take instructions from any resident who walks by produce change orders and arguments. Meet with the contractor and consultant weekly, even for 15 minutes, and keep short written notes. Photograph conditions before work starts, especially driveways, landscaping, and interiors near the work, so damage claims can be sorted out later. Approve change orders in writing before the work is done, with a price and a reason. Track money spent against the budget and contingency at each board meeting.

Closeout, warranties, and the reserve update

Near the end, walk the job with the consultant and the contractor and build a punch list of items to fix. Release final payment and retainage only after the punch list is complete, the final inspection has passed, and you have all lien waivers. Collect the closeout package: the manufacturer warranty registered in the association's name, the installer's workmanship warranty, as-built drawings, product data, color and material records, and maintenance instructions. Put warranty expiration dates on the board calendar, and schedule an inspection a few months before the workmanship warranty ends. Finally, tell the reserve study provider that the component was replaced, the date, and the cost, so the next update resets its remaining life and funding. In California, Civil Code section 5550 requires an annual review of the reserve study for associations it covers, which is a natural time to record the change.

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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