How do we plan an exterior repainting project for our HOA's townhomes or buildings?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board plans a townhome or building repaint: who paints what, colors, a paint spec with a wood repair allowance, bids, lead rules and owner notice.

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

The short answer

Confirm the declaration makes the association responsible for exterior paint and list exactly which surfaces that covers. Settle the colors under whatever approval rule your documents set. Write a paint spec that says how the surfaces get prepared, how rotted wood gets priced, which product goes on and how many coats. Bid that spec, schedule the work building by building, and tell each owner what to move and when. The expensive mistakes happen before the first can is opened: a vague spec that lets the low bidder skip prep, no price for wood repair, and paint rolled over rot that shows up again in three years. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Pin down what the association paints

Open the maintenance section of the declaration, or the maintenance chart if your community has one. In many townhome and attached-home communities the association paints siding, trim, fascia and soffits as a common expense, while owners keep front doors, garage doors, patio fences or shutters. Some documents are silent on those small items, and that is where owner complaints come from. Make a one-page table with every painted surface in one column and 'association' or 'owner' in the next, with the document section beside each line. Have the board adopt it before bidding. If owners paint their own doors, you can let the contractor offer those owners a price for the work, but keep it as a separate agreement between the owner and the contractor, paid by the owner. Folding owner work into the association's contract makes the association the one who answers for it. A repaint is usually a reserve item. Check the reserve study for the planned year and dollar amount, and compare it with what the buildings look like now. South and west walls in Texas and Florida sun often fail ahead of schedule. Colorado's sun at altitude and freeze cycles are hard on trim.

Settle the colors before you bid

Keeping the current colors is the fast path, but 'the same color' needs a record. Get the manufacturer, color name, color code and sheen for every surface from the last painter's invoice or the architectural guidelines. If nobody wrote them down, have the paint store match a clean sample from a protected spot, like under an eave, and adopt the result as the color schedule. Changing colors takes longer. Read the declaration and the architectural guidelines for who can approve a new scheme. Some documents leave it to the board or an architectural committee, and some require an owner vote for a change in exterior appearance. Even where the board can decide alone, ask the owners. Paint two or three sample schemes on large boards, set them against one building for two weeks, and send a short survey. Sample question: 'The association will repaint all buildings in 2027. Which color scheme do you prefer? A (current colors), B, or C. Samples are displayed at Building 4 through May 15. Reply by May 20.' Record the result and the board's decision in the minutes.

Write a paint spec contractors cannot shortcut

The spec is what you compare bids against, so each line should be something a contractor can price and a director can check. Preparation: pressure wash all surfaces to be painted; scrape and sand loose or peeling paint to a sound edge; remove failed caulk and recaulk joints, windows and trim with a paintable sealant; spot prime bare wood and any patched areas. Wood repair: an allowance with unit prices, such as a price per linear foot of trim or fascia and per board of siding, replaced in kind. The contractor marks and photographs each area before replacing it, and anything beyond the allowance needs written approval from the board's contact. Without unit prices, rot becomes an open-ended change order. Product and coats: name the product line for each surface 'or an equal approved in writing,' two finish coats on siding and trim unless the manufacturer's system says otherwise, and application within the temperature, humidity and dry-time limits on the product data sheet. Site protection and cleanup: cover walks, plants, light fixtures and HVAC units; no overspray on cars, windows or roofs; daily cleanup. Warranty: the length in years in writing, what it covers, such as peeling, blistering and flaking, and how the association makes a claim. Our guide on writing an HOA request for proposal covers the bid packet and the site walk.

Check for lead paint in buildings built before 1978

If the buildings went up before 1978, federal lead rules apply to the job. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in housing built before 1978. The contracting firm must be EPA-certified and must use trained renovators. Texas, Florida and Colorado are not on EPA's list of states that run their own program, so the federal rule applies directly there. Work that disturbs 20 square feet or less of exterior paint counts as minor repair, but scraping a building before repainting will pass that almost at once. For a covered job, the firm gives the owner and occupants EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet. Hand delivery can happen any time before work starts, as long as work begins within 60 days. Mailed pamphlets must go out at least 7 days before work begins. On the exterior, the crew covers the ground with plastic at least 10 feet beyond the work area, closes windows and doors within 20 feet, and may not burn paint off with an open flame or use power sanders without HEPA vacuum attachments. The firm keeps its records for three years. Put the requirement in the spec: the bidder lists its EPA firm certification number and names the certified renovator who will be on site. A bid that skips lead-safe practice on a 1975 building looks cheaper because it prices a job the federal rule does not allow.

Bid it and choose

Check your state's bid rule and your own documents first. Texas Property Code section 209.0052(c) requires an association contracting for services over $50,000 to solicit bids or proposals through a bid process the association sets up. If a director or a director's relative is bidding, section 209.0052(b) requires at least two other bids from unrelated contractors if reasonably available, and that director stays out of the bids, the discussion and the vote. Florida Statutes 720.3055 requires competitive bids for a contract that costs more than 10 percent of the association's total annual budget, including reserves, and says the association does not have to take the lowest bid. In Colorado, look to your declaration, bylaws and any procurement policy the board has adopted. Ask every bidder to fill in the same bid form: a price per building, the wood repair unit prices, the warranty, the crew size, the start date and the expected days per building. Ask for two references from other associations, preferably ones painted three or four years ago so you can drive by and see how the job held up. Get a current certificate of insurance. Tie payments to finished buildings that have passed a punch-list walk, and hold back a share of the price until the last building is signed off.

Schedule by building and notify owners

Ask the winning contractor for a written schedule that lists each building's start date, and plan for rain days. Send each building's owners a notice two to three weeks before their start date, and post it on the community website or board. Sample notice: 'Painting at Building 6 is scheduled to begin Monday, June 8, and should take about [number] working days, weather permitting. Before June 8, please move patio furniture, grills, planters and wall decorations at least three feet from the walls, and take down anything attached to the siding or trim. Keep windows closed while the crew works near your unit. Turn off any sprinklers that spray the building. The crew will need access to fenced patios; please leave gates unlocked on work days or call [contact] to arrange access. Pets should stay inside. Questions go to [contact], not to the crew.' If the job is covered by the lead rule, the pamphlet delivery and posted signs come from the contractor, but the board should confirm they happened. Owners with tenants need to pass the notice along, so ask them to.

Close out the job and keep the record

Walk each building with the contractor's foreman and one director when the crew says it is done. Mark misses with painter's tape, list them by unit, and sign the building off only after they are fixed. Collect the wood repair log with its photos and reconcile it against the allowance before the final payment. Then write down what the next board will need: the color schedule with manufacturer, color, code and sheen by surface; the warranty with its expiration date on the board calendar; the contractor's final invoice; and the completion year for the reserve study. Send owners the color schedule so they can touch up their own doors or fences in the right color. The mistakes to avoid are predictable. Painting over soft wood. Bidding without a wood repair price. Letting owners repaint their own doors in a new color mid-project. Losing the color codes. And starting a project on 1970s buildings with a crew that has no lead certification. Our guide on planning a major HOA project covers funding and owner communication for work at this scale.

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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