How does an HOA board plan a playground equipment replacement?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board replaces playground equipment: inspection, CPSC use zones and surfacing depth, accessible routes, bids, reserve funding, the vote and closure notice.

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

The short answer

Treat a playground replacement as a small capital project, not a catalog order. The order that works is inspection, site measurement, surfacing and equipment chosen together, one bid for the whole job, the money and the vote, and then a closure notice to owners. Most of the safety comes from the ground and open space around the equipment, so a board that shops for slides first usually redesigns later. Give yourself most of a year from the first inspection to reopening, and put one director in charge of the file. The Consumer Product Safety Commission's Public Playground Safety Handbook is a set of recommendations. State law and your governing documents decide how the board votes, spends and gives notice. Those rules vary, and this guide is education, not legal advice.

Decide whether to repair or replace

Start with a written inspection, not the age of the equipment. Hire a Certified Playground Safety Inspector, a credential run by the National Recreation and Park Association, to audit the site and list each hazard with a photo and a recommended fix. Ask the inspector to sort the findings into three piles: fix now, fix with parts, and cannot be fixed. Then ask the manufacturer, by model number, whether parts are still made. Repairs should follow the manufacturer's instructions, so a structure that needs a discontinued part is a replacement, however good it looks from the parking lot. CPSC notes that arsenic-based CCA-treated wood stopped being processed for playground use after December 31, 2003, so an older wooden structure may be built from it. Older equipment with lead-based paint needs a written plan to control exposure. Equipment standing on concrete, asphalt or packed dirt needs new surfacing either way. Keep up the routine checks in our guide on the HOA playground and pool safety inspection checklist while the project is underway.

Measure the site before you look at catalogs

Every piece of equipment needs a use zone, the surfaced area around it where a child can fall or run. The CPSC handbook sets it at a minimum of 6 feet in all directions for most stationary equipment such as climbers. A stand-alone slide needs at least 6 feet around its perimeter and at its exit, and the exit zone should never overlap another piece of equipment. Belt swings need clearance to the front and rear of at least twice the height of the pivot above the surface. A swing beam 8 feet high needs 16 feet in front and 16 feet behind, and swing zones should never overlap any other use zone. Draw the lot to scale with every zone marked before any designer shows you a picture. If the playground serves toddlers and school-age children, give ages 2 to 5 and ages 5 to 12 separate areas with a buffer such as benches or shrubs between them. Put swings and other moving equipment toward an edge or corner. Keep slide exits out of traffic, keep sight lines open from the benches, and post signs showing each area's intended ages.

Choose the surfacing first

CPSC says concrete, asphalt and other hard surfaces should never be directly under playground equipment, and it does not count grass or dirt as protective surfacing because wear and weather reduce their ability to absorb a fall. That leaves loose fill, such as wood chips, non-CCA wood mulch, engineered wood fiber, sand, pea gravel and shredded rubber, or unitary surfaces such as poured rubber and rubber tiles. For loose fill, the handbook says never to use less than 9 inches, except shredded or recycled rubber, where 6 inches is the floor. It also warns that loose fill compresses by at least 25 percent over time, so a site that needs 9 inches of wood chips should be filled to 12 at installation, with a border to hold it in. For a unitary surface or engineered wood fiber, ask for the manufacturer's ASTM F1292 test data showing the fall height the surface protects to, and compare it with your tallest platform. Ask each bidder to price installation and five years of upkeep for every option. Loose fill needs raking and topping off every season, and that labor belongs in the operating budget.

Plan the accessible route now

The 2010 ADA Standards have a chapter on play areas, explained in a U.S. Access Board guide. Under the standards, removing or replacing equipment or changing the ground surface counts as an alteration, while normal maintenance such as topping off mulch does not. At least one of each type of ground-level play component in the play area must be on an accessible route, and the number of ground-level components required rises with the number of elevated ones. The route is generally at least 60 inches wide, or 44 inches in play areas under 1,000 square feet, no steeper than 1:16, and surfaced with material that meets ASTM F1951. Where the route runs through a use zone, the surface must also meet ASTM F1292. Whether federal accessibility law reaches a members-only HOA playground depends on facts such as who is allowed to use it, and that is a question for your attorney. Either way, a replacement is the cheapest time to add a route.

Bid the job as one package

Write the scope before asking for prices: the scaled site plan with use zones, the age areas, surfacing type and depth, the accessible route, drainage, footings, and removal and disposal of the old equipment and surfacing. Send the same scope to at least three installers. Ask each to name the manufacturer and model numbers, to confirm in writing that installation and anchoring will follow the manufacturer's specifications, and to price removal and disposal as separate lines. The handbook recommends that a person qualified to inspect playgrounds check the equipment after assembly and before first use. Put that in the contract as a condition of final payment, with an inspector the association hires, not one the installer brings. Collect the installer's certificate of insurance before work starts, and at closeout put the installation instructions, warranty and parts list in a permanent file, as the handbook recommends. Our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal covers the bid package itself.

Settle the money and take the vote

Open the reserve study first, and treat its replacement cost as a starting point, not a quote. In Florida, if owners have voted to establish statutory reserve accounts under section 720.303(6), reserve funds may be used only for authorized reserve expenditures unless a majority vote at a meeting with a quorum approves another use in advance (720.303(6)(h)). In Texas, section 209.0051(h) lets a board act outside a meeting on some matters, but only an open meeting noticed to owners can vote on a special assessment, a budget amendment, borrowing, or capital improvements other than repairing, replacing or enhancing existing ones. A new playground where none stood is on the open-meeting side of that line. A replacement is not, but vote on it in the open anyway. Colorado's act lets the executive board act for the association unless the declaration, bylaws or the act say otherwise (38-33.3-303(1)(a)), so check your documents for spending or special assessment caps. A motion you can adapt: 'Moved that the board approve the contract with [installer] to remove the existing playground and install new equipment and surfacing according to the scope dated [date], for $[amount] paid from the playground reserve, with final payment conditioned on a passing post-installation inspection by a certified playground safety inspector.'

Close the playground and tell owners

Colorado has a specific rule. Section 38-33.3-302.5, added by HB 22-1040 and effective August 10, 2022, allows an association to restrict access to a common element during repair or replacement only as far and as long as needed to protect people's safety or the work itself. If the closure lasts more than 72 hours, the association must send each owner written or electronic notice as soon as reasonably possible, giving the reason, the estimated reopening date and a phone number or email for questions, and post the same information at each access point for the whole closure. Do the same in any state. Wording you can adapt: 'The playground at [location] will close on Monday, April 6, while the old equipment is removed and new equipment and surfacing are installed. The board approved the replacement on March 10 after a safety inspection found [short reason]. We expect to reopen by Friday, May 15, after an independent certified inspector checks the finished work. Please keep children out of the fenced work area. Send questions to [email or phone].' If the date slips, change the posted sign the same day.

A sample timeline and the mistakes to avoid

Month 1: the inspector's audit and the parts check. Month 2: repair or replace decision, site plan, reserve study review. Month 3: an optional owner survey on age groups and features. Month 4: scope and bid request out. Month 5: bids compared line by line, references called. Month 6: vote, contract, equipment order. Then the closure notice, removal, installation and the final inspection, with reopening only after the inspector signs off. The common mistakes: boards buy equipment before drawing use zones and learn the swing zone runs into the sidewalk. They reuse an old border that cannot hold 12 inches of fill. They let the installer inspect its own work, or open the gate the afternoon the crew leaves. And they send the owner notice after the construction fence is already up, which is when the complaints start.

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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