How do we plan a siding replacement for our HOA's condo or townhome buildings?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 27, 2026

How an HOA board plans a siding replacement: test cuts to find the leak, material the declaration allows, permits, lead and silica rules, bids and phasing.

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

The short answer

Find out why the old siding failed before anyone prices new siding. Pay a building envelope consultant or engineer to open test cuts, then bid a scope that covers the water barrier, the flashing and the damaged sheathing, not only the boards you can see. Confirm the new material fits the declaration and the building department. On older buildings, write the federal lead and silica rules into the spec. Get unit prices for rotted sheathing, and replace one building at a time with a notice to each building's owners. Siding is one layer of a wall system. New boards nailed over wet sheathing, or over a wall that never had a kickout flashing, fail again, and the second failure is harder to explain to owners who just paid for the first fix. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Diagnose the wall before you price the boards

Siding rarely fails evenly. Damage collects where water gets concentrated: where a roof edge runs into a wall, under windows, around hose bibs and light fixtures, and along the bottom course next to a patio or grade. The Department of Energy's Building America Solution Center tells anyone working on an existing house with no kickout flashing at a roof-wall intersection to inspect that wall for rot. It also warns that fiber cement, vinyl and brick veneer can hide water damage for years, while wood siding shows it sooner as peeling paint or stains. A wall that looks fine from the parking lot can be soft behind the boards. So the first money goes to diagnosis. A building envelope consultant or engineer walks every building, takes moisture readings at the suspect spots, and opens a few test cuts: siding off, look at the barrier, the sheathing and the framing, photograph, patch. Ask for a written report with photos keyed to locations and a clear recommendation for each building: spot repair, new siding only, or new siding with a new barrier, new flashing and sheathing repair. That report decides whether you have a repair job on a few walls or a reserve-sized project, and it becomes the scope contractors bid. If the buildings are young and the siding is failing early, stop before any demolition. The association may have a claim against the builder, the installer or the manufacturer, and tearing the evidence off the wall can weaken it. Call the association's attorney about notice requirements and deadlines first. Our guide on whether an HOA can sue the developer for construction defects covers that path.

Pick a material the documents and the buildings can live with

Read the declaration and the architectural guidelines before you fall for a product. Most attached communities require a uniform exterior, and going from wood lap siding to vinyl or fiber cement changes the look even in a matched color. Some documents let the board decide. Others require an owner vote to change exterior materials or appearance. If the language is unclear, get the attorney's reading before you bid a material you might not be allowed to install. Then match the material to the problems your buildings have. The Building America Solution Center rates the common choices this way. Fiber cement resists fire and termites well but is rigid and can crack when struck, and it lasts longest primed on all six sides. Vinyl resists moisture and termites, but some products crack when hit by a fast-moving object, and it melts at a low temperature, so the Solution Center calls it a poor fit for high fire danger areas. Engineered wood resists impact better than fiber cement, but damp wood draws termites and carpenter ants, so its paint has to be kept up on schedule. In Texas and Colorado hail country, and in Colorado wildfire zones, those ratings matter more than the price per square. Run the choice past the reserve study provider too. A painted material carries a repaint cycle that vinyl does not, and a switch changes the reserve line for years. Florida adds a product step. Florida Statutes 553.842 requires product approval for panel walls, among other building components, and the state approval system lists siding and soffits under panel walls. Ask each bidder for the Florida product approval number of the exact siding and soffit they propose, and confirm it with the building department when the permit is pulled.

Permits, lead paint and silica dust

Call the building department before you bid. Ask whether re-siding needs a permit, and whether the inspector wants to see the barrier and flashing before the new siding covers them. Put 'contractor obtains all permits and schedules all inspections' in the spec so the cost is in every bid. For buildings built before 1978, painted siding coming off the wall falls under EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. The exterior minor repair exemption stops at 20 square feet of painted surface, and EPA's compliance guide says the exemption does not cover demolition. A re-siding job on an older building therefore needs an EPA-certified firm, a certified renovator on site and lead-safe work practices. Our guide on planning an HOA exterior repainting project walks through the owner pamphlet and containment steps. Fiber cement brings a second federal rule. Cutting it releases silica dust. OSHA's construction silica standard, 29 CFR 1926.1153, covers handheld saws cutting fiber-cement board in its Table 1 only for tasks done outdoors, with a saw fitted with a dust collection system that meets the tool maker's airflow and has a filter of 99 percent efficiency or better. The OSHA duty belongs to the contractor as the employer. Write the practice into the spec anyway, and add that no cutting happens in garages, breezeways or entries where owners walk.

Write a scope for the whole wall

Use the consultant's report as the base, and make each line something a contractor can price and a director can check. Removal: take existing siding and trim down to the sheathing on the listed walls, and haul it away. Hidden damage: the consultant inspects each wall after tear-off. Sheathing gets replaced at a unit price per sheet and framing at a unit price per linear foot, each area photographed before it is covered. Anything above the allowance needs written approval from the board's contact. Barrier and flashing: a new water-resistive barrier lapped over every flashing so water runs out, not in. The Solution Center calls the reverse, wrap tucked behind flashing, a way to trap rain inside the wall. New kickout flashing at every roof-wall intersection, head flashing over windows and doors, and flashing at the base of the wall and around every penetration. Windows and doors: say who owns them. If owners own their windows, the siding job is the cheapest moment to replace old ones, so tell owners early and give them a deadline and the spec for how new windows must be flashed. Trim around windows usually comes off and goes back as part of the siding work. Wall items: remove and reset light fixtures, hose bibs, dryer vent hoods, house numbers and owner-installed mounts, and coordinate with the utilities for meters. Warranty: the manufacturer's product warranty registered in the association's name, and the installer's workmanship warranty with its length in writing.

Bid it under your state's rules

Texas Property Code section 209.0052(c) requires an association that proposes to contract for services costing more than $50,000 to solicit bids or proposals through a bid process the association sets up. In Florida, Statutes 720.3055 requires competitive bids when an HOA contract costs more than 10 percent of the total annual budget, including reserves, and 718.3026 sets the condominium threshold at 5 percent. Neither Florida section requires taking the lowest bid. Colorado leaves it to the declaration, the bylaws and any procurement policy the board adopted, so read those. Send all bidders the same scope and a bid form with a price per building, the sheathing and framing unit prices, the permit cost, the lead and silica practices they will use, the product and its approval number where required, the crew size and days per building, and both warranties. Carry a contingency for hidden rot on top of the base price, and settle the funding, including any owner vote your documents require for a special assessment or a loan, before you sign. Our guide on writing an HOA request for proposal covers the site walk and written questions.

Phase by building, with a timeline and wording to copy

A workable order for a board doing this on its own: months 1 to 2, consultant inspection and test cuts; month 3, scope and the material decision, plus any owner vote; months 4 to 5, bids; month 6, contract and permits; then construction building by building, worst walls first, with the consultant checking each wall after tear-off and again before siding covers the barrier. Sample motion: 'Motion to approve the contract with [contractor] for siding replacement at Buildings [numbers] under the [consultant] specification dated [date], for a base price of $[amount] plus sheathing and framing repair at the contract unit prices up to an allowance of $[amount], paid from the siding reserve, and to authorize [director] to sign.' Sample notice, sent two to three weeks before each building starts: 'Siding replacement at Building 5 is scheduled to start Monday, April 12, and should take about [number] working days, weather permitting. Before April 12, please move grills, planters and furniture at least four feet from the walls and take down anything hung on the siding. Expect noise from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and a dumpster in the lot beside Building 5. Workers will need access to fenced patios, so leave gates unlocked on work days or call [contact]. If you plan to replace your windows, your contractor must finish before April 5. Questions go to [contact], not to the crew.'

Mistakes that cost boards the most

Pricing new boards without test cuts, then learning about rotted sheathing from a change order. Bidding without unit prices, so every soft sheet is a negotiation. Letting the crew skip kickout flashing because the old wall never had it. Switching materials without checking the declaration or updating the reserve study. Tearing off siding on a ten-year-old building before the attorney has looked at a defect claim. Telling owners about the window question after the new siding is already on. And losing the warranty papers, which belong in the association's permanent records with the product name, color and install date for each building. When the last building is signed off, send the reserve study provider the completion date and final cost for each building so the next update resets the siding line. Our guide on planning a major HOA project covers funding and owner communication for a job this size.

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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