How do we plan a repaving and sealcoat program for our HOA's private streets?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board runs a private street program: pavement condition survey, crack seal and sealcoat cycles, overlays, bids, owner notice and a 10-year plan.

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

The short answer

Treat the streets as a program you run every year, not a repaving job you face every twenty. Get a pavement condition survey that scores each street segment. Crack seal the sound streets and sealcoat them on cycles your engineer sets, patch failed spots before any surface work, and schedule mill and overlay for the worst segments first. Put the whole plan, with years and estimated costs, into the reserve study so the money builds before the work is due. This guide covers running that program. If you are still working out whether the streets belong to the association at all, start with our guide on who maintains the private roads in an HOA. For a single large repaving contract, our guide on how to plan a major HOA project covers the consultant, contract and closeout steps.

Start with a pavement condition survey

You cannot plan treatments from a windshield tour. Hire a civil engineer or pavement consultant to survey every street and score it with the Pavement Condition Index. PCI runs from 0 to 100, where 100 is new pavement, and surveyors measure it using ASTM D6433, the standard practice for roads and parking lots. Pima County, Arizona, publishes the rating bands it uses: 85 to 100 very good, 70 to 84 good, 55 to 69 fair, and on down to critical below 10. Ask for these in the report: 1. A map that splits the streets into segments, usually block by block, with square footage for each. 2. A PCI score and the main distress types for each segment: cracking pattern, potholes, raveling, rutting, standing water. 3. A recommended treatment and year for each segment, with an estimated cost. 4. Core samples on any segment the engineer thinks needs an overlay, so bidders know the existing thickness. 5. Photos, dated, of the worst spots. Repeat the survey every three to five years, or before any year with major work planned. Keep every report. A falling PCI on one street tells you more than any single score.

Match each treatment to the street's condition

Crack sealing keeps water out of the base, and water in the base is what turns a good street into a rebuild. Do it on streets that are still structurally sound. The Federal Highway Administration's crack treatment checklist calls for clean, dry cracks, air and surface temperatures that meet the manufacturer's requirements (typically 40 degrees Fahrenheit minimum and rising), and no traffic on the sealant until it has cooled or cured enough not to stick to tires. Sealcoat is a thin surface coating. It slows oxidation and makes the street look new, but it adds no strength and hides nothing for long. Sealcoating over alligator cracking or a soft base wastes the money. Fix those areas first with full-depth patches. Mill and overlay removes the top layer and replaces it. It fits streets in the fair range where the base still holds. Reconstruction, meaning removal down to the base and rebuilding, is for segments that have failed. Ask the engineer to say which one each segment needs and why. Specify the sealer by type. Write asphalt emulsion sealer into the bid and prohibit coal-tar sealer. The U.S. Geological Survey found that after Austin, Texas, banned coal-tar sealants in 2006, average PAH concentrations in the lower part of Lady Bird Lake fell 58 percent. Minnesota bars applying coal tar sealant on asphalt under Statutes section 116.202, and Washington has barred applying it on driveways and parking areas since July 1, 2013, under RCW 70A.440.020. Austin shows that a city can ban it even where the state has not, so ask your city and county before the bid goes out.

Build a 10-year street plan and fund it

Turn the survey into a plan the treasurer can budget. A simple table works, one row per segment: "Oak Court, 14,200 sq ft, PCI 78. Crack seal 2027 and 2029. Sealcoat 2028. Mill and overlay 2034." "Main entry drive, 22,500 sq ft, PCI 58. Full-depth patches and overlay 2027. Crack seal 2029." Price each line from the engineer's estimate, then give the plan to your reserve study preparer. The streets are often the largest component in the study, and the funding plan should show the overlay years, not a single placeholder total. State law shapes how you pay. In Florida, section 720.303(6)(h) says reserve funds may be used only for authorized reserve expenditures unless the members approve another use in advance by majority vote at a meeting. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-209.5(1)(b)(IX) requires a written policy on when the association has a reserve study prepared and whether there is a funding plan for the work it recommends. In Texas, read the declaration and any reserve policy the board has adopted for the same answer. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Bid the work with unit prices

Send the engineer's scope to at least three paving contractors. Our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal covers the packet and the comparison sheet. State rules may require it. Texas Property Code section 209.0052(c) says an association contracting for services that will cost more than $50,000 must solicit bids or proposals using a bid process the association establishes. Florida section 720.3055(1) requires competitive bids when a contract's payment exceeds 10 percent of the association's total annual budget, including reserves, and states that the association does not have to accept the lowest bid. In Colorado, check the bylaws and any purchasing policy the board adopted. If a board member or a relative bids, Texas section 209.0052(b) requires at least two other bids from unrelated contractors if reasonably available, and the interested director may not see the other bids, discuss the contract or vote on it. Ask every bidder to price the same line items: 1. Crack sealing per lineal foot, with the sealant product named. 2. Full-depth patching per square yard, with depth. 3. Sealcoat per square yard, with the product, number of coats and application rate from the manufacturer's sheet. 4. Mill and overlay per square yard, with milling depth and asphalt thickness. 5. Striping, stop bars and curb paint. 6. Traffic control, cleanup and protection of curbs, driveways and landscaping. 7. Cure time before traffic, weather limits, and the workmanship warranty in years. Unit prices let you compare bids honestly and pay fairly when the patch quantities change once the crew is on site.

Tell owners early and plan around the cars

Street work touches every household, so notice matters more than on almost any other project. Send the schedule street by street at least two weeks ahead, then again two days before each street's turn. Ask owners to turn off sprinklers that spray the street the day before, since the surface has to be dry, and to move cars off the street and out of any driveway they need that day. Post signs at each end of the street the night before. Sample notice: "Crews will crack seal and sealcoat [street names] on [date], weather permitting. Please park off these streets by 7 a.m. and keep cars, bikes and pets off the new surface until [time] the next day. Turn off any sprinklers that reach the street by [date]. If it rains, work moves to [backup date] and we will email you. Questions go to [name and email]." Coordinate with the trash hauler, mail carrier and any gate access list. A garbage truck on fresh sealcoat leaves tire marks for years.

A sample year for a street program

January: pull the pavement survey and 10-year plan. Confirm which segments are scheduled this year and whether the reserve balance covers them. February and March: engineer updates the scope and quantities. Bid packet goes out with a site walk. April: bids back. Compare unit prices on one sheet and check references and insurance. Board votes at an open meeting. Sample motion: "Move to approve [Contractor]'s bid of $[amount] for crack sealing, patching and sealcoating of [streets] per the [engineer] scope dated [date], paid from the street reserve, with 10 percent retainage until the final walk-through." May through September: work in the warm, dry months your region allows. Notices go out on the schedule above. Within a week of completion: walk every street with the contractor and the engineer, list the misses, and release retainage only after they are fixed. October: send the final costs and treated segments to the reserve study preparer so the next update starts from what was actually done.

Mistakes that shorten a street's life

Skipping crack seal to save money for the overlay. The cracks let water into the base, and the overlay comes sooner and costs more. Sealcoating failed pavement. The coating cracks along the old pattern within a season, and owners conclude the board wasted their money. They are right. Letting the contractor write the scope. You get the treatment that contractor sells, not the one the street needs. Leaving the sealer type open. Name the product class in the bid, and ask for the product data sheet with the invoice. Forgetting the stripes. Sealcoat covers stop bars and crosswalks, so put restriping in the same contract. Paying in full on the last day of work. Hold retainage until the walk-through, because a tracked-in stripe of sealer across a garage floor is easier to resolve before the final check clears.

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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