How do we replace our HOA's entrance monument sign?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board replaces an entrance monument sign: confirm who owns the ground, get owner input and permits, bid the work, call 811, and update the reserve study.

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

Run it as a small construction project

A monument sign looks like a landscaping job and behaves like a building project. It has a footing, often a power circuit, sometimes irrigation around its base, and it usually sits at a corner where the city cares about what drivers can see. Boards that treat it as a purchase end up with a sign on land the association doesn't control, or a stop-work notice halfway through. The order that works: confirm who owns the ground and what the documents allow, decide whether to repair or replace, pick a design with owner input, get permits and bids, have the contractor call 811, build, and update the reserve study. Give it several months. The sample timeline below runs about six. Permit rules, bid rules and owner-approval rules vary by city, by state and by your governing documents, so treat this as education, not legal advice.

Find out who owns the ground under the sign

Pull the recorded plat and the declaration before asking for a single quote. Entry signs usually sit in one of three places. On a common area lot the association owns, the board controls the site, subject to its documents. On an easement across a private lot, the recorded easement sets what the association may build, maintain and replace, and the lot owner should hear about the project before any trucks arrive. In a public right-of-way or median, the city or county owns the land, and the association may need a license or encroachment agreement that can come with insurance requirements and a right for the city to order the sign removed. Some developer-built signs sit in the right-of-way with no agreement on file, and a replacement is when the city tends to notice. Then read the declaration's limits on capital spending. Many documents let the board repair or replace existing common elements but require an owner vote for a new improvement above a set amount, and a bigger or redesigned sign can land on the wrong side of that line. If the answer is close, ask the association's attorney before committing money.

Repair, reface or replace

Price the cheaper options first. Loose or missing letters, faded paint, stained stone and dead lights are repairs. A reface keeps the wall or base and replaces the face panel or letters. Full replacement makes sense when the structure is cracked, leaning or undermined by water, or when it can't meet the current sign code. Open the reserve study. If the sign is a listed component, it has a replacement cost and a remaining useful life, which tells the board whether the money is already set aside. If it isn't listed, add it at the next update so the next board doesn't start from zero. While you are standing there, run the sprinklers. Heads that spray the sign stain stone and brick and rot wood bases, and turning a head costs far less than cleaning a new face. Our guide on HOA preventive maintenance schedules has a place to log the yearly sign check.

Give owners a real choice on the design

Owners care about the entrance more than almost any other common area, and a sign they had no say in turns into years of complaints. Give them two or three renderings in the same price range, not a blank page. Survey wording the board can use: 'The board plans to replace the entry sign at [location] this year, paid from reserves. Which of the three attached designs do you prefer? The board will review the results at its [date] meeting and make the final choice.' Keep the community's name exactly as it appears in the recorded documents. Renaming the community is a separate decision that usually needs an amendment, not a sign order. Settle the practical questions at the same time. Letters need to be large enough to read from a moving car. Common materials include cast stone, brick, stucco over block, high-density urethane panels and aluminum letters. For lighting, solar fixtures avoid trenching a new circuit, so ask the vendor how they perform in December at your latitude. A hardwired fixture needs an electrician, a permit and a utility account the association pays every month.

Call the permit office before the design is final

Ask the city or county permitting office three things. Does the sign need a sign permit, a building permit for the footing or wall, an electrical permit for lighting, or a right-of-way permit for work near the street? What are the limits on height, area, setback and lighting? And at an intersection, what does the code say about the sight triangle, the area near a corner where walls, signs and plants can't block a driver's view of cross traffic? A sign that hides oncoming cars is a safety problem the association owns long after the contractor leaves. Some offices also want a letter from the association authorizing the contractor to apply. Have the board name one officer to sign it, and keep the approved permit and stamped drawings in the association's records next to the contract.

Bids, contract and the 811 call

Write one scope and send it to at least three sign or masonry contractors. Our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal covers the packet. The scope should include demolition and haul-off of the old sign, footing and structure, face and letters, lighting and wiring, permit fees, repair of the planting bed and irrigation around the site, a warranty, and a completion date. Check whether a bid rule applies. Florida Statutes 720.3055 requires competitive bids when a contract exceeds 10 percent of the association's total annual budget, including reserves, so a Florida HOA with an $80,000 budget crosses that line at $8,000. Texas Property Code 209.0052(c) requires a bid process for service contracts over $50,000. In Colorado, follow the declaration, the bylaws and any procurement policy the board has adopted. Before anyone digs, the contractor must call 811. Texas Utilities Code 251.151 requires notice at least 48 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays, and no earlier than 14 days before. Florida Statutes 556.105 requires two full business days, and the ticket stays valid for 30 calendar days. Colorado's C.R.S. 9-1.5-103(3)(b) requires two business days, not counting the day of notice. The utilities mark their own lines. They usually don't mark lines the association owns, such as the sign's power feed or the irrigation main, so give the contractor whatever drawings you have or pay for a private locate.

A sample timeline and a motion

Month 1: confirm who owns the site, read the declaration and check the reserve study. Month 2: collect three renderings with rough prices and survey owners. Month 3: the board picks a design at an open meeting and calls the permit office. Month 4: bids come in, the board signs a contract and the contractor files for permits. Month 5: permit issued, 811 ticket called, old sign removed and footing poured. Month 6: sign set, lights connected, final inspection passed, planting and irrigation restored. A motion the board can adapt: 'Move to accept [contractor]'s bid of $[amount] to replace the entrance monument sign at [location] using design [letter] and the attached scope, paid from the reserve fund's entry sign component, and to authorize [officer] to sign the contract and permit applications.' Record the vote and a one-line reason in the minutes. If the board chose a bid that wasn't the lowest, the reason is what protects it later.

Mistakes boards make with entry signs

Building on land the association doesn't own or control. Choosing a design before calling the permit office, then paying a designer twice after the city says no. Forgetting the electric account, so the new lights go dark when the contractor's temporary service ends. Letting the sprinklers hit the new face the first week. Not calling the insurance agent to ask whether the new sign needs to be added to the property schedule. Skipping the reserve study update, which leaves the next replacement unfunded. And not photographing the curb, the sidewalk and the neighboring lawns before work starts, which is the easiest way to settle a claim that the trucks cracked something.

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.

More on living with an hoa

Or browse all living with an hoa guides.