How do we replace our HOA's perimeter fence or screening wall?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board replaces a perimeter fence or masonry screening wall: who owns each section, city permits, bids, 811, yard access, funding and owner notice.

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

The short answer

Run a perimeter fence or screening wall replacement as a construction project, not a repair ticket. Before anyone prices it, the board needs four answers in writing: which sections the association owns, what the city requires for a permit, how the crew will reach the fence from owners' back yards, and where the money comes from. Boards that skip the first question pay to rebuild panels that belong to individual lots, or bill owners for panels the association owns. For a long run of masonry, give yourself six months or more from the first walk to the final inspection. Ownership, permits and funding rules differ by state, by city and by your governing documents, so use this as a planning guide and not as legal advice.

Map who owns each section

Pull three documents: the recorded plat, the declaration, and any maintenance exhibit or responsibility chart. The plat shows whether the wall sits on a common area lot, in a landscape or wall easement across the back of private lots, or on the lots themselves. Plat notes sometimes name who maintains the wall. The declaration then says who maintains what. Many communities split it. The association owns the masonry wall along the main road, and the wood fence segments that run from that wall to each house belong to the owners. Put the answer on a site map, section by section, with the linear footage of each. Number the panels or posts so every later document can point to them. Where the line is unclear, pay a surveyor to locate it along the stretch you plan to replace. When owners ask who pays for the fence behind their own house, our guide on who pays for a boundary fence between a lot and common area covers their side of the question.

Repair, replace in phases, or replace it all

Walk the whole run with a contractor. On masonry, note leaning panels, cracked columns, missing caps, bricks pushed out by tree roots and footings that have dropped. On wood, note posts rotted at the ground line, loose pickets and gates that drag. Photograph each problem and tie it to a panel number on the map. Then sort. If a few panels failed from one cause, such as a tree or a car, repair them. If failures are spread along the whole run and the reserve study already puts the fence at the end of its life, replace it. Phasing works where the wall has natural breaks like entrances, but each phase pays for mobilization again and leaves a visible seam. Changing the material, height or color is a separate decision. It may need a member vote under your declaration and approval from the city, so settle it before you bid.

Ask the city before you bid

Where the city required a screening wall when the subdivision was approved, it may still control what the wall looks like. Flower Mound, Texas shows how detailed this gets. Its resource guide for HOAs says a screening wall permit is required to repair or replace masonry panels or columns, while regrouting, replacing the first two rows or resetting a few loose bricks needs no permit. The application includes the plat or a survey with the work marked. The contractor submits an engineer-sealed design that meets current building code and confirms the existing footing can carry the new panel or column, and after the work the engineer signs a letter saying it was built to that design. To change the wall's material, color, height or design, the association first needs an amended site plan from the town's planning department. The same guide lists fence repair or replacement among common projects that need a permit. Your city may be stricter or looser. Call the building department and the planning department, ask each one what applies to your wall, and write down who told you what.

One scope, comparable bids, and the 811 call

Send every contractor the same site map and the same list: demolition and haul-off; footing and post specifications; material, height, color and cap detail matching the city approval; gates and hardware; repair of irrigation, sod and plant beds along the work line; permit fees and the engineer's design if the city requires one; protection of owner property on the lot side; daily cleanup; a completion date; and a written workmanship warranty. Ask for a unit price per panel or per linear foot as well as the total, so the board can add or drop sections without rebidding. Check the bid rules. Florida Statutes 720.3055 requires competitive bids when a contract will cost more than 10 percent of the association's total annual budget, including reserves. Texas Property Code 209.0052(c) requires an association contracting for services over $50,000 to solicit bids or proposals through a bid process it sets up. In Colorado, follow the declaration, the bylaws and any purchasing policy the board has adopted. Every post hole is an excavation. In Texas, Utilities Code 251.151 requires notice to the one-call center at least 48 hours before digging, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and no more than 14 days ahead. Florida Statutes 556.105 requires at least 2 full business days. Colorado's C.R.S. 9-1.5-103(3)(b) requires at least two business days, not counting the day of notice. Make the call the contractor's job in the contract. Utility locators mark their own lines, not an owner's sprinkler pipe running along the fence, so warn owners about that.

Getting into back yards

Crews usually work a perimeter fence from the lot side, so they need owners' yards. Read the declaration for an easement that lets the association enter lots to maintain walls or common elements. Where one exists, still give notice. Where it does not, get written permission from each affected owner before the start date, and plan a street-side route for any owner who refuses. Send affected owners a short form with three questions. Is there a dog that has to be kept in? Does a pool use this fence as part of its safety barrier? Is anything planted or built against the fence that you want moved first? A back yard pool that relies on the perimeter fence cannot sit open overnight, so the contract should require temporary fencing wherever a panel comes down behind a pool. Notice wording, sent 30 days ahead and again the week before: 'Starting [date], [contractor] will replace the perimeter wall behind homes on [street], one section at a time. Crews will enter back yards between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. through [route]. Each section will be open for about [number] days. Please move belongings at least [number] feet from the fence by [date] and keep pets inside while crews are working. If you have a pool, a gate in the fence, or a concern about access, tell [name] at [contact] by [date].'

Paying for it and the motion

Start with the reserve study line for the fence or wall. If that balance covers the contract plus a contingency, often about 10 percent, the board can usually approve the work at a properly noticed meeting. If it falls short, the choices are a special assessment, a loan, or phasing the work across budget years, and your declaration and state law decide which of those need an owner vote. Our guide on how to plan a major HOA project walks through those funding choices. Where owners own some segments, decide before signing whether the association will leave those to the owners with a deadline and a written standard to match, or replace them along with its own and bill the owners, which needs clear authority in the declaration. Sample motion: 'Moved to approve the contract with [contractor] to replace [number] linear feet of perimeter [wall or fence] along [location] for $[amount] under the bid dated [date], plus a contingency of up to $[amount] at the unit prices in that bid, paid from the perimeter fence reserve, with [director] authorized to approve change orders within the contingency and required to report each one at the next board meeting.'

A sample timeline

Month one: walk the fence, build the map, pull the plat and declaration. Month two: survey the unclear stretches and call the city. Month three: finish the scope and send it to at least three contractors with a 30-day deadline and one site walk for all of them. Month four: compare bids side by side and vote on the contract and the funding. Month five: the contractor gets the engineer's design and the permit, and the board sends the 30-day owner notice. Month six: the 811 call, then demolition and rebuilding section by section. Leave room for rain, and in Colorado for frozen ground. After the last section, walk the line with the contractor and write a punch list. Hold the final payment until the city signs off, any required engineer's letter is on file and owners' yards are restored. Then send the reserve study provider the final cost and date.

Mistakes that come back to the board

Replacing the whole run with association money when half of it belongs to owners. Switching from brick to precast or wood without the city's approval and getting a stop-work order. Letting each bidder propose a different height or material, so no two bids can be compared. Forgetting to ask about pools and leaving a back yard pool with no barrier over a weekend. Keeping the permit, engineer's letter and warranty in one volunteer's inbox, lost when a panel cracks in year three. File them in the association's records with the site map.

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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