An owner wants to build a room addition or a second story. How should our HOA board review the plans?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 12, 2026

How an HOA board reviews an owner's room addition or second-story plans: setbacks, height, the flood zone 50 percent rule, neighbors, TX, FL and CO law, approval wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

Review the envelope before the floor plan

An addition is the largest request most committees ever see, and the one an owner has usually paid an architect to draw before anyone at the HOA hears about it. Review it in two passes. First decide whether a building of that size can sit where the owner wants it: setbacks, height, lot coverage, easements, drainage and flood zone. Only then look at the design: roofline, siding, windows and color. A committee that starts with paint samples and finds a setback problem six weeks later has wasted the owner's money and its own credibility. The committee does not review the interior, the structure or code compliance. The city does that through the building permit. The committee reviews what the declaration and guidelines give it power to review, and it applies those standards the same way it applied them to the last addition. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents. This guide is education, not legal advice. Bring the association's attorney in before denying an addition the owner has already designed, because these are the denials that end up in court.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado say

Texas. Property Code 202.004(a) presumes the association's exercise of discretion is reasonable unless a court finds it arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory. That presumption favors a committee with written standards and a file showing it applied them evenly. For associations with more than 40 lots once the development period ends, 209.00505 sets the denial and hearing procedure covered below. No Texas statute protects additions as a class, so the declaration controls. Florida. Section 720.3035(1)(a) allows review only to the extent the declaration or guidelines authorized by it state or reasonably infer that authority. Section 720.3035(1)(b) bars review of interior work that cannot be seen from the frontage, an adjacent parcel, adjacent common area or a community golf course, so a garage converted to a family room with no exterior change may be outside the committee's reach. Section 720.3035(1)(c) bars the committee from requiring a building permit before it reviews plans. Section 720.3035(3) matters more for additions than for anything else: unless the documents say otherwise, a parcel has one front for setback purposes even if it borders streets on two sides, and where the documents set no setbacks, the county or city setbacks apply and the association may not enforce setbacks that conflict with them. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5(3) voids any rule that prohibits fire-hardened building materials on an owner's property and allows design standards only for fire-hardened fencing, with bona fide safety requirements still permitted under (3)(d). A guideline that demands cedar siding on every addition needs revisiting. Under 106.5(4), in jurisdictions covered by the state accessory dwelling unit law, the association may impose only reasonable restrictions on an ADU. If the 'addition' has its own kitchen and entrance, our guide on reviewing an owner request to build an ADU or casita applies instead of this one.

Use a concept round, then a final round

Invite owners to bring a concept before they pay for construction drawings. The concept round takes one page and a sketch: footprint, height, where it attaches, and photos of the side of the house it will change. The committee answers in writing within two weeks with one of three replies: the concept fits the standards, it fits with listed changes, or it does not fit and why. Say clearly that a concept response is not an approval. The final round needs the full package: - a survey or site plan by a licensed surveyor showing the house, the addition, every setback distance and every recorded easement - elevations of each side that changes, with the height from finished grade to the ridge - the roof pitch and roofing, siding, trim, window and door materials and colors - the grading and drainage plan, including where downspouts discharge - for a lot in a mapped flood zone, the floodplain administrator's determination described below - the contractor's name, insurance certificate, start date and expected completion date - the staging plan for the dumpster, materials and portable toilet An incomplete package does not start the clock. Send one written list of everything missing, all at once, within five business days.

Check the lot against the plat

Pull the recorded plat and the declaration's setback and coverage rules, then measure the survey against them yourself. Committees miss four things. Corner lots. Which side is the front decides which setback the addition gets. In Florida, 720.3035(3) settles it at one front unless your documents say otherwise. Elsewhere, read the declaration and follow the reading the committee used last time. Easements. Utility and drainage easements run along rear and side lines, which is where additions grow. Nothing permanent goes in an easement, and a foundation is as permanent as it gets. Height. Measure from finished grade, not from the floor of the house, and set the method in the guidelines. On a sloped lot the two numbers can differ by several feet. Drainage. A larger roof sends more water off the lot. Ask where the new downspouts go, and refuse a plan that points them at the neighbor's yard or across a sidewalk. City approval does not cure a covenant problem. A city may grant a variance for a 3-foot side setback that the declaration sets at 7 feet. The declaration still controls unless your documents adopt the city's numbers, or, in Florida, unless the documents set no setback at all.

Flood zones and the 50 percent rule

Look the lot up on the FEMA flood map before the final round. In a Special Flood Hazard Area, 44 CFR 59.1 defines a substantial improvement as any addition or other improvement costing 50 percent or more of the building's market value before work starts. Market value covers the structure only, not the land. Some cities count improvements over five or ten years and some use a threshold below 50 percent, so ask the floodplain administrator which rule applies. The consequence is large. FEMA's floodplain management guidance says a second story or partial second story that is a substantial improvement requires the whole house to be elevated. For a ground-level addition in an A zone, the addition alone may need elevation if work on the existing house is minimal, but demolishing the shared wall or remodeling the kitchen at the same time brings the whole house in. In a V zone the existing house always has to be elevated. The city decides this, not the committee. The committee's job is to ask the question early, because an owner who learns in month three that the plan now includes raising the house will come back with a different design, often taller, and the committee will review it again.

Hearing from the neighbors

A second story changes what the neighbors see from their backyard, and they will tell the board whether or not you ask. Give them a set way to do it. If your guidelines allow it, mail the adjacent owners a short notice when the final package is complete: 'The Architectural Committee has received an application for a [one-story rear addition / second story] at [address]. Plans are available for review by contacting [name]. Written comments received by [date, 10 days out] will be considered. The committee decides applications under the Declaration and the Architectural Guidelines.' That last sentence matters. Neighbors comment, they do not vote. A comment that the addition breaks a written standard, such as a setback, a height cap or a rule on windows facing a side yard, is evidence. A comment that the neighbor dislikes it is not a basis for denial. In Texas, a denial resting on it is the kind a court can call arbitrary under 202.004(a), and in Florida, 720.3035(4) lets an owner recover damages, costs and attorney fees for unreasonable, knowing and willful infringement of architectural rights. If a neighbor's concern points at a gap in the guidelines, fix the guidelines for the next application.

Timeline, denial and approval wording

Week 0: concept received. Week 2: written concept response. The owner prepares drawings. Day 0 of final: complete package date-stamped. Day 5: missing items list, if any. Days 5 to 15: neighbor comment window and a site visit with the survey in hand. By day 30: written decision, or sooner if the declaration sets a shorter deadline. Check whether a missed deadline counts as approval under your documents. In Texas, for associations with more than 40 lots after the development period, 209.00505(d) requires a denial sent by certified mail, hand delivery or electronic delivery that describes the basis in reasonable detail, says what changes would allow approval, and tells the owner they may request a board hearing within 30 days. Under 209.00505(e) the board holds the hearing within 30 days of the request with at least 10 days' notice, and either side may record it under 209.00505(h). In Florida, 720.3035(4) requires written notice naming the specific rule or covenant relied on and the part of the plan that does not comply. Approval wording: 'The Architectural Committee approves the addition at [address] shown on the plans dated [date], on these conditions: (1) the footprint, setbacks and height match the survey and elevations approved; (2) roofing, siding, trim and windows match the existing house as listed in the application; (3) downspouts discharge as shown on the drainage plan; (4) the owner obtains every permit the city requires, and, for a lot in a flood zone, follows the floodplain administrator's determination; (5) work follows the community's construction policy; (6) work starts within 6 months and is complete within 12 months of this approval; and (7) any change to the approved plans needs written committee approval before it is built.'

Mistakes boards make with additions

Approving drawings that later change. The framed addition rarely matches the drawings exactly. Condition 7 above, and a walk-by when framing goes up, catch a window that moved or a roof that got steeper. No end date. An addition with no completion deadline can sit in house wrap for two years. Put the deadline in the approval and calendar it. Reviewing the interior. Bedroom counts, the floor plan and the structure belong to the city. In Florida, 720.3035(1)(b) says so in statute for anything not visible from outside. Forgetting the trucks. Approval covers what gets built, not the concrete trucks on the private street. Our guide on writing an HOA owner remodel and construction policy covers work hours, staging and damage deposits. Calling it after the fact. When an owner frames an addition with no application, follow our guide on handling an owner who built without HOA architectural approval instead of approving it to keep the peace.

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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