An owner wants to put up a storage shed. How should our HOA board review the request?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 12, 2026

How an HOA board reviews an owner's shed request: size, height and placement limits, easement and flood zone checks, Texas, Florida and Colorado rules, approval wording.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

The short answer

Approve most shed requests, with conditions, and decide the hard questions once in a written shed standard instead of one application at a time. A shed is the most common outbuilding request a committee sees, and nearly every dispute over one comes from three things: a building that sits in an easement or a drainage path, a building taller or closer to the fence than the neighbor expected, or a shed that quietly turns into a workshop or a bedroom. No Texas, Florida or Colorado statute protects sheds the way state law protects solar panels or flags, so the declaration and the guidelines carry most of the weight. The state laws that do apply govern how the committee reviews and denies, and in Colorado what materials it may refuse. Rules vary by state and by each community's governing documents. This guide is education, not legal advice. Send odd cases, like a shed the owner wants on common area, to the association's attorney.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado allow

Texas. Property Code 202.004(a) presumes that an association's exercise of discretion is reasonable unless a court finds it arbitrary, capricious or discriminatory. That presumption protects a committee that applies a written standard the same way every time, and it protects very little when two identical sheds get different answers. For associations with more than 40 lots once the development period has ended, 209.00505 sets the denial procedure covered below. Florida. Section 720.3035(1)(a) allows architectural review only to the extent the declaration or guidelines authorized by it state or reasonably infer that authority, and the standards must be applied evenly. Read the declaration before you write a shed rule. If it says nothing about outbuildings and gives the committee no general review power over structures, a new shed ban may not stand. Under 720.3035(2), if the documents list approved options, such as two shed colors or three siding types, the committee cannot narrow the owner's choice among them. Section 720.3035(1)(c) bars the committee from requiring a city or county building permit as a condition of its review. Colorado. C.R.S. 38-33.3-106.5(3), added by H.B. 24-1091 effective March 12, 2024, voids any provision that prohibits the installation, use or maintenance of fire-hardened building materials on an owner's property. The statute lets an association set design standards for fire-hardened fencing only, and it still allows bona fide safety requirements consistent with building codes under 106.5(3)(d). A guideline that requires wood siding on every shed and refuses a steel or fiber-cement shed that meets the statute's fire-hardened criteria needs a second look. Section 106.5(4) limits association restrictions on accessory dwelling units in jurisdictions covered by the state ADU law, which matters when a 'shed' is really a small house.

Write the shed standard first

Walk the neighborhood and photograph the sheds already standing, approved or not. The standard should describe what the committee will approve without debate. Cover six points. Size. Set a maximum footprint, such as 120 square feet, and one shed per lot unless the committee approves more. A cap below the city's permit threshold keeps most sheds out of the permit office. Height. Measure from grade to the ridge, and set a number, such as 10 feet. Neighbors judge a shed by how far it rises above the fence. Location. Rear yard only, behind the rear corner of the house, with a setback from each lot line, such as 5 feet. Ask for more distance on lots that back onto common area or a trail. Appearance. Siding and roof in colors that match or complement the house, with roofing to match the house or a dark neutral. Name acceptable materials by type, such as wood, engineered wood, vinyl, fiber cement and painted metal, never by brand. Foundation. Allow skids, a gravel pad or a concrete slab, and say which needs a survey. A slab is permanent, so treat it the way you treat a patio. Use. Storage only. Electricity needs the city's electrical permit, and any plumbing, sleeping space or business use goes to the committee as a separate request.

Check the lot, not just the brochure

The brochure tells you what the shed looks like. The plat tells you whether it can go where the owner wants it. Pull the recorded plat and check three things. Easements. Utility and drainage easements commonly run along rear and side lot lines, which is exactly where owners want sheds. A utility can usually remove anything built in its easement to reach its lines, at the owner's cost unless the easement says otherwise. Keep sheds out of easements entirely. A shed on skids can be moved, but nobody moves a loaded shed on a Saturday morning while a crew waits. Drainage. A shed set across a swale or a slab poured in a drainage path sends water into the neighbor's yard. Have a committee member stand on the spot after a rain if the grading looks doubtful. Flood zone. Check the lot on the FEMA flood map. In a Special Flood Hazard Area, FEMA's floodplain management bulletin P-2140 treats a small storage shed as an accessory structure that the community may allow to be wet floodproofed instead of elevated, which means anchoring against flotation, flood openings in the walls and flood damage-resistant materials. The bulletin defines small as no larger than a one-story two-car garage in A zones and no larger than 100 square feet in V zones. A shed used for anything but parking or storage loses that treatment. The city's floodplain administrator decides, so require their sign-off as a condition on any lot in a mapped flood zone.

Permits and the city

The committee's approval and the city's permit are separate, and the owner needs both. The 2021 International Residential Code, the model code most cities start from, exempts one-story detached accessory structures of 200 square feet or less from a building permit. Cities adopt and amend that code, so the local limit may differ, and zoning setbacks apply whether or not a permit is needed. Electrical work almost always needs its own permit. Write the approval so it says the owner must get every permit the city requires. Outside Florida, the committee may also ask to see the permit before work starts. In Florida, it may not make the permit a condition of its review under 720.3035(1)(c), but the approval can still require the owner to obtain one.

What the application should include

One page, a sketch and a picture is enough. Ask for: - a lot sketch or survey showing the shed, its dimensions and the distance to each property line, the house and any easement - the footprint in square feet and the height from grade to the ridge - a brochure page, photo or drawing of the shed, with siding and roof colors - the foundation type: skids, gravel pad or slab - whether it will have electricity, water or windows - the planned use - for a lot in a mapped flood zone, the floodplain administrator's requirements - the installer's name and the start date Keep one blank application in the guidelines and post it where owners find the rules.

Timeline, denial notice and approval wording

Day 0: date-stamp the complete application. Days 1 to 5: one written request for anything missing. Days 5 to 15: a committee member compares the sketch to the plat and looks at the spot. By day 30: a written decision. Use the declaration's deadline if it is shorter, and check whether a missed deadline counts as approval. In Texas, for associations with more than 40 lots after the development period, Property Code 209.00505(d) requires a denial by certified mail, hand delivery or electronic delivery that describes the basis in reasonable detail, states the changes needed for approval, and tells the owner they may request a board hearing within 30 days. Under 209.00505(e) the board holds that hearing within 30 days of the request, with at least 10 days' notice. In Florida, 720.3035(4)(a) requires written notice of a denial that states with specificity the rule or covenant relied on and the part of the request that does not comply. Approval wording: 'The Architectural Committee approves the storage shed described in your application dated [date] at [address], on these conditions: (1) footprint no more than [120] square feet and height no more than [10] feet from grade to ridge; (2) location as shown on your sketch, at least [5] feet from each lot line and outside every easement shown on the plat; (3) siding in [color] and roofing in [color]; (4) the shed is used for storage only, and any electricity, plumbing or change of use needs a new application; (5) you obtain every permit the city requires; and (6) you keep the shed painted and in good repair.' If the only problem is location, approve the shed and move it. A decision that says 'approved if moved 4 feet north' ends most arguments.

Mistakes boards make with sheds

Approving off the brochure. The shed itself is rarely the problem. Where it sits is. Letting the shed become a room. Storage sheds grow window air conditioners, extension cords and eventually a futon. Put 'storage only' in the approval and respond to a change of use the way you would to any unapproved addition. Our guide on reviewing an owner request to build an ADU or casita covers a building meant for living in. Ignoring the sheds already there. A new rule that would make a third of the existing sheds noncompliant invites a selective enforcement defense the first time you deny one. Decide in writing which existing sheds stay, and photograph them for the file. No record of past approvals. Keep every shed decision, with the sketch and a photo of the finished building, in one folder and check it before each new one. When a shed goes up with no application at all, see our guide on handling an owner who built without architectural approval.

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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