How do we set up an AED program for our HOA clubhouse or pool?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 26, 2026

How an HOA board buys, places, registers and checks an AED for the clubhouse or pool, with TX, FL and CO AED statutes, a monthly check log and a motion.

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

The short answer

Buy an FDA-approved automated external defibrillator, mount it where someone can reach it and get back to a collapsed person fast, tell your local 911 or EMS agency where it is, and check it every month in writing. That last part is the one that protects the association. In Texas, Florida and Colorado the statutes that shield an owner of an AED from lawsuits tie that protection, in different ways, to keeping the device maintained and tested. OSHA's AED page puts the stakes plainly: survival from sudden cardiac arrest drops 7 to 10 percent for each minute without CPR or defibrillation, and after 10 minutes resuscitation rarely succeeds. An ambulance to a pool at the back of a subdivision can take longer than that. None of the three state AED statutes below requires an HOA to own one. A local code, a pool permit or your insurer might, so ask all three before you decide. AED rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal or medical advice.

What Texas, Florida and Colorado require of an owner

Texas. Health and Safety Code section 779.003 says a person or entity that owns or leases an AED shall maintain and test it according to the manufacturer's guidelines and do a monthly inspection to confirm it is in its designated location, reasonably appears ready for use and does not appear damaged. Section 779.005 says whoever acquires an AED shall notify the local EMS provider of its existence, location and type. Section 779.004 says anyone who uses one on a person in cardiac arrest shall promptly notify local EMS, which in practice means calling 911. Section 779.006(b) protects whoever acquires the AED and whoever manages the location from civil damages unless the conduct is willfully or wantonly negligent, and 779.006(d) applies that protection whether or not the user was trained. Section 779.007 matters when you buy: if the model is not FDA-approved for over-the-counter sale, it must come through a licensed practitioner or on a prescription. Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 74.151(a) separately covers a person who gives emergency care with an AED in good faith. Florida. Section 401.2915 encourages anyone who owns an AED to tell the local EMS medical director or the local 911 center where it is, and encourages users to take a CPR course. It requires whoever uses one to activate EMS as soon as possible. Section 768.1325, the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, protects a person who acquires an AED and makes it available, and it names community associations. That protection does not cover harm caused by failing to maintain and test the device properly, or by failing to train employees or agents expected to use it, with exceptions, such as when the person who used it was not someone the association would reasonably expect to use it. Colorado is the strictest. Revised Statutes section 13-21-108.1(3)(a) says an entity that acquires an AED shall make sure expected users get CPR and AED training through a course approved by the state health department, that the device is maintained and tested to the manufacturer's guidelines with written records, and that written plans cover placement, training, coordination with EMS, medical oversight, maintenance and reporting of each use. Subsection (3)(b) requires notice to the local emergency communications or dispatch center of the AED's existence, location and type. The limited immunity in subsection (4) reaches the entity responsible for the site only if the maintenance and written-record requirement is met. In Colorado, the check log is the immunity.

Buy the right device

Buy from a list, not a website ad. The FDA now requires premarket approval for all AEDs and for their accessories, meaning the pads and batteries, and it publishes tables of approved AED systems. Check the model against those tables, or look up the unique device identifier on the label in the FDA's AccessGUDID database. Check the FDA recall database for the model too. Ask each seller these questions in writing: 1. Is this model FDA-approved, and are its pads and batteries approved accessories? 2. Is it cleared for over-the-counter sale, or does it need a prescription? If it needs one, does the price include it? 3. What is the shelf life of the pads and the battery, and what do replacements cost? Pediatric pads or a child key too? 4. Does the unit run its own self-test, and how does it show a failed test? 5. What is the warranty, and does the seller offer a maintenance or pad-replacement plan? Price the cabinet, sign, spare adult pads, pediatric pads if children use the pool, and pad and battery replacements over the warranty period. That total goes to the board, not the sticker price.

Pick the spot and mount it

Put the AED where someone who sees a collapse can grab it and be back within a couple of minutes. For most small associations that is one unit on an outside wall or a covered spot between the clubhouse and the pool. If the clubhouse is locked most of the day, an AED inside it is only an AED for the hours someone has a key. Decide these in the written placement plan: - The exact location, with a photo, so the monthly checker knows where 'designated location' is. - A cabinet rated for outdoor use if it is outside, with shade from direct sun. Heat and cold both shorten battery and pad life, and the manufacturer lists the storage temperature range. - An alarmed cabinet if theft or kids opening it is a real risk, but no lock that needs a key or code in an emergency. - A clear AED sign above the cabinet, and a line on the pool rules board and the clubhouse door saying where it is. - A second unit if the amenities are far apart. Then notify EMS in writing. In Texas and Colorado it is required. Florida encourages it. Call the non-emergency line for your 911 center or county EMS, ask how they want AED locations reported, and keep a copy of what you sent.

Train the people most likely to use it

AEDs talk the user through each step, and Texas protects the owner whether or not the user was trained. Train people anyway. A trained bystander starts CPR sooner. Start with the people who are there when it happens: the pool monitor or lifeguard if you have one, the directors who open and close amenities, the clubhouse rental host and any maintenance staff. In Colorado, 'expected AED users' must take a CPR and AED course that meets national standards and is approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, so confirm the course qualifies before you pay for it. In Florida, if an employee or agent of the association is expected to use it, train them, because failure to train can cost the association its immunity under section 768.1325. Consider opening a clubhouse class to any owner who wants to come. Keep the sign-in sheet and the instructor's roster in the association's records with the dates, since certificates expire and you will need to know who is due.

The monthly check and the records

Name one person to do the check, plus a backup, and use the same record every month. Texas requires a monthly inspection by statute. Colorado requires written maintenance and testing records. Florida's immunity depends on proper maintenance and testing. One log covers all three. A monthly log line can read: date; checker; AED in its marked location (yes or no); status light or screen shows ready (yes or no); no visible damage to the unit or cabinet (yes or no); pads sealed and expiration date; battery expiration date; cabinet alarm works; notes and follow-up. Set calendar reminders 60 days before each pad and battery expiration, because a back-ordered pad is a dead AED. Log what you did about any recall. Write down what happens after a use. Replace the pads right away, download or save the event data if the manufacturer asks for it, notify EMS if the 911 call did not already cover it, and tell your insurer. In Colorado, the written plan must cover how uses get reported.

Insurance, budget and a sample motion

Before the purchase, send your insurance agent the model, location and training plan and ask whether the general liability policy needs any change. Ask the reserve specialist to add the AED and cabinet as a component with the manufacturer's service life, and put pads, batteries, training and any maintenance plan in the operating budget. Our guide on how to open an HOA pool for the season is a good place to add the AED check to the opening list, and our guide on building an HOA emergency preparedness plan should name the AED location and who checks it. A sample timeline: month 1, quotes, an insurance call and a question to the city or county about local rules; month 2, board vote, purchase and the written plan; month 3, install, sign, EMS notice and the first training class; then the monthly log begins. A motion the board can adapt: 'Move to purchase one FDA-approved automated external defibrillator with an outdoor cabinet and signage for the clubhouse and pool area at a cost not to exceed $[amount]; to adopt the attached AED plan covering placement, training, EMS notice, monthly inspections and records; to appoint [name] as AED coordinator with [name] as backup; and to add AED pads, batteries and training to the annual operating budget.' The usual mistakes: a unit locked inside a building that is closed at night, pads that expired two summers ago, no written log, which in Colorado costs the site its immunity, and a coordinator who moved away with nobody named to replace them.

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 home & property

Or browse all home projects & property rules guides.