What should an HOA board do in the first 30 days after a fire in a condo building?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 17, 2026

An HOA board's first 30 days after a condo building fire: securing the scene, the fire cause investigation, displaced owners, HO-6 claims and who rebuilds.

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

The short answer

After a fire in an attached building, the board has four jobs in the first month, roughly in this order. Keep the building safe and closed to the weather. Protect the evidence of what started the fire. Point every displaced household at the right insurance policy. Then start the rebuild with a clear line between the association's work and each owner's. The fire department controls the scene until it releases it, so none of this starts before that. This guide is the board's side of a building fire. For how reconstruction, the deductible and living expenses look from an owner's chair, read our guide on what happens after a fire or hurricane damages your HOA. For claim mechanics that apply to any property loss, such as the adjuster visit, carrier deadlines and public adjusters, read our guide on how to handle an HOA insurance claim after a storm. Rules vary by state and by your declaration. Treat this as education, not legal advice, and bring in the association's attorney early on a large loss.

Day 0 to 2: the scene, the systems and the openings

Nobody goes back into the burned unit or the units around it until the fire department says so. Before the last engine leaves, get the incident number and the name of the investigator or fire marshal assigned, and ask three questions. Which units are cleared to occupy? Are the building's fire alarm and sprinkler systems working? Which utilities did the crews shut off, and who is allowed to turn them back on? If the alarm or sprinklers are out, ask whether the fire marshal requires a fire watch until they are repaired. If the answer is yes, book it that night through your alarm or security vendor and get the alarm contractor out the next morning. Then close the building up. Board broken windows and forced doors, tarp any hole in the roof, fence off debris, and get the firefighting water out of the units below before it turns into a mold claim. The Texas Department of Insurance gives policyholders the same order of work after any loss: photograph and video the damage first, make temporary repairs to prevent more damage, keep every receipt, throw nothing away until the adjuster says so, and make no permanent repairs before the adjuster sees it. Rekey any door that firefighters forced open.

Leave the area of origin alone

A building fire gets a cause and origin investigation, sometimes by the fire marshal and almost always by the association's carrier, and often by the carriers for the owners involved as well. That finding decides who pays. If an owner or someone in the unit caused the fire, state law lets the association pass costs back. Florida section 718.111(11)(j)1 makes a unit owner responsible for repair costs insurance does not pay when the damage came from intentional conduct, negligence or a rule violation by the owner, family, occupants, tenants, guests or invitees. Texas Property Code section 82.111(l) lets the association assess the deductible and any cost above the insurance proceeds against an owner whose act or omission, or a guest's, caused the damage. Colorado section 38-33.3-313(6) lets the association assess negligent owners for deductibles it paid. The insurer may also go after the responsible party for what it paid out. None of that works if a restoration crew has already hauled the melted dryer, the space heater or the scorched electrical panel to the dumpster. Tell every contractor in writing that the room where the fire started stays untouched until the carrier's investigator releases it.

Displaced residents: a list and the right policy

On day one, start a list of every affected unit: owner name, owner-occupied or rented, tenant names, a working phone number, the temporary address, pets, and whether the fire department cleared the unit. Update it every day and keep it out of group emails. Then tell each household plainly whose insurance does what. The association's master policy rebuilds what the association insures. It does not pay for an owner's hotel. Living expenses come from the owner's own HO-6 policy, usually under loss of use or additional living expense coverage, and tenants look to their renters policy and their lease. Ask every affected owner to call their own carrier the same day, and give them the association's carrier name, policy number and claim number so the two adjusters can talk. Florida spells out what falls to the owner: section 718.111(11)(f)3 excludes personal property, floor, wall and ceiling coverings, appliances, water heaters, cabinets, countertops and window treatments inside the unit from the association's coverage. The local Red Cross chapter often helps families with the first nights of shelter, so pass that number along. Assessments keep coming due while a unit sits empty. Decide at the first board meeting whether to offer displaced owners a payment plan, rather than waiting for the first late notice to go out.

Who rebuilds what

State condo statutes put reconstruction of insured property on the association. Texas section 82.111(i) says damaged property the association must insure shall be promptly repaired or replaced by the association unless the condominium is terminated, repair would be illegal under a health or safety law, or at least 80 percent of owners vote not to rebuild. Colorado section 38-33.3-313(9) works the same way, with a 67 percent vote that must include every owner whose unit or limited common element would not be rebuilt, and it makes repair costs above insurance proceeds and reserves a common expense. Florida section 718.111(11)(j) has the association reconstruct the property it must insure as a common expense and treats the deductible as a common expense unless the owner-fault rule applies. Where the association's work stops inside a unit comes from your declaration and, in Florida, the statute. Pull the maintenance and insurance responsibility chart this week and send each affected owner a one-page summary of what the association will restore in their unit and what they handle. Smoke and soot in the units next door and water in the units below cause most of the arguments, so walk those units with the adjuster too.

Contractors in the first week

Restoration companies show up fast, sometimes before the trucks leave. Hire for emergency services only: board-up, fencing, water extraction, temporary power, and shoring if an engineer calls for it. Sign a short emergency services agreement with a price list or a not-to-exceed amount, not a full rebuild contract. The rebuild scope comes after the adjuster's estimate and, for anything structural, a report from an engineer the association hires, with two or three bids on the same scope. Read every work authorization before a director signs it, because some include language that hands the contractor the association's claim. In Florida, section 627.7152(13) makes an assignment of post-loss benefits void under any residential or commercial property policy issued on or after January 1, 2023. Other states allow assignments, so in Texas or Colorado the answer is simply not to sign one. Check the spending limit in your bylaws or emergency policy before approving work, and check your bylaws and state law for how quickly the board can meet when a contract goes over it.

Wording the board can use

A motion for the first meeting: 'The board appoints [director] as fire response lead for the [date] fire at [building], authorized to report the loss, meet investigators and adjusters, and approve board-up, security, fire watch and water extraction up to $[amount]. Any repair contract, assignment of claim rights, or charge of costs to an owner requires a board vote.' A first notice to owners: 'On [date], a fire damaged units [numbers] at [building]. The fire department has cleared units [numbers] to occupy. Units [numbers] are closed until further notice. The association has reported the loss to [carrier], claim number [number]. If your unit was affected, call your own insurance company today about your unit's interior, your belongings and your living costs, and send the board your temporary address and phone number. The cause is under investigation, and the board will not comment on it until the investigation is finished. Next update: [date].' That last sentence matters. A rumor that a named neighbor started the fire is the fastest way to turn a casualty into a lawsuit.

A sample 30-day timeline

Day 0: fire department on scene. Get the incident number and start the unit list. Day 0 to 1: board-up, fencing, water extraction and any required fire watch. Report the loss to the carrier in writing and send the first owner notice. Day 1 to 3: board meeting or written consent naming the response lead and setting the spending cap. Affected owners open claims with their own carriers. Day 3 to 10: cause and origin inspections. The adjuster walks the burned unit, the neighbors above, below and beside it, and the common areas. A licensed electrician and plumber check systems before utilities come back on in cleared units. Day 10 to 21: engineer's report if the structure was involved, responsibility summaries to affected owners, and restoration bids on one scope. Day 21 to 30: second owner update, board review of the carrier's estimate against the bids, and a plan for funding the deductible from reserves, an assessment, or a charge to an owner once the investigation supports it.

Mistakes that cost boards later

Letting the cleanup crew clear the room of origin before the investigator saw it. Blaming a resident in writing before the cause is known. Signing a rebuild contract in the first week because the restoration company had a form ready. Forgetting the units below and next door until an owner reports mold in month two. Telling displaced owners the master policy will cover their hotel. Charging the deductible to an owner on a hunch, without the investigation, the declaration language and a board vote behind it. Colorado's section 38-33.3-313(6) lets an association adopt written, nondiscriminatory policies on claims and deductibles, and every board in any state is better off adopting one before a fire than arguing about it after.

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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