Key Takeaways:
- Deferred maintenance rarely gets cheaper. Small issues can become major repair projects when left unaddressed.
- Structural integrity and financial planning are inseparable. Reserve funding, inspections, and capital planning help communities prepare for future repairs.
- Every association has critical assets to monitor. Buildings, roofs, retaining walls, docks, clubhouses, pools, parking structures, and stormwater systems all require ongoing attention.
- Maintenance decisions can impact more than safety. Deferred repairs may affect insurance costs, property values, marketability, and financing options.
- Proactive communities are more resilient. Associations that identify issues early and develop funding plans are better positioned to avoid emergencies and costly special assessments.
- The lessons of Surfside apply beyond condominiums. Any HOA responsible for common property should understand the condition of its assets and plan for their long-term maintenance.
Five years after the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, homeowner’s association (HOA) boards across the country continue to wrestle with an important question: How can we ensure our community's buildings and shared assets remain safe, functional, and financially sustainable for years to come?
Although Surfside involved a high-rise condominium building, the lessons extend far beyond condominiums. Any association responsible for maintaining common property, including clubhouses, marinas, retaining walls, parking structures, pools, or stormwater systems, has a responsibility to understand the condition of those assets and plan for their long-term upkeep.
Waiting Is Usually the Most Expensive Option
One of the clearest lessons from Surfside is that deferred maintenance, just like anything else, rarely becomes less expensive over time.
Small issues such as water intrusion, corrosion, settlement, cracked concrete, or aging infrastructure often worsen when left unaddressed. Problems that might have been resolved through routine maintenance can eventually require major repairs, special assessments, or emergency projects.
Boards sometimes delay evaluations or repairs because of concerns about cost. In reality, postponing action often increases both the financial burden and the disruption to homeowners.
Proactive maintenance is not only about protecting property values. It is about safeguarding residents, preserving community assets, and fulfilling the board's fiduciary duty.
Structural Integrity Requires Financial Planning
Maintaining a community's physical assets goes hand in hand with maintaining its financial health.
Communities that are best positioned for long-term success typically have:
- Regular reserve studies and funding plans
- Professional inspections of aging components
- Preventive maintenance programs
- Long-range capital improvement planning
- Transparent communication about future expenses
While North Carolina and South Carolina don’t currently require reserve studies by law, boards still have a responsibility to consult with experts and develop plans for future capital needs. Waiting until major repairs become unavoidable can create significant financial strain for both the association and its owners.
What Boards Should Be Evaluating
Every community is different, but boards should periodically look at assets that could create substantial safety or financial risks if they deteriorate.
Some key areas may include:
- Building foundations and structural systems
- Balconies and decks
- Roofs
- Parking structures
- Clubhouses and amenity buildings
- Pool structures
- Stormwater infrastructure
Communities in coastal areas face additional challenges from moisture, salt exposure, flooding, hurricanes, and corrosion, all of which can accelerate deterioration.
Structural Integrity Affects More Than Safety
Many board members view structural maintenance primarily as an engineering issue. Increasingly, it is also a financial and marketability issue.
Following the Surfside collapse, mortgage lenders have increased scrutiny of condominium projects with significant deferred maintenance, unresolved structural concerns, or major unfunded repair obligations.
While these lending requirements apply specifically to condominium communities, the broader lesson applies to all associations: neglected infrastructure can affect property values, insurance coverage, potential buyer confidence, and the overall reputation of the community.
Communities that maintain their assets, complete recommended repairs, and adequately fund future projects are generally in a stronger position to show both physical and financial stability to homeowners, insurers, and prospective buyers.
Questions Every Board Should Ask
As boards evaluate their community's long-term needs, several questions can help identify potential gaps:
- When was the last reserve study completed?
- Do we know the remaining useful life of major common elements?
- Have engineers, Reserve Study Specialists, or other professionals recommended repairs that remain outstanding?
- Are reserve contributions sufficient to fund anticipated projects?
- Do we have a plan for addressing aging infrastructure before it becomes an emergency?
- Would a prospective buyer view our community as physically and financially well maintained?
If several of these questions cannot be answered with confidence, it may be time to revisit the association's maintenance and capital planning strategy.
Planning Today Prevents Crises Tomorrow
The most successful communities are not those that never face major repairs. Rather, they are the communities that identify risks early, develop a realistic funding strategy, and act before minor concerns become major problems.
In some cases, that may mean increasing reserve funding. In others, it may involve engineering evaluations, reserve studies, phased repairs, special assessments, or financing options that allow important projects to move forward without delay. The specific solution will vary from community to community, but the key is having a plan.
Every board decision affects future owners. Proactive attention to structural integrity demonstrates responsible stewardship of the assets entrusted to the association.
Five years after Surfside, the central lesson remains clear: structural integrity and financial planning are inseparable. Communities that invest in both are better positioned to protect residents, preserve property values, and ensure long-term sustainability.
Every reserve contribution, reserve study, and preventive maintenance project is an investment in both the safety of the community and the future marketability of every home within it.
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