As a reminder and for clarity, there are elements of each condo unit that are the responsibility of the individual unit owner to maintain, repair and replace, when necessary. Others are the responsibility of the condominium association and are part of our yearly maintenance programs and/or included in the reserve funds based on their normal life expectancy.
- The following elements of the condominium unit are owner responsibility for maintenance, repair and replacement and are not be included in the normal maintenance or in the Reserve Study. These are clearly documented in the By-Laws, Article II, Section 2 “The Condominium Unit” and are:
• Unit windows and screens
• Unit doors
• Unit Sliders
• Unit Skylights (if any)
• Unit HVAC system (heat and air conditioning)
• Unit water heater
• Unit fixtures and appliances
• Unit plumbing beyond the on/off valve in the laundry/utility room
• Unit electrical wiring beyond the meter
• Unit non-load bearing walls
• Dryer vents
• Normal maintenance and repair of “Limited Common Elements” (deck surface, deck steps, etc.) See Information Bulletin #13 for more information. - The Condominium Association are clearly responsible for the following common elements according the By-Laws and are included in the yearly maintenance or Reserve planning:
• The Land
• All facilities located underground
• Driveways and parking lots
• All exterior lighting facilities and utilities
• All structural parts of the building including sills, roofs, outside walls (not including windows or glass doors) supports, treads, risers, rafters, pilings, beams, and any other structural parts of the building
• All guttering, down-spouting and flashing
• All sidewalks (not decks or balconies) and walkways
• All common area carpeting
• All mailboxes
• All trash containers and areas
• All bulk-heading together with tiebacks, “dead-men” and all other integral parts of the bulkhead anchoring system
• All other elements of the unit building rationally of common use or necessity for its existence, upkeep and safety
• Fire sprinkler system
• All common plumbing, vent and waste lines serving both horizontally and vertically adjacent condominium units are limited common elements but are maintained by the association.
As a final reminder, eight years ago we embarked on a yearly maintenance program where we totally reworked one building per year. After eight years that program has now resulted in each building being worked on in a comprehensive manner twice. Our intention is to continue that program with a slight modification. We intend to work each building every 5 years instead of 4. We refer to this as our “1 in 5 Yearly Maintenance Program”. This change will allow the Association to contribute additional funds to the reserve fund. In addition, we also address individual items on non-target buildings each year as necessary.