Roofing questions, answered straight

It depends on how your community is legally structured, and the answer is in your recorded declaration rather than in a statute.

• Condominium associations — under Florida Statute 718.113 the association maintains, repairs and replaces the common elements, and the roof is a common element in almost every condominium declaration. The association pays, and funds it through reserves or a special assessment.

• Attached townhome HOAs — split roughly evenly. Some declarations assign the roof to the association because one roof plane covers several units; others leave it with each owner.

• Single-family HOA communities — the homeowner owns the roof. The HOA controls colour, profile and material through architectural review, but does not pay for the work.

Read Article 5 or 6 of your declaration, headed "Maintenance" or "Common Elements". Roofing Network works with HOA and condo boards across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties and can read the declaration with you before a board vote.

There is no default rule for townhomes in Florida — the declaration of covenants controls, and the physical roof structure usually explains why it was written the way it was.

When one continuous roof deck runs across four or eight attached units, the declaration almost always assigns the roof to the association. A single owner cannot tear off and re-dry-in a third of a shared deck without exposing their neighbours, so the association replaces the whole run at once.

Where each townhome has its own roof structure separated by a firewall, responsibility more often sits with the owner, and the HOA only enforces material and colour standards.

Two clauses decide it: the definition of "Unit" versus "Common Area", and the maintenance article. If the two contradict each other — which happens in older declarations — the board should get a legal opinion before it approves a roofing contract.

The association contracts the work and pays the contractor. Owners fund it indirectly through one of three routes:

• Reserves — the cleanest route. Buildings three storeys and taller must fund roof reserves through a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, so a well-run association already holds part of the cost.

• Special assessment — the shortfall is divided across units by the percentage share stated in the declaration, not equally per unit.

• Association loan — used when the assessment would be too large to collect at once, repaid through monthly dues.

An owner cannot opt out, hire their own roofer for their section, or refuse the assessment because their unit is not leaking. Roofing Network provides itemised, board-ready proposals that separate tear-off, deck repair allowances, permit fees and unit-count breakdowns so the finance committee can present real numbers at the owners' meeting.

The Structural Integrity Reserve Study was introduced after the Surfside collapse and applies to residential condominium and cooperative buildings of three storeys or more. A licensed engineer or architect inspects the building and sets the remaining useful life and replacement cost of each required component.

The roof is the first item on the required list, alongside the structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, and any item over a set replacement threshold.

What this means in practice: a roof condition report is now a financial document, not just a maintenance one. Boards commissioning a SIRS need a roof assessment that states remaining service life with evidence — core cuts, moisture survey, fastener pull tests — because the reserve number is built on it. Reserve legislation has been amended more than once since 2022, so confirm current funding obligations with association counsel before you budget.

Special assessments for roof replacement are routine and enforceable. The board must follow the notice and meeting procedure in the declaration and bylaws — normally a stated notice period, an agenda that specifically names the assessment, and a recorded vote.

Three points that cause most of the disputes:

• The share is set by the declaration's percentage allocation, so a larger unit usually pays more than a smaller one.

• Non-payment is a collectable debt and can lead to a lien against the unit.

• Owners do not get to choose a different contractor or scope for their portion.

Boards get far less pushback when the proposal shows why the roof needs replacing rather than repairing. Photographic evidence, core cut results and a moisture scan turn a contested vote into a documented decision.

Two separate questions get confused here — who authorises the work, and who authorises the money.

The work. Replacing a failed common-element roof is maintenance, and most declarations give the board authority to act without a membership vote. Boards that delay a leaking roof waiting for an owners' meeting are usually increasing their own exposure, not reducing it.

The money. Many declarations require a membership vote for a special assessment over a stated dollar figure, or for spending reserves on something other than the item they were collected for.

A material alteration — switching from tile to metal, or changing colour or profile — is a different matter and commonly does require an owner vote at the percentage stated in the declaration. Like-for-like replacement generally does not.

The reporting deadline in Florida Statute 627.70132 was shortened twice in recent years, so older advice found online is frequently wrong. The current framework:

• New or reopened claim — notice within one year of the date of loss.

• Supplemental claim — within eighteen months of the date of loss.

The date of loss is the date of the storm or event, not the date you noticed a stain on the ceiling. That distinction ends more South Florida claims than any other single issue, because tile and flat-roof damage often takes months to show inside the building.

Report first, then document. A dated inspection report with photographs, moisture readings and a damage location map, produced before repairs begin, is what turns a claim into an approval. Roofing Network documents storm damage for South Florida property owners and works alongside your adjuster.

Two very different situations get filed under the same phrase.

Storm-damaged decking — plywood or 1x6 sheathing broken, lifted or saturated by a covered event is part of the claim. It has to be photographed and measured before the new underlayment goes down, because once the roof is dried in the evidence is gone.

Deteriorated decking — rot from a slow leak, delamination, or old sheathing that cannot hold a fastener to current code is nearly always excluded as wear and tear, even when it is discovered during a covered claim.

This is why deck replacement appears as a separate line item, priced per sheet or per square foot, in every honest South Florida roofing contract. Any proposal that promises no deck charges is either inflating the base price or setting up a change order.