Battling the Rainy Season:
Deciding Between a Re-Roof and a Repair
As we enter a new rainy season, many of our business partners reach out for gutter cleaning and roof maintenance, preparing for what could be another year of record-breaking rains in Southern California. When working with community managers who depend on us during the rainy season, we always wonder, could leaks have been prevented with a proactive plan, and was annual roof maintenance completed?
When the signs of water intrusion become evident, temporary repairs and tarping are the best initial courses of action, giving a community manager and board members time to review a repair proposal based on the initial inspection.
Before we get into full roof replacements versus partial repairs, I think it’s important to go over general practices that will help reduce leaks year after year. There are a few things associations can do to help prevent or manage incidents so leaks don’t overwhelm the community, management, business partners, and the board.
Annual Roof Maintenance
As mentioned earlier, annual roof maintenance, which includes the clearing of waterways, gutters and downspouts, and a thorough roof inspection to cure obvious defi ciencies like cracked tiles, damaged shingles, and degraded sealant around openings and fl ashing are critical. Preventative maintenance can reduce the number of leaks an association experiences.
Water Intrusion Policy A water intrusion policy
is a vital supporting document
that provides guidance regarding responsibilities of unit owners and the association to the membership in the event of a leak. When a board adopts a well written policy and presents it to the membership along with the maintenance matrix,
it can help reduce management’s toexplain policy to members, giving you more time to
focus on actual repairs rather explaining which party is responsible for which action and cost. Associations without water intrusion policies should consult association legal c ounsel to draft a policy compliant with state law and association CC&Rs.
Maintenance Matrix
Community managers are the liaison between homeowners and the roofi ng company. The best managers are known as
being keen problem solvers. Having a thorough
understanding of a community is a necessity in dealing with potential common area, exclusive use, and exclusive use common area related issues. If you don’t have a maintenance matrix yet, association legal counsel can build one which will help associations fulfi ll it
their obligations. The guidance provides will prove valuable to community members,
board, and management. Maintenance matrices are most often drafted by association legal counsel.
time required
16 January | February 2025
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