If your association has a concrete restoration, painting or window replacement project on the calendar, there’s a budgeting question worth settling now, before the work starts: who pays to remove and reinstall hurricane protection when it’s in the way?
Florida law has a clear answer, but it’s not the one every declaration assumes.
The Default Rule: The Association Pays
Under Florida Statute §718.113(5), if a condominium association needs to temporarily remove hurricane shutters, impact windows or similar protection to complete maintenance, repair or replacement work it’s responsible for, the unit owner is not on the hook for that removal or reinstallation, unless the declaration of condominium says otherwise.
That “unless” matters. For associations with older declarations drafted before impact windows and modern shutter systems were standard, this cost usually falls to the association by default, even if the board has always assumed it was an owner expense.
Who Does the Work Isn’t the Same Question as Who Pays
If the declaration is silent on the mechanics, the board gets to decide whether the association’s contractor handles the removal and reinstallation, or whether the unit owner does. But that decision only affects logistics, not cost allocation:
- If the association performs the work, it can’t turn around and bill the owner for it.
- If the owner performs the work, the association owes reimbursement, or a credit against future assessments, equal to what the owner spent.
Either way, the financial responsibility stays with the association unless the declaration has been drafted to shift it.
Where Owners Can Still End Up Paying
There’s a practical carve-out worth flagging to your board or ownership: if the hurricane protection being removed is outdated or no longer meets current building code, the association’s obligation is generally limited to reinstalling code-compliant protection. If what comes down doesn’t meet code, upgrading it can become the owner’s expense.
This is exactly the kind of judgment call — old shutters vs. current code, declaration language vs. statutory default — that’s worth a conversation with counsel before a project schedule locks in, not after.
To Shift This Cost, the Declaration Must Say So
A board resolution or a rule change isn’t enough to reassign this expense to owners. It has to be addressed in the declaration itself, through a proper amendment. Absent that, the statutory default controls, and associations planning larger capital projects should budget accordingly.
If your reserve planning or special assessment projections haven’t accounted for this, it’s worth a second look before the next major project goes out to bid.
Don’t Overlook the Related Requirement: Written Hurricane Protection Specifications
Separately from the cost question, Florida law requires both condominium associations (Chapter 718) and homeowners’ associations (Chapter 720) to adopt written specifications covering the type, color, style and installation standards for hurricane protection permitted in the community. If your association doesn’t have these on file, or hasn’t updated them recently, that’s a governance gap worth closing alongside any cost-allocation review.
Guidance You Can Rely On
Cost allocation for hurricane protection is one of those details that seems minor until a project is underway and the invoices start arriving. Reviewing your declaration now, before storm season repairs or capital projects are in motion, gives your board time to budget correctly and avoid a dispute with owners later.
Strang Tryson, PLLC advises condominium and HOA boards across Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables on exactly this kind of governance and compliance question. If you’d like a declaration review ahead of an upcoming project, get in touch with us for guidance you can rely on, before the work starts, not after.
This content addresses Florida Statute §718.113(5). Laws are subject to change; board members and property managers should confirm current requirements with counsel before relying on this information for a specific project or dispute.
