Reserve Studies

Condominiums “condos” and Homeowners Associations “HOA’s” in Florida require professional reserve studies for proper budgeting implementation.  Reserve studies, sometimes called “capital reserve studies”, break down each common element at a condominium or homeowners association typically for items valued at over $10,000.  The quality of reserve studies greatly depends on the accuracy of the information and how user friendly the report is to condo or HOA board members.  The standard information gathered for condo and HOA reserve studies is:

• Useful Life – This identifies how long each component of the condo or HOA should last for.
• Remaining Life – This identifies how many years the condo or HOA component is expected to last before replacement is necessary.
• Total Replacement Cost – This identifies how much it would cost to replace the condo or HOA item.

The creation of a user friendly reserve study that condo and HOA board members can use is a science in itself.  The study must present a massive amount of information.

The company conducting the reserve study must have a vast knowledge in how buildings and their many components function.  Every condo or HOA is different, likewise every reserve study is very unique.  Each building component must be inspected individually by trained professionals to determine the useful and remaining life of that particular item.

Once the data is collected and analyzed the information must presented in a way that can be understood by condo and HOA board members. Board members are typically not construction experts and even those with a financial background my find it difficult to understand the information being presented to them.  A quality reserve study will present the information accurately in a format that can be easily understood by someone without a construction or engineering background.