“Winter Checklist for Your Community Association” – KSN attorney David Savitt discusses winter maintenance including autumn preparation, snow removal, frozen pipes, board member responsibilities, and more..
Topics include upcoming 2025 legal updates to evictions, leases, notices, and more. (12 mins.)
The KSN Podcast examines various aspects of association law, landlord/tenant issues, property tax appeals, and more.
In each episode, KSN attorneys share their experience and knowledge as they discuss legal updates, best practices, industry trends, and more.
KSN Podcast episodes are available here: www.ksnlaw.com/podcast
Subscribe to the KSN Podcast where podcasts are found including:
Since 1983, KSN has been a legal resource for condominium, homeowner, and townhome associations. Additionally, we represent clients in real estate transactions, collections, landlord/tenant issues, and property tax appeals. We represent thousands of clients and community associations throughout the US with offices in several states including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
For more info about our law firm and legal services, please visit www.ksnlaw.com.
Episode Transcription
You’re listening to the KSN podcast and on this episode, KSN attorney David Savitt discusses preparing the winter checklist for your community association, including. Autumn Preparation, Snow Removal, Frozen Pipes, Board Member Responsibilities, and more.
Welcome to the KSN Podcast, where you’ll hear from KSN attorneys as they share their experience and insight on legal issues surrounding community association law, collections, landlord tenant law, and property tax appeals. In this episode, KSN attorney David Savitt discusses winter maintenance, preparing the winter checklist for your community association, including autumn preparation, snow removal, frozen pipes, board member responsibilities, and more.
The full presentation, including the video, is available exclusively on Brainy Board. Here’s a short introduction on Brainy Board before we get to today’s topic. I know what you’re thinking. What is Brainy Board? Let me tell you in about 30 seconds. Brainy Board is a streaming service for Community Association Board members.
In our videos, we go over board member responsibilities, legal issues, best practices, hot topics, and more. We address frequently asked questions about community concerns, finances, and technology. In our board member 101 videos, we cover meetings, elections, rule enforcement, community management, and board member roles.
In our community videos, we go over association living, including pet policies, parking, handling rentals, holiday decorations, political signs, and more. In our finance videos, we cover association budgets, expenses, assessments, reserves, and collection policies. In our technology videos, we cover virtual meetings, electronic voting, security cameras, solar panels, electric vehicle charging, and more.
From business decisions to contracts, from insurance to day operations, we’ve got you covered. Short on time? Brainy board videos range from two to 30 minutes. You’ll also find longer training seminars and podcasts, and everything is available on your phone, computer, even your tv. What are you waiting for? Signing up is free and easy. Just visit brainyboard.com.
Hello, I’m Attorney David Savitt, and today we’re going to talk about the winter checklist for your community association. So let’s go over the agenda for today’s discussion. We’re going to talk about preparation for autumn, work within your common areas, the removal of snow, frozen pipes and what to do, as well as board member responsibilities.
When we talk about preparing for winter, it really begins in autumn. And being proactive is key. A busy fall season can lead to a less hectic winter. It’s also important that you maintain the landscaping in the autumn months, right? It’s very important to clean out your gutters and your drainage areas, as well as drain and remove irrigation equipment before the ground freezes and gets covered in snow. That’s your hoses and your sprinklers and the like.
For swimming pools, if your association has a swimming pool, it’s very important that you check the equipment for winter. drain the water, assess the condition of any motors and pumps, and make sure that your equipment is prepared for the coming cold months.
Also, remember, and we all know this, the sun sets earlier as we get closer and closer to winter, so it’s very important that your lighting is ready to go. And that you haven’t replaced any broken or faulty lights, and inspect emergency lighting to make sure that it’s ready as it gets darker earlier and So as we proceed down our checklist, let’s talk about the interior common areas.
It’s important that you address any outstanding and regular maintenance issues and address any seasonal mechanical maintenance issues, including heaters and thermostats to make sure everything is prepared as it gets colder outside. Also, your furnaces and dehumidifiers are going to want to get looked at that time as well. It’s important that you replace any filters that might have collected dust during the summer months. Check your air ducts and check any interior doors and windows to make sure that they’re fully sealed so that all cold air can stay outside and it’s warm enough inside for people to reside.
And unfortunately, as it gets colder and colder outside, it’s a really common issue to be dealing with frozen pipes. Pipe bursts, leaks, failure to maintain heat, malfunctioning appliances can all result in significant property damage. So it’s very important that before these things happen, you inspect all the entryways, common hallways, basements, utility rooms, fire sprinkler lines for any potential emergencies or threats of emergencies.
It’s important that you determine responsibility and you speak to the association’s attorneys and management to help identify which pipes may need some maintenance and who’s responsible for those. So it’s important to identify the burst pipe’s source and any damage that results from those bursts. Identify the areas that are affected by the burst pipe.
And also identify any portions of those pipes that may be the unit owner’s responsibility as opposed to the association as a common expense. Also, consider filing an insurance claim if the loss is covered and the cost of the damage exceeds your insurance deductible. It’s important to work with the association’s insurance agent on that front as well.
And as I said earlier, the association’s attorney can help you navigate any kind of legal issues that may exist, work with you to consult the association’s governing documents, to identify insurance coverage. I’m going to also help you with any kind of responsibilities that may exist for property damage as it pertains to the association and the unit owners.
So we’ve discussed interior common areas, let’s go outside and talk about the exterior common areas. One important thing that you’re going to want to inspect as you go down your checklist is the roof and any kind of missing shingles, cracks, or structural damage should be addressed before the weather turns cold.
So identify any cracks that may exist in the walkways or your courts (such as your basketball court, your tennis court, your pickleball courts) on association property that may exist. Also doors and windows to make sure that they’re fully prepared for the winter months and any kind of ice that may exist as the weather gets colder.
Evaluate any kind of parking lot damage. or any garage and sidewalks and roadways that need to be repaired, if that’s within the association’s responsibility, to make sure that those are ready to go as the weather gets icy and slippery and dangerous. Winterize all of the patio furniture and landscaping equipment, that’s your lawnmowers, your watering hoses, et cetera, to make sure that they’re prepared for any kind of damage that might exist from exposure to the cold elements.
As we proceed talking about exterior common areas, some of the hundreds of associations that I work with have to deal with snow removal. And it’s important that you hire a snow removal vendor early in the season so that you’re not scrambling last minute to find somebody to remove snow. It’s important that you hire a reputable snow removal company, and prior to hiring, have the association’s attorney review the proposed contract to make sure it works for the association and the association understands all of the relevant terms.
The contract should include, among other things, a specific start and end date. Detailed areas that are to be plowed, shoveled, and or cleared. The insurance requirements that exist. Provisions for keeping a snow log. Contact information and availability to address issues such as melting snow and ice formation. And language that requires that the contractor is responsible for property damage due to negligence.
So I can tell you from my practice, one of the things that happens quite a bit as we get to the winter months is sometimes associations don’t understand the business terms of the contracts they’ve signed. How much snow, for instance, needs to accumulate before the vendor comes out. And this can lead to disputes later on when associations feel as though they’re entitled to a snow removal contract based on the amount of snow that accumulated and they don’t understand that the contract says a different thing.
So it’s really important again, on the front end, to have the association’s attorney review your contract before the winter starts. So that everybody is fully on board with the terms that they’re signing up for and understands what services they’re going to receive as the weather gets colder.
So as we move down our checklist, let’s talk about board member responsibilities, right? And we’ve talked about a lot of different other things, but these are the things that the board members need to be aware of individually. to make sure that they’re prepared as well. Let’s start with the association’s budget, right? It’s very important to plan for replacement and inspection expenses.
Generally speaking, it’s less expensive to be proactive and secure rates early in the season, as opposed to waiting later and making emergency repairs when it’s already cold outside. And along that line, be proactive, help residents avoid property damage and repairs, which can be costly and take preventative measures to keep pipes in working order year round, as opposed to waiting last minute and having to address emergency issues at high rates, minimize your liability as well.
Slip and falls from neglected maintenance and unnatural snow ice and accumulation can result in liability to the association. So being proactive and preventing these things from occurring on the front end is going to make a much smoother winter season. And going back to snow removal, you may have a snow removal vendor that causes damage to association property. And that’s why it’s very important, again, to have the association’s attorney review the snow removal contract early in the season to make sure that you’re fully prepared and fully protected for any kind of damage that may arise once the snow accumulates.
And communication is really important, making sure that residents are informed and of all the safety things that may exist and or issues that may arise to make sure that they understand what to do once it gets cold outside so that there’s no miscommunications and no misunderstandings about all the preparation work the board has done during the summer months to make sure you’re ready for winter.
And of course, it’s important that you work with your professional team. Whether it’s the property manager, the insurance agent, or the association’s attorney. These are all credible sources of information for the board. And following the guidance you’re being given by each one of those entities will make sure that you have a smoother winter season.
And again, my name is David Savitt. If you have any questions regarding the winter checklist, please feel free to reach out and anybody here at KSN, including myself, can help you. I know we went over a lot of information today. And I hope this information was very helpful.
Introducing Brainy Board, a streaming service and educational resource for condo and HOA community association board members.
Discover and binge videos on topics like board member 101, finance, community living, technology, and more. Brainy Board is available for your iPhone and Android phone, your iPad or Android tablet. Watch Brainy Board videos on your TV through Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. Also watch videos from your computer.
Visit BrainyBoard.com to create your free account to start watching videos and take advantage of Brainy Board’s features. Save videos to your personalized playlists. Easily share Brainy Board videos with fellow board members. Auto resume allows you to pick up right where you left off in a video. Across your phone, tablet, computer, and TV.
Add a video to your favorites in one easy step. Watch the way you want with picture in picture, autoplay, offline viewing, even screencast Brainy Board videos to your TV. Just visit brainyboard.com to create your free profile to start watching videos today.
Please note the material contained on the KSN Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
No attorney client relationship is established by your review or receipt of the information contained on the KSN Podcast. You should not act on the information discussed on the KSN Podcast without first obtaining legal advice from an attorney duly licensed to practice law in your state. While KSN has made every effort to include up to date information on the KSN Podcast, the law can change quickly.
Accordingly, please understand that information discussed on the podcast may not yet reflect the most recent legal developments. Material is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. KSN reserves the right to revise or update the information and statements of law discussed on the podcast at any time, without notice, and disclaims any liability for your use of information or statements of law discussed on the podcast or the performance of the podcast generally.
The KSN podcast may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions under applicable laws and ethical rules or regulations.
Please note the material contained on the KSN Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by your review or receipt of the information contained on the KSN Podcast. You should not act on the information discussed on the KSN Podcast without first obtaining legal advice from an attorney duly licensed to practice law in your State. While KSN has made every effort to include up-to-date information on The KSN podcast, the law can change quickly. Accordingly, please understand that information discussed on the podcast may not yet reflect the most recent legal developments. Material is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. KSN reserves the right to revise or update the information and statements of law discussed on the podcast at any time, without notice, and disclaims any liability for your use of information or statements of law discussed on the podcast, or the performance of the podcast generally. The KSN Podcast may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions under applicable law/s and/or ethical rules/regulations. © 2024 Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit, A Professional Corporation.