Washington State Reserve Study Contents

Washington State RCW requirements were amended in 2011 to encourage reserve studies and require disclosure of the results to the community membership on an annual basis. Below is the WA State RCW link and information regarding the amendment.


http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.38&full=true#64.38.065


64.38.065 Reserve Account and study.

  • An association is encouraged to establish a reserve account with a financial institution to fund major maintenance, repair, and replacement of common elements, including limited common elements that will require major maintenance, repair, or replacement within thirty years. If the association establishes a reserve account, the account must be in the name of the association. The board of directors is responsible for administering the reserve account.

  • Unless doing so would impose an unreasonable hardship, an association with significant assets shall prepare and update a reserve study, in accordance with the association’s governing documents and this chapter. The initial reserve study must be based upon a visual site inspection conducted by a reserve study professional.

  • Unless doing so would impose an unreasonable hardship, the association shall update the reserve study annually. At least every three years, an updated reserve study must be prepared and based upon a visual site inspection conducted by a reserve study professional.

  • The decisions relating to the preparation and updating of a reserve study must be made by the board of directors in the exercise of the reasonable discretion of the board. The decisions must include whether a reserve study will be prepared or updated, and whether the assistance of a reserve study professional will be utilized.


64.38.070 Reserve Study—Requirements.

1. A reserve study as described in RCW38.065 is supplemental to the association’s operating and maintenance budget. In preparing a reserve study, the association shall estimate the anticipated major maintenance, repair, and replacement costs, whose infrequent and significant nature make them impractical to be included in an annual budget.


2. A reserve study​ must include:


a. A reserve component list, including any reserve component that would cost more than one percent of the annual budget of the association, not including the reserve account, for major maintenance, repair, or replacement. If one of these reserve components is not included in the reserve study, the study should provide commentary explaining the basis for its exclusion. The study must also include quantities and estimates for the useful life of each reserve component, remaining useful life of each reserve component, and current major maintenance, repair, or replacement cost for each reserve component;


b. The date of the study, and a statement that the study meets the requirements of this section;


c. The following level of reserve study performed:

– Level I: Full reserve study funding analysis and plan;
– Level II: Update with visual site inspection; or
– Level III: Update with no visual site inspection


d. The association’s reserve account balance;


e. The percentage of the fully funded balance that the reserve account is funded;


f. Special assessments already implemented or planned


g. Interest and inflation assumptions


h. Current reserve account contribution rates for a full funding plan and baseline funding plan;


i. A recommended reserve account contribution rate, a contribution rate for a full funding plan to achieve one hundred percent fully funded reserves by the end of the thirty-year study period, a baseline funding plan to maintain the reserve balance above zero throughout the thirty-year study period without special assessments, and a contribution rate recommended by the reserve study professional;


j. A projected reserve account balance for thirty years and a funding plan to pay for projected costs from that reserve account balance without reliance on future unplanned special assessments; and


k. A statement on whether the reserve study was prepared with the assistance of a reserve study professional.


3. A reserve study must also include the following disclosure: “This reserve study should be reviewed carefully. It may not include all common and limited common element components that will require major maintenance, repair, or replacement in future years, and may not include regular contributions to a reserve account for the cost of such maintenance, repair, or replacement. The failure to include a component in a reserve study, or to provide contributions to a reserve account for a component, may, under some circumstances, require you to pay on demand as a special assessment your share of common expenses for the cost of major maintenance, repair, or replacement of a reserve component.”


Other Notes on the Reserve Study RCW Requirements

An association is not required to have reserve study done if the cost would exceed 5% of its annual budget, the association does not have significant assets or there are 10 or fewer homes in the association.


WA State Disclosure Requirements

Link: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.34.308


RCW 64.34.308 – Board of directors and officers.

1. Except as provided in the declaration, the bylaws, subsection (2) of this section, or other provisions of this chapter, the board of directors shall act in all instances on behalf of the association. In the performance of their duties, the officers and members of the board of directors are required to exercise: (a) If appointed by the declarant, the care required of fiduciaries of the unit owners; or (b) if elected by the unit owners, ordinary and reasonable care.


2. The board of directors shall not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration in any manner that requires the vote or approval of the unit owners pursuant to RCW34.264, to terminate the condominium pursuant to RCW 64.34.268, or to elect members of the board of directors or determine the qualifications, powers, and duties, or terms of office of members of the board of directors pursuant to subsection (7) of this section; but the board of directors may fill vacancies in its membership for the unexpired portion of any term.


3. Within thirty days after adoption of any proposed budget for the condominium, the board of directors shall provide a summary of the budget to all the unit owners and shall set a date for a meeting of the unit owners to consider ratification of the budget not less than fourteen nor more than sixty days after mailing of the summary. Unless at that meeting the owners of units to which a majority of the votes in the association are allocated or any larger percentage specified in the declaration reject the budget, the budget is ratified, whether or not a quorum is present. In the event the proposed budget is rejected or the required notice is not given, the periodic budget last ratified by the unit owners shall be continued until such time as the unit owners ratify a subsequent budget proposed by the board of directors.


4. As part of the summary of the budget provided to all unit owners, the board of directors shall disclose to the unit owners:


  • The current amount of regular assessments budgeted for contribution to the reserve account, the recommended contribution rate from the reserve study, and the funding plan upon which the recommended contribution rate is based;

  • If additional regular or special assessments are scheduled to be imposed, the date the assessments are due, the amount of the assessments per each unit per month or year, and the purpose of the assessments;

  • Based upon the most recent reserve study and other information, whether currently projected reserve account balances will be sufficient at the end of each year to meet the association’s obligation for major maintenance, repair, or replacement of reserve components during the next thirty years;

  • If reserve account balances are not projected to be sufficient, what additional assessments may be necessary to ensure that sufficient reserve account funds will be available each year during the next thirty years, the approximate dates assessments may be due, and the amount of the assessments per unit per month or year;

  • The estimated amount recommended in the reserve account at the end of the current fiscal year based on the most recent reserve study, the projected reserve account cash balance at the end of the current fiscal year, and the percent funded at the date of the latest reserve study;

  • The estimated amount recommended in the reserve account based upon the most recent reserve study at the end of each of the next five budget years, the projected reserve account cash balance in each of those years, and the projected percent funded for each of those years; and

  • If the funding plan approved by the association is implemented, the projected reserve account cash balance in each of the next five budget years and the percent funded for each of those years.


5. (a)Subject to subsection (6) of this section, the declaration may provide for a period of declarant control of the association, during which period a declarant, or persons designated by the declarant, may: (i) Appoint and remove the officers and members of the board of directors; or (ii) veto or approve a proposed action of the board or association. A declarant’s failure to veto      or approve such proposed action in writing within thirty days after receipt of written notice of the proposed action shall be deemed approval by the declarant.(b) Regardless of the period provided in the declaration, a period of declarant control terminates no later than the earlier of: (i) Sixty days after conveyance of seventy-five percent of the units which may be created to unit owners other than a declarant; (ii) two years after the last conveyance or transfer of record of a unit except as security for a debt; (iii) two years after any development right to add new units was last exercised; or (iv) the date on which the declarant records an amendment to the declaration pursuant to which the declarant voluntarily surrenders the right to further appoint and remove officers and members of the board of directors. A declarant may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the board of directors before termination of that period pursuant to (i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection (5)(b), but in that event the declarant may require, for the duration of the period of declarant control, that specified actions of the association or board of directors, as described in a recorded instrument executed by the declarant, be approved by the declarant before they become effective.


6. Not later than sixty days after conveyance of twenty-five percent of the units which may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, at least one member and not less than twenty-five percent of the members of the board of directors must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant. Not later than sixty days after conveyance of fifty percent of the units which may be created to unit owners other than a declarant, not less than thirty-three and one-third percent of the members of the board of directors must be elected by unit owners other than the declarant.


7. Within thirty days after the termination of any period of declarant control, the unit owners shall elect a board of directors of at least three members, at least a majority of whom must be unit owners. The number of directors need not exceed the number of units then in the condominium. The board of directors shall elect the officers. Such members of the board of directors and officers shall take office upon election.


8. Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration or bylaws to the contrary, the unit owners, by a two-thirds vote of the voting power in the association present and entitled to vote at any meeting of the unit owners at which a quorum is present, may remove any member of the board of directors with or without cause, other than a member appointed by the declarant. The declarant may not remove any member of the board of directors elected by the unit owners. Prior to the termination of the period of declarant control, the unit owners, other than the declarant, may remove by a two-thirds vote, any director elected by the unit owners.