THE APPROVAL PROCESS IS THE LONG POLE, not the installation. Architectural review, board votes and sometimes an owner vote all happen before anything is ordered, and each has its own meeting schedule. Starting in spring for the same season is usually starting too late, which is why this belongs in the fall budget conversation.
UNIFORM APPEARANCE IS USUALLY A REQUIREMENT and it is worth settling early. Associations that let owners install individually end up with four styles and colors across one building and no way to walk it back. Specifying one system for the property, even if units are installed over several seasons, avoids that permanently.
COMMON AREAS ARE THE ASSOCIATION'S PROBLEM and they are frequently forgotten. Lobby glass, stairwells, mail rooms, offices and pool enclosures are all openings, and they are usually the largest and most exposed ones on the property.
PHASING ACROSS BUDGET YEARS IS NORMAL and it works if the order is deliberate: the most exposed elevation and the largest openings first, since those are what fail and what cause the interior damage when they do.
WHO CLOSES THEM, AND WHEN, IS A POLICY QUESTION that has to be answered before it matters. For a property with absentee owners or seasonal residents, protection that depends on somebody being present to deploy it is protection that will not be deployed. That is the argument for automatic or permanent systems on those buildings specifically.
- Approvals and board votes take longer than the installation; start in the fall
- Specify one system for the whole property or you get four styles permanently
- Common areas are usually the largest and most exposed openings, and get forgotten
- Phase by exposure: worst elevation and biggest openings first
- Decide who closes them before a storm, especially with absentee owners
Questions people ask about hoa and commercial hurricane shutters
How far ahead should an HOA start on storm protection?
A full budget cycle. Architectural review, board votes and sometimes an owner vote all happen before anything is ordered, and each has its own meeting schedule. Starting in spring for the same season is usually too late.
Should owners install their own shutters?
Associations that allow it end up with several styles and colors on one building and no way to reverse it. Specifying one system for the property, even if it is installed over several seasons, avoids that.
What gets missed most often on a commercial property?
Common areas. Lobby glass, stairwells, mail rooms and pool enclosures are openings too, and they are usually the largest and most exposed ones on the property.