Most owners meet the HOA ARC the first time they want to paint the front door a new color or put up a fence. Board members meet the architectural review committee (ARC) from the other side: a stack of requests, a set of guidelines of uncertain age, and an open question about who gets to say yes.
Your declaration and your state's law decide the details for your own community.
What HOA ARC means
ARC stands for architectural review committee. Some documents call the same body an architectural control committee, a design review committee or a modifications committee. Whatever the label, its job is to review proposed changes to the exterior of homes and lots and decide whether they meet the community's written standards.
If your declaration uses a different name, use that name in your notices, minutes and request form. Owners will look for the term their documents use.
Where the ARC's authority comes from
The ARC has only the authority the governing documents give it. In many communities that starts with the declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions, which usually has an article that creates the ARC or lets the board create one. For a refresher on how that document works, see what the CC&Rs are and how they govern a community.
The bylaws, the rules and any architectural guidelines sit below the declaration. Nolo's overview of the basic governing documents of an HOA explains that when another governing document conflicts with the CC&Rs, the CC&Rs control and the conflicting provision is "considered invalid." The same page says the association likely has "wide discretion to adopt rules and regulations," as long as those rules don't violate state or federal law or conflict with the CC&Rs. For the ARC, a board resolution or charter can set scope and procedure, and it can't hand the ARC powers the declaration doesn't support.
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Some states also define the role in statute. Texas is one example: Texas Property Code section 209.00505 defines an architectural review authority as the "governing authority for the review and approval of improvements within a subdivision." That section applies only to a property owners' association with more than 40 lots. It doesn't apply during a development period, or while the declarant appoints or controls the appointment of at least a majority of the architectural review authority, or has the right to veto or modify its decisions. If your community is in Texas, read the current text of the statute before relying on it. Elsewhere, look up your own state's law.
Who appoints the ARC and who sits on it
The declaration or bylaws usually say who appoints ARC members, how many there are and how long they serve. In many self-managed communities the board appoints them by resolution. Some declarations let board members sit on the ARC, some call for owners who aren't on the board, and some let the board act as the ARC when no one has been appointed.
If your documents are silent on terms or membership, the board can set them in a charter, within whatever the declaration allows. Good ARC members read the guidelines closely and apply them the same way to every neighbor, friends included.
How the ARC relates to the board
The board usually appoints the ARC and, in many communities, hears appeals from its decisions. Board members who also sit on the ARC should think ahead about how an appeal of their own decision would be heard fairly. The declaration or the charter should say whether the ARC decides on its own or recommends a decision for the board to adopt.
During developer control the picture changes. The declarant may appoint the ARC or run architectural review directly until turnover. The Texas statute above carves out that same period. When control passes to the owners, the new board should confirm in writing who now appoints the ARC and which guidelines are in force.
What the ARC usually reviews
The ARC's scope is the exterior of homes and lots. Common subjects in declarations and guidelines include:
- exterior paint colors and siding
- roofing materials and color
- fences, walls and hedges
- additions, porches and patios
- sheds and other outbuildings
- solar panels
- landscaping changes visible from the street
Solar panels raise their own questions; see whether an HOA can restrict solar panels.
Interior work usually falls outside the ARC's reach unless the declaration says otherwise. Routine maintenance that keeps a home as it was approved often needs no request at all, though your declaration decides where that line sits.
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How a request moves through the ARC
An owner submits a written request on a standard form, the ARC checks it for completeness, reviews it against the written guidelines within the time the documents allow, and sends a written decision with a reason on every denial. Every request and decision sits in one place where the board can find it later. The steps are covered in detail in how to handle HOA architectural review requests faster.
What an ARC charter should state
A charter or board resolution turns the declaration's general grant into working rules for the ARC. Use the list below as a skeleton for the board's draft. It isn't legal text.
- the ARC's name, matching the declaration
- the number of members, who appoints them, and how long terms run
- the scope: which kinds of exterior changes need a request
- when the ARC meets and what counts as a quorum
- the deadline for a decision, taken from the declaration if it sets one
- how and how often the ARC reports to the board
- the appeal route for an owner who disagrees with a decision
Adopt the charter at a board meeting and record the vote in the minutes. Have the association's attorney read the draft against the declaration before the vote, especially the deadline and appeal sections.
Keeping ARC records where people can find them
Owners need the guidelines before they plan a project, and the ARC needs past decisions before it makes a new one. HOA-OS has an ARC committee workflow, where the ARC reviews homeowner change requests. The board builds the request form with the form builder, which has 14 field types, including file upload, signature and date. Each submission lands in one submissions inbox, where the board can review it, route it to the ARC and act on it. Document storage keeps the declaration, the charter and the guidelines where owners and ARC members find them. The board sets up the form and the review steps, and the ARC makes each decision.
Sources
- What Are in the Basic Governing Documents of an HOA, Nolo
- Texas Property Code 209.00505, Architectural Review Authority, FindLaw
Related Reading
- How to Handle HOA Architectural Review Requests Faster
- The HOA Grandfather Clause: What It Protects and What It Doesn't
- HOA Amenity Rules That Hold Up
- How to Enforce Your HOA Rules Fairly and Consistently
Before your next board meeting, pull the recorded declaration, find the article that creates the ARC, and note who it says appoints the members.