# Is the Balcony Mine or the HOA’s? Who Pays for Deck and Balcony Repair in a Condo

> The balcony is the question HOA owners get wrong most. Three big condo states answer it three different ways: California splits maintenance from replacement, Washington puts it on the association, Florida sends you to the declaration. The verified statutes, cited.

Updated: 2026-09-29. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/guides/hoa-who-pays-balcony-deck-repair/ (claims cited to primary sources; see /methodology/).

Short answer: a balcony or deck in a condo is almost never part of your unit, it is a "limited common element," and who pays to fix it depends on your state and your declaration, not on the fact that only you use it. This is the single question condo owners get wrong most often. Three of the largest condo states draw the line in three different places, and the balcony is exactly where the money and the safety risk collide.

## California: you maintain it, the association repairs and replaces it

California splits the balcony in two. Under Davis-Stirling, [Civil Code §4775(a)(4)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=4775):

> "Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest development, the owner of each separate interest is responsible for maintaining the exclusive use common area appurtenant to that separate interest and the association is responsible for repairing and replacing the exclusive use common area."

So routine upkeep (sweeping, sealing, keeping it clean) is the owner's; the structural repair or replacement is the association's. And after the Berkeley balcony collapse, SB 326 added Civil Code §5551, which puts the safety duty squarely on the association for condos. [§5551(j)(2)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=5551):

> "The continued and ongoing maintenance and repair of the load-bearing components and associated waterproofing systems in a safe, functional, and sanitary condition shall be the responsibility of the association as required by the association’s governing documents."

The same law requires the association to have exterior elevated elements inspected by a licensed engineer or architect at least once every nine years.

## Washington: the association maintains it by default

Washington goes further. First it classifies the balcony. [RCW 64.34.204(4)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.34.204):

> "Any shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, balconies, patios, and all exterior doors and windows or other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but which are located outside the unit’s boundaries, are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit."

Then it assigns the duty, and unlike California, it hands the whole limited common element to the association. [RCW 64.34.328(1)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.34.328):

> "Except to the extent provided by the declaration, subsection (2) of this section, or RCW 64.34.352(7), the association is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the common elements, including the limited common elements, and each unit owner is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the owner’s unit."

"Including the limited common elements" is the phrase that flips the answer. In Washington the balcony is the association's by default.

## Florida: read the declaration

Florida sends the question straight to your governing documents. [Fla. Stat. §718.113(1)](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.113.html):

> "Maintenance of the common elements is the responsibility of the association, except for any maintenance responsibility for limited common elements assigned to the unit owner by the declaration."

A balcony is a limited common element, so in Florida the balcony can be the association's or yours depending on what the recorded declaration says. There is no statutory default that saves you from reading it.

## Two rules that decide your bill

- The declaration overrides the statute. Every rule above starts with an exception for whatever the declaration says. The recorded CC&Rs or declaration of condominium is the real answer key, and it frequently reassigns the balcony.

- "Who maintains" is not "who pays." Even when the association repairs the balcony, it recovers the cost through assessments, and a major structural or waterproofing project usually arrives as a special assessment split among owners. California's maintain-versus-replace split is the clearest proof that the two questions have two different answers.

Start with the general rule in [who pays for repairs in an HOA or condo](/guides/who-pays-hoa-condo-repairs/), then read your declaration for the balcony specifically. For the same "who pays" question on public infrastructure, see [the sidewalk data study](/guides/state-of-sidewalk-responsibility/).