Waterfront that the association owns
Docks, boat slips, beaches, swim floats and retaining walls are all common elements in many lake communities. They have short lives, sit in ice for months and often need permits to replace, so the study should price them as separate lines with realistic intervals.
Quiet winters
When most owners leave after Columbus Day, a burst pipe or a failed boiler can do damage for weeks before anyone notices. Heating systems, freeze alarms and water shut-offs earn their own place in the plan, and so does the cost of the damage they prevent.
Laconia and Meredith are listed at 80 pounds per square foot of design ground snow and Wolfeboro at 90. Roofs here carry real weight, and a roof that is shoveled or raked by contractors brings its own wear.
Septic, wells and private roads
Away from town water and sewer, the association may own a shared septic system, a well and pump house, and the road in. Each one belongs in the study, and each one is expensive when it fails without money set aside.
The law is the same statewide
Wherever the community sits, the Condominium Act applies the same way: a budget owners can reject, reserves shown in the budget summary, and reserve statements for buyers on resale. The Condominium Act and reserves covers it.
Questions from the Lakes Region
Our owners only vote in summer. When should the study be done?
Many lake boards schedule the site visit for late spring or early fall, when roofs and docks can be seen without snow or crowds, and present the draft at the summer meeting.
Should docks be in the reserve study?
If the association is responsible for them under the declaration, yes. Leaving them out makes the fund look healthier than it is.
Elsewhere in the state: Manchester & Nashua, Seacoast, White Mountains.