Infrastructure replacement

Replacement follows ownership, not location

A pipe, pump, or lift station is not automatically the association's to replace just because it sits on association property, and it is not automatically an owner's just because it runs inside a unit's walls. Most states use a test built around who the component serves: something serving only one unit is that unit's problem, a limited common element. Something serving more than one unit, or the common areas, belongs to the association. The exact statutory wording, and what happens when a state has no equivalent statute, vary. Check your state's condominium or common-interest-ownership act, then your declaration.

California uses a related but distinct rule for service interruptions: responsibility follows where the trouble started, not where it ends up.

"The association is responsible for repairs and replacements necessary to restore interrupted gas, heat, water, or electrical services that begin in the common area even if the matter extends into a separate interest or the exclusive use common area appurtenant to a separate interest."

Source: California Civil Code 4775, California Legislative Information

Reserve funding is a second, separate question

Even once you know the association owns a component, that does not automatically mean your reserve study is funding its replacement. Most states have no law requiring a reserve study at all, so whether a water line, sewer line, lift station, or pump shows up in yours often comes down to your reserve preparer's judgment about whether it has a predictable remaining useful life worth funding, not a nationwide rule.

Where a state does mandate reserve funding, the rule can be narrow. California ties its reserve definition directly back to its own maintenance-responsibility statute above:

"'Major components' includes gas, water, and electrical service to the extent that the association is responsible for repair or replacement of those lines pursuant to Section 4775."

Source: California Civil Code 5550, California Legislative Information, mirrored at FindLaw

Whether your state has an equivalent statute, and whether it reaches water lines, sewer lines, lift stations, or pumps, has to be checked directly. There is no national default here.

Deferred replacement shows up somewhere else first

Infrastructure that is not clearly assigned to anyone tends to get replaced only after it fails, and the cost of waiting is not limited to the repair bill. A stormwater pond's outlet structure is one example. Federal rule requires the municipality holding the stormwater permit to run a program ensuring long-term maintenance of controls like retention and detention ponds, but it does not say whether the association or the municipality actually performs and pays for that maintenance. That split is set by local ordinance and by any recorded stormwater facility maintenance agreement for your specific development.

A private well or septic system carries a different kind of consequence. Fannie Mae will not purchase a mortgage on a unit unless the well or septic system is viable and accessible, with a legally binding agreement for access and maintenance if it sits off the property. Let one go too long without replacement and you can affect every owner's ability to sell or refinance, not just the household using it directly.