Academy/Maintenance Fundamentals
Parking lots
Two different clocks run on your asphalt, and one part of the lot is federal law, not preference.
A parking lot needs two separate maintenance schedules, not one: sealcoating every 2 to 3 years to slow water and UV damage, and crack sealing on its own faster cycle starting as cracks appear. Where the lot doubles as an accessible route to your building, federal law also sets a hard limit on slope.
Two clocks, not one
Paving-trade sources describe two separate, recurring treatments that keep asphalt from failing early, and they run on different clocks. Sealcoating protects the surface from water and UV damage and is typically reapplied every 2 to 3 years on a standard lot; a lot with heavy traffic, like one outside a clubhouse or leasing office, is described as needing it closer to every 1 to 2 years.
Crack sealing is a separate task on a separate clock. It starts as cracks appear, usually in years 2 through 5 after the lot was installed or repaved, and then repeats on a roughly biannual cycle through years 5 to 10. Put both on the maintenance schedule as two line items, not one.
The accessible route through your lot has a legal slope limit
If any part of your parking lot serves as the accessible route to a building entrance, that stretch of pavement is regulated, not just paved. The U.S. Access Board's ADA Standards set a hard limit on how steep it can be.
"The running slope of walking surfaces shall not be steeper than 1:20" and "The cross slope of walking surfaces shall not be steeper than 1:48."
Source: ADA Standards for Accessible Design, Chapter 4, U.S. Access Board
A route steeper than 1:20 running slope has to be treated as a ramp instead, which brings its own separate requirements. Have any resurfacing or patching work near an accessible route checked against this standard before you sign off on it.
A crack you ignore becomes a repave
APPA, a facilities-management trade association, defines deferred maintenance as maintenance that should have happened and did not. Skipping a scheduled crack sealing cycle to save money fits that definition exactly, and APPA's warning about deferred maintenance is not only about cost.
"possible fiscal instability," "loss of facility use," and "hampering program activities"
Source: Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
A crack sealed on schedule costs little. The same crack left alone lets water into the base and turns into a pothole, then a full-depth patch, then, if enough of the lot fails at once, a repave the reserve study did not plan for at that price.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
Your parking lot was sealcoated two years ago, and hairline cracks are now showing up. What should happen next?
A contractor repaves your clubhouse's accessible route and the cross slope measures 1:30. Does that meet the ADA standard?
The board skips a crack sealing cycle to save money. What does APPA's framework say that risks, beyond the cost of the crack itself?
Sources
- Understanding the Asphalt Lifecycle and When to Sealcoat, Doctor Asphalt LLC
- ADA Standards for Accessible Design, Chapter 4, U.S. Access Board
- Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
Maintenance Fundamentals
See how this parking lot schedule fits into your building's full maintenance calendar.
Sealcoating and crack sealing frequency depends on your local climate and traffic, and whether the association or an individual owner pays for lot repairs depends on your CC&Rs.