Academy/Maintenance Fundamentals
Windows and doors
Know who fixes a leaking window before an owner asks, and why the answer is rarely as simple as "ask the association."
Windows and doors sit at the boundary between owner and association maintenance, and your CC&Rs, not industry default, decide where that line falls. The real risk is not appearance: it is water working behind the frame where nobody sees it until the damage is already extensive.
Who maintains the window in front of you
Start with your governing documents, not intuition. Most CC&Rs draw a line somewhere on every window and door: the glass and interior hardware might belong to the owner, while the frame, exterior trim, and any structural opening in a common element wall might belong to the association. Exactly where that line falls is not standardized. Some communities make owners responsible for the entire unit, others make the association responsible for anything visible from outside. Read the maintenance and repair sections of your CC&Rs and bylaws before you promise an owner anything, and before you tell an owner it is entirely their problem.
Water intrusion is the risk that actually matters
A window or door that looks fine can still be letting water into the wall behind it. This is well documented for barrier-type EIFS (synthetic stucco): unlike traditional stucco or siding, it does not let moisture that gets past a seal escape the wall cavity, so a failed seal or flashing point can cause extensive structural damage while the exterior still looks intact. Window and door openings, being seams in the wall, are common places for that kind of failure to start. That is also why leaks are treated as a serious issue in Fannie Mae's underwriting guide for condominium associations, not as a cosmetic complaint.
"any mold, water intrusions or potentially damaging leaks to the project's building(s)"
Source: Selling Guide B4-2.1-03, Ineligible Projects, Fannie Mae
A leak does not have to come from the roof to trigger that language. A failed door seal counts the same way, and enough unresolved leaks can make an entire project ineligible for financing, freezing every owner's ability to sell or refinance until it is fixed.
Build it into the program, don't wait for a complaint
A cracked seal or a door that has started sticking is not a new problem, it is deferred maintenance: work that should have happened and did not.
"Preventive, predictive, or corrective maintenance that assets and systems should have undergone but have not yet done so."
Source: Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
Treat windows and doors the way you would treat any other envelope component: put them on a regular walk-through, log what you find, and open a work order before an owner has to file a complaint. Buildings clad in barrier EIFS or synthetic stucco deserve closer attention, since the damage that matters most is often invisible until it is expensive.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A homeowner emails the board demanding the association replace her failing window seals. What should the board check first?
A board member says a leaking sliding door is just a cosmetic nuisance, not urgent. What does Fannie Mae's guide suggest about that view?
The board postpones re caulking around a door frame for two budget cycles because nothing looks wrong yet. What is this, in maintenance terms?
- Selling Guide B4-2.1-03, Ineligible Projects, Fannie Mae
- Deferred Capital Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, APPA
- Exterior Stucco & EIFS Stucco Wall System, InspectAPedia
Maintenance Fundamentals
Not sure whether your community even has a maintenance log yet? Start with Maintenance logs.
Whether the association or the owner maintains a given window or door, and what counts as normal wear versus a covered repair, varies by community and is set in your CC&Rs and bylaws.