Architectural requests: what needs approval

An association controls anything that affects the appearance of the community, the structure of the building, or the systems shared with other units. It does not control what you do inside your own unit that touches none of those.

The specific list is in the declaration and the rules, and the safest approach is the simplest: if the work touches the exterior, the structure, a shared system, or anything visible from outside your unit, ask first.

• Anything visible from outside — paint, doors, awnings, screens, window coverings where the rules specify a colour, signage, decorations beyond what the rules permit
• Anything penetrating the building envelope — vents, satellite dishes, antennas, cameras, exterior fixtures, cabling
• Structural work — removing or altering a wall, changing an opening, anything touching a load path
• Plumbing, electrical or HVAC beyond a like-for-like replacement, especially work touching a shared system
• Hard-surface flooring in a stacked building. Almost always regulated, usually with an underlayment specification, because the unit below hears the result
• Anything on a limited common element — a balcony, a patio, an assigned stall

• Paint, wallpaper and finishes inside your unit
• Furniture, removable décor and soft furnishings
• Appliances replaced like-for-like using existing connections
• Ordinary repair of something already there, to the same specification

Even here, check the rules. Some associations regulate the colour of window coverings as seen from outside, and a few regulate more.

Most delay in architectural review is caused by incomplete submissions, not by committees being slow. A complete request is usually decided at the next meeting.

• Describe the work precisely — what, where, dimensions, materials, colours, finishes.
• Attach specifications: product data sheets, paint or finish samples, manufacturer details, and for flooring the underlayment specification and its rating.
• Include drawings or photographs. A marked-up photograph of the actual wall is worth more than a paragraph.
• Name the contractor, and provide their licence, bond and insurance. Most associations require a licensed and insured contractor and proof of it before work starts.
• Say when you propose to start and how long it will take, and note anything affecting neighbours — noise, access, use of a lift or a common corridor.
• Confirm you will obtain any permit the work requires. Approval by the association is not a building permit and does not substitute for one.

• Committees usually meet on a cycle. A request submitted the day after a meeting waits for the next one.
• Approval is normally in writing and may carry conditions — hours of work, protection of common areas, a completion date, restoration obligations.
• Approval of appearance is not an approval of engineering. An owner remains responsible for the work being done properly and for any damage it causes.
• Many declarations make the owner, and every future owner of that unit, responsible for maintaining an approved modification for as long as it exists.

If you do the work without asking

The association can generally require it to be removed or restored at the owner’s cost, and fine on top. Undoing unauthorised work is materially more expensive than waiting a few weeks for a decision, and it is the one architectural outcome that reliably ends badly.