Full Reserve Study or Update: Which Do You Need?

Costs rise, balances change, and components get replaced ahead of schedule or later than planned, so a reserve study needs refreshing. The question is how much work that takes.

The three levels

These match the types of study in the 2016 national standards.

When to get a full study

• You’ve never had one.
• You can’t find the last one, or no one trusts it.
• The last one is many years old.
• The community added or replaced major components.
• Your responsibilities changed, for example after a change to the governing documents.

When an update makes sense

An update works when the last study’s component list is sound. You’re mostly correcting costs, balances and what’s been replaced.

Choose an update with a site visit if it’s been a few years since anyone looked, or if you’ve seen visible changes. Choose an update without a site visit if the last visit was recent and little has changed. Without a visit, the update relies on your records, so what you send matters more. An update without a visit is not a replacement for a site visit where a rule requires one.

What sets the schedule

There’s no single national schedule, because state law and governing documents vary. Some examples:

• California calls for a site visit at least every three years and a board review every year, for associations the rule covers.
• Washington says “An updated reserve study must be prepared annually,” and at least every third year based upon “a visual site inspection,” with exemptions.
• Lenders can have their own limits. Fannie Mae looks at how recently a study was completed when a study is part of its project review.

Where nothing sets a schedule, the board can choose one with its manager or attorney.

What boards do

In a 2022 survey by the Foundation for Community Association Research, with 1,058 responses from mostly board members and managers, update habits split like this:

One study firm’s 2026 report describes best practice as an update with a site visit at least every three years, with no-visit updates in the years between. That’s one firm’s description, and the firm sells updates.

What to send for an update

• The last study
• The current reserve balance and budget
• Invoices for major work since the last study
• Recent bids or proposals
• Anything added, removed or replaced

What ours cost

Our pricing page lists all three levels for every size. A three-year plan bundles a full study with two updates without a site visit.