Everyone agrees that condominiums need to be painted regularly. But ask what color should be used, and you could get as many answers as there are people living in the building.

Aesthetic continuity can be extremely important to owners. One reason people buy into a development is because the way it looks fits their image of home. Changes to the appearance can cause emotions to run high. Just mention the words “vinyl siding” at an open meeting and see what happens.

While unit owners know that the elements of a building envelope – roof, siding, windows – must be periodically replaced, to many people “replacement” means “exactly the same.” But sometimes it isn’t practical – or possible – to find an exact replacement. These items may have to evolve – either due to changing times, advances in technology, or materials no longer being available. The question for boards is: “What are the legal and practical limitations when looking at major repairs? And how can a board best address the maintenance needs without creating emotional upheaval?”

“The best way to avoid those kinds of blowups is for boards not to take it upon themselves to change the aesthetics of the buildings,” said attorney Seth Emmer, a principal of Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, PC, in Braintree, Massachusetts.

If the trim has been Williamsburg blue for more than a decade, it’s not a smart idea to change it to paprika without letting owners weigh in. In fact, a court case in Colorado found that “a change in color was such a material change that it required a unit owner vote,” said Emmer. Now, that is just one case. “But from my perspectiveas a lawyer, boards have to understand that the property is owned by the unit owners and not the board.”

Get Community Support

“Once you get something visible and in the realm of aesthetics, it’s important to make sure the community is with you,” agreed Deborah Jones, president of American Properties Team in Woburn, Massachusetts. At one property she managed, an uproar erupted when the board planned to replace all the privacyfences with a synthetic material without getting owner input. “Somehow, you have to have a consensus.”

However, boards are allowed to take advances in technology into account. Perhaps the most unassailable example is replacing a tar and gravel flat roof with a rubber membrane. “The life expectancy is longer; it’s state-of-the-art,” said Emmer. “You aren’t adding something; you’re replacing it with current materials and methodology.” Another example might be replacing a pressure-treated deck with a synthetic material that lasts twice as long. “But aboard shouldn’t just willy-nilly decide. They should consult professionals about what would be comparable or better in quality,” he said.

Legally speaking, “a repair or replacement is something that’s undertaken to address a defect or deficiency,” said Emmer. Boards are absolutely authorized – and in fact have a legal obligation –to properly maintain the facility.

“An improvement is adding a facility that did not exist before,” Emmer said. The best example would be adding a swimming pool or tennis courts. “Theboard does not have the authority to foist on [owners] the expense of maintaining something that did not exist before.”

In the case of improvements, Massa-chusetts law requires a unit owner vote, with a 75 percent majority needed before an improvement can be made. Any time there is a potentially controversialreplacement to be made, both Jones and Emmer advise getting an improvement vote beforehand.

Siding Replacement a Hot Issue

Possibly the most sensitive replacement is siding. “I’ve seen those tear a community in half,” said Jones. “Even in good economic times, it’s one of themore sensitive issues. There’s such an emotional reaction to vinyl siding.” And one can argue whether siding is an improvement or a replacement, muddying the waters – hence the need for a clarifying vote.

In fact, Emmer said, if a board is looking at doing anything other than just repairing what’s there, they should bring it to the owners. “That’s an aesthetic judgment that should be made by a majority of unit owners,” he said.

A condominium’s master documents are usually somewhat specific when it comes to the condition of the building. To the extent that a repair would change something covered in the document, the master deed would need to be amended, requiring a vote. “If you have a set of condominium documents where the envelope is described, there’s a strong legal argument that it can’t be changed without the documents being amended,” said Emmer. And he added, “even without it, there’s a strongphilosophical argument to be made.

“That avoids the screaming and yelling. Removes that emotional thing: I bought this place with clapboard siding, who are you to decide that it should be vinyl siding? It’s a valid point. The board was not elected to make aesthetic decisions,” said Emmer. “If you’re a board member, why put yourself in that position?”

But that doesn’t mean change is impossible. Two strategies Fred Schernecker, president of SPS in Waltham, Massachusetts, has seen work: 1) Have somebody price the options. 2) Go and look at properties that use the material being considered. New materials and installation techniques mean that “vinyl can look quite good,” explained Schernecker, whose companyis the largest in New England performing exterior building envelope replacements on condominiums.

Windows also can be a tricky replacement issue. In many developments, unitowners own their windows, complicating matters on two fronts. One is that, while owners are expected to pay for the replacements, they can't just choose any window they want.

The other issue is that from a maintenance perspective, all the windows should be replaced at the same time as the siding, said Schernecker. But the price of both repairs combined can send owners into sticker shock. “Associations are unwilling to fight the political battle. They say, ‘Owners own the windows. We can’t force them. That’s true. But there are ways to encourage it,” he said. An association can save a lot of money doing both replacements at the same time. Even more important, it’s easier to make surethe windows are properly installed. “The same holds true for roofs and skylights,” Schernecker added.

Other areas of contention stem from outside decoration, such as yard art or decorative flags. Here, owner outrage comes from an attitude of, “This is my home, this is my castle. You can’t tell me what to do,” said Emmer. Sometimes owners don’t fully recognize that they don’t have control over the exterior of their home. “For the privilege of having somebody else take care of it for you, you give up certain freedoms,” said Emmer.

Take window treatments. While these are owner-owned, that doesn’t mean a condominium can’t put restrictions on what kinds may be used. “You’ll especially see these kinds of clauses in high-rise buildings,” Emmer said. Many buildings will state that only things intended to be window treatments may be used. (So, no draping a sheet or newspaper over a curtain rod.) Some go further and stipulate that the drapery needs to either have a liner or be white or off-white facing outside. “It’s not interfering with the owner’s right to decorate the unit, but still creates somedegree of uniformity,” said Emmer.

Be Clear from the Start

The best way to avoid fights over decorations is to be very clear from the start. “It’s harder for people to give up something that’s already in place ratherthan to know they can’t do something from the beginning,” Jones said.

If a board does decide that the outside needs to comply with a certain aesthetic standard, “the worst thing you can do is to say, “These 50 things are wrong, and you have 10 days to fix them,” Jones said. Slow down and first acknowledge that things have been allowed to slip, but that “we need to start looking at this because it’s affecting property values and curb appeal,” she said. And in some cases, a board mightwant to consider grandfathering in certain long-term changes.

“The biggest thing in any of this is reasonableness,” said Jones.

For example, there was the “Incident of the Milk Crate.” At a property Jones managed, the board asked her to send a letter to an owner who had put an antique milk crate between adjoining garages, saying he was in violation. “I could have just sent the letter and had a war erupt,” said Jones. Instead, she surveyed the 60 units, found 102 violations of outside decorations (ceramic frogs in gardens, for example), and took the findings to the board.

“It was the culture of the community,” Jones explained. Instead of invoking regulations, she had the neighbors speak to each other, and the milk crate was moved. “My role as manager is sometimes not just to take action but to helpthe board look at the bigger picture.”

For residents of a high-rise, it’s generally easier to understand that decorative clauses are going to be restrictive. But when you’re dealing with townhouses, blanket bans on decorations become harder, especially regarding the backs of units. There, Emmer would advise some degree of flexibility. “To the extent you can avoid creating a Stepford-wife environment, I think that’s a good idea,” said Emmer. That said, he added, “I wouldn’t want to see 12 pink flamingos.”

Yvonne Zipp is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to New England Condominium magazine.