RCW 64.90 reserve study rules

Who the rule covers

WUCIOA took effect on July 1, 2018. Today it governs communities created on or after that date, plus older communities that amended their declarations to opt in (RCW 64.90.360). A short list of its sections, RCW 64.90.545 among them, already applies to older communities for events after July 1, 2018 (RCW 64.90.365).

That changes on January 1, 2028, when the Legislature’s 2024 repeal of the older condominium and homeowners association acts takes effect. From then on, chapter 64.90 is the rulebook for nearly every condominium, cooperative, planned community and HOA in Washington. Our page on RCW 64.34 and older communities covers the transition.

The study and its updates

RCW 64.90.545(1) sets three steps. First, an initial study prepared by a reserve study professional, based on a visual inspection of what is built, a review of plans for what is not, or both. Second, an update every year. Third, at least every third year, an update prepared by a reserve study professional from a fresh visual site inspection. In the statute’s words:

“An updated reserve study must be prepared annually. An updated reserve study must be prepared at least every third year by a reserve study professional and based upon a visual site inspection conducted by the reserve study professional.”

The yearly updates in between do not have to involve a site visit, and the statute does not say who must prepare them. Many boards still have the same firm do them, since the firm already holds the component data. Under RCW 64.90.550 these are a Level III update; the third-year study is a Level II update or a fresh Level I study.

The four exemptions

Unless the governing documents require a study anyway, RCW 64.90.545(2) lifts the duty for:

1. Communities where every unit is limited to nonresidential use.
2. Communities with only nominal reserve costs (defined in RCW 64.90.010 as replacement costs under half the annual budget for a condominium or cooperative with horizontal unit boundaries, under three quarters for every other community).
3. Communities made up only of middle housing that do not and will not need an on-site reserve component to manage wastewater and protect health, safety and water (added in 2026).
4. Any year in which the study or update would cost more than 10 percent of the association’s annual budget.

The 10 percent test is applied each time a study is due. An association that is exempt this year because the fee is high relative to its budget may not be next year. Our cost guide works through an example.

What the study contains

RCW 64.90.550 calls the study a supplement to the operating and maintenance budget and lists what it must show:

1. A list of reserve components, including every component whose replacement costs more than 1 percent of the annual budget (reserve contributions left out), with quantity, useful life, remaining useful life and current replacement cost
2. The date of the study and a statement that it meets RCW 64.90.550
3. The level of study: Level I full study, Level II update with a visual site inspection, Level III update without one
4. The reserve account balance
5. The percentage of the fully funded balance the account holds
6. Special assessments already in place or planned
7. Interest and inflation assumptions
8. Current contribution rates under a full funding plan and a baseline funding plan
9. Recommended contribution rates for full funding (100 percent at the end of 30 years), for baseline funding (never below zero in 30 years without a special assessment), and any rate the professional recommends
10. A projected reserve balance for 30 years under each plan
11. Whether a reserve study professional helped prepare the study, and whether that professional was independent
12. The current deficit or surplus per unit, shared out by each unit’s share of common expenses

Subsection (3) adds a warning paragraph that must appear in the study. It opens with “This reserve study should be reviewed carefully” and tells owners that the study may leave out components that will need work, and that the association may then have to defer repairs, raise contributions, borrow or levy a special assessment. More on that in the disclosure statement.

Full and baseline funding

Washington asks every study to show two funding plans side by side. Under RCW 64.90.010, a full funding plan aims for 100 percent of the fully funded balance by the end of the 30-year study period. The baseline plan, as RCW 64.90.550 describes it, keeps the reserve balance above zero for 30 years without a special assessment.

Neither is mandatory as a policy; the board chooses a contribution rate and reports in its budget how far that rate departs from the study’s recommendation (RCW 64.90.525). The gap between the two plans is often the most useful number in the study for a board deciding next year’s assessment.

Demand and enforcement

RCW 64.90.555 gives owners two tools. If more than three years have passed since a reserve study professional last prepared a study, owners holding at least 20 percent of the votes can send the board a written demand citing the section. The board must then put the cost in the next budget and have the study done by the end of that budget year, unless owners reject the budget.

Any owner can also sue to enforce RCW 64.90.545 to .555, and the court can order the study and award reasonable attorneys’ fees to the side that wins. A missed study does not excuse anyone from paying assessments, and it does not undo a budget owners have ratified.

Recent changes

RCW 64.90.545 was last amended by chapter 96, Laws of 2026, which added the middle housing exemption. The definitions section, RCW 64.90.010, was amended in 2019, 2024 and 2025. If your study was written before those dates, its summary of the law may be out of date even where the numbers are not.