The typical fee
$2,000 to $8,000
That is the range firms publish for a full Level I study, with a site visit, of a community of 50 to 150 units. It is the study a Washington association needs first, and the one it returns to whenever the component list needs rebuilding.
No government body or trade association publishes fee ranges for reserve studies, so these figures come from the price pages of firms and national cost guides. We do not name them; we round to the span they broadly share.
By community size
| Community | Full study with a site visit |
|---|---|
| Under 50 units | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| 50 to 150 units | $2,000 to $8,000 |
| 150 to 300 units | $5,000 to $20,000 or more |
| Towers with elevators, garages and central plant | $7,000 to $15,000 or more |
Typical ranges from published sources: a guide, not a quote.
The updates between visits
Washington’s cycle means a board pays for three kinds of work over time. Firms do not publish dollar ranges for updates; they price them as a share of the full study:
- Update with a site visit (Level II), at least every third year: about half to four fifths of a full study.
- Update without a site visit (Level III), the years between: about a quarter to a half of a full study, and often under $1,000 for a small community.
Many firms quote all three years together. Ask for the three-year price, not just the first year’s.
What moves the price
- Components, not units. Forty townhomes with one roof type cost less to study than a forty-unit mid-rise with an elevator, a garage and a boiler.
- Buildings and access. Several buildings, steep roofs or locked mechanical spaces add hours on site.
- Travel. Communities far from a firm’s office, such as in Whatcom County or east of the Cascades, may carry a travel charge.
- Records. A board that sends a tidy project history and the last study saves the analyst time, and sometimes saves money.
- Engineering scope. Asking for envelope or structural observations by a licensed engineer or architect costs more than a standard study.
The 10 percent rule
RCW 64.90.545(2)(d) lifts the duty to have a study, or an update, in any year it would cost more than 10 percent of the association’s annual budget, unless the governing documents require one anyway.
Take a 12-unit association with an annual budget of $36,000. Ten percent is $3,600. A Level III desk update quoted at well under that is required. A full study quoted above it is not, that year. The board should keep the quote on file to show why it relied on the exemption, and the budget summary must still say whether the association has a compliant study.
The rule protects small associations. It is not a reason for a larger one to skip the cycle, and the resale certificate disclosure applies whether or not the association was exempt.
Costs around the study
- Resale certificates. The association may charge up to $275 to prepare one, and up to $100 to update it within six months (RCW 64.90.640). The current study goes in each one.
- Specialist follow-up. If the visit flags a hidden problem, an envelope or structural investigation is priced separately.
- Funding. The real cost of a study is what it asks the association to save. The 30-year projection is where to look.