The Prime Directive
By: Gary Porter, RS, FMP, CPA, RRC April 2025
In over 40 years of working in the community association industry, I’ve reviewed thousands of governing documents. Nearly all state a version of the same purpose: “This corporation is organized for the administration, fiscal management, and operation of the Association and to maintain, repair, and improve the common elements.” This is the Prime Directive—the association’s central mission and legal obligation.
Yet, despite this clear mandate, maintenance is too often an afterthought. It rarely takes center stage in day-to-day operations. That doesn't mean it's entirely ignored—but it often receives far less attention than it deserves. There are many reasons why this happens, and most of them are deeply embedded in how associations function.
A People-Focused Industry
Community associations are, above all, people businesses. Volunteer board members and management professionals spend much of their time addressing homeowner concerns, enforcing policies, and balancing budgets. As a result, physical maintenance often falls into the background—until something breaks or fails.
Lifestyle amenities, member satisfaction, and visible upgrades often take priority, especially when funds are limited. But without strong maintenance practices, even the best amenities will eventually deteriorate.
1. Limited Maintenance Knowledge
Board members typically come from diverse, non-technical backgrounds. They bring valuable life and work experience but often lack the expertise needed to evaluate or plan maintenance activities. That’s understandable—it’s not their profession.
Professional managers bring broader operational knowledge, but even they are generalists. Their job is to coordinate experts, not replace them. Complex facilities require deep technical skills—skills that only come from years of focused experience or specialized training.
Facilities maintenance is a professional discipline. I hold the Facilities Management Professional (FMP) credential from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), a rigorous program that takes most participants two years and thousands of dollars to complete. Licensed engineers are the largest group of credentialed members.
What’s troubling is how rarely I see similar credentials within the community association world. While we emphasize credentials for managers, we place little value on professional qualifications for those who direct or perform critical maintenance work.
2. Absence of a Comprehensive Plan
Every association has a maintenance program—a collection of whatever tasks they are currently doing. But very few have a true maintenance plan. That’s a formal, structured set of procedures outlining what should be done, when, how, and by whom.
Think about your association’s finances. Would you operate without a budget? Of course not. The budget sets expectations and provides a basis for measuring performance. Maintenance deserves the same structure.
A complete plan should include:
- A full inventory of physical assets
- Maintenance checklists for each item
- Inspection schedules to monitor condition
- Performance benchmarks and tracking tools
- A reporting system with clear accountability
Without this, most associations are flying blind. They don’t even realize it because there’s no plan to measure against.
3. Misunderstanding the Reserve Study
Too many people mistakenly believe that a reserve study is a maintenance plan. It’s not.
A reserve study is a financial planning tool—effectively, a long-term budget for major repairs and replacements. It doesn’t include the preventive steps necessary to extend the life of assets. It may identify 90% of what needs maintenance but says little about how to maintain it.
For example, painting is often included in reserve studies. But legally, painting is a maintenance expense—not a capital improvement. Several court decisions confirm this distinction. Confusing capital budgets with maintenance plans results in serious gaps in care.
4. A Reactive Culture
Many associations operate reactively—fixing things when they break. But studies consistently show that preventive maintenance saves money: at least $3 in long-term costs for every $1 spent proactively.
In the commercial world, this is common sense. Preventive maintenance is simply good business. In associations where maintenance is required, the financial logic still hasn’t been widely embraced.
5. The “Somebody Else” Assumption
Often, everyone involved assumes someone else is handling maintenance. The result?
- Boards don’t have the knowledge to evaluate quality.
- Managers lack deep technical training.
- Employees are redirected to member service roles.
- Contractors are selected based on cost, not qualifications.
- Suggestions to improve maintenance are discouraged to avoid higher costs.
- Boards avoid raising assessments—even to keep up with inflation.
This is a systemic problem that, left unaddressed, can lead to structural failures and mounting liability.
The Solution: Professional Plans and People
Ideally, every association should have a written, comprehensive maintenance plan created by someone with the credentials and experience to do it right. That means professionals with deep training—not just a general contractor or engineer with occasional experience.
State laws require licensed professionals for structural inspections. Why wouldn’t we hold the same standard for ongoing maintenance?
We must stop treating maintenance as an afterthought. It’s the foundation of everything associations do. Fulfilling the Prime Directive means placing maintenance where it belongs—at the center of association governance, with the planning, expertise, and investment to do it well.
Gary Porter, FMP, RS, RRC, CPA is the CEO of Facilities Advisors International and has prepared reserve studies for associations since 1982. As a Facilities Management Professional (FMP) he has training in all phases of facilities management. As a valuation expert he has testified at trial more than 50 times. As a CPA he also focuses on the numbers. Gary is the author of seven books on financial aspects of community associations totaling nearly 5,000 pages and is also the author of more than 400 articles. He has been published or quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, The Practical Accountant, Common Ground, The Ledger Quarterly, Timesharing Today, Hawaii Building Trades, and The Florida Community Association Journal. Gary is a past president of CAI (1998) and was a founding member of the CAI California Channel Islands Chapter in 1979. 47 years as a CAI member. He resides in Las Vegas, NV. Facilities Advisors provides reserve study and maintenance planning services to associations nationwide.