Washington

The state of Washington has adopted specific statutes related to reserve studies. State statute 64.34.380 recently adopted the following legislation:

1. An association is encouraged to establish a reserve account to fund major maintenance, repair, and replacement of common elements, including limited common elements that will require major maintenance, repair, or replacement within thirty years. A reserve account shall be established in the name of the association. The board of directors is responsible for administering the reserve account.
2. Unless doing so would impose an unreasonable hardship, an association shall prepare and update a reserve study, in accordance with the association's governing documents and RCW 64.34.224(1). The initial reserve study must be based upon a visual site inspection conducted by a reserve study professional.
3. Unless doing so would impose an unreasonable hardship, the association shall update the reserve study annually. At least every three years, an updated reserve study must be prepared and based upon a visual site inspection conducted by a reserve study professional.

1. We wrote the book on reserve studies - "Reserve Studies - The Complete Guide"
2. We wrote the standards on reserve studies - ICBI's Generally Accepted Reserve Study Standards - Facilities Advisors president Gary Porter is also president of the International Capital Budgeting Institute (ICBI)
3. We use certified software guaranteed for accuracy - Our Facilities 7 internet-based software has been certified by ICBI and tested by an independent CPA firm

Facilities Advisors has been preparing reserve studies since 1982, and in Washington since 2003. We have prepared numerous reserve studies for all types of associations; condominiums, planned developments, timeshare associations, and cooperatives. Our reserve study reports are unique - they are designed to meet your statutory requirements, to serve as a maintenance plan, and the reports and disclosures are designed to save you time. You save time in budget preparation because we prepare the reserve disclosures for you. Our unique reserve staudy comparison exhibit also saves you time by showing you where our current report differs from the previous report, no matter who prepared the prior report. It helps report users understand and evaluate what has changed since the prior report was issued.

Our Goals for your Reserve Study

Our first goal is to make sure that your reserve study complies with statutory requirements.

Our second goal is to make your reserve study something more than simply the fulfillment of a statutory obligation. We believe that the reserve study should be a functional tool used in the financial management of the association. This means that the reserve study needs to be realistic. Too often, we hear from new clients that they don't believe their prior reserve study was correct. We believe that the reserve study should be a reflection of the Association's actual maintenance plan. Therefore we will ask you questions about recently completed and planned future reserve expenditures. While none of us can accurately predict the future over the next 30 years, the association's facilities manager usually has clear short-term plans (over the next 1 to 3 years). We attempt to incorporate those plans into the reserve study, otherwise the reserve study serves little purpose.