What counts as a common area in an HOA, and who inspects it?

Common areas are what the association owns or maintains for everyone, as the governing documents define them: usually roads, sidewalks, amenities such as the pool and clubhouse, landscaping, signs, lighting and drainage, and in a condo the building's shared spaces. The manager or a board member usually walks them on a schedule, with specialists inspecting things like the pool, the playground and the roofs.

Checked against the product on 2026-10-04. If the product changes, this page changes with it.

How it works

Read the declaration: it says which areas and components the association maintains.
List them as the areas of your walk: entrance, roads, amenities, landscaping, lighting, drainage, building exteriors.
Walk them on a cadence the board adopts, and leave the specialists' inspections to them.
In Sitesui the HOA / common areas template starts from those areas, and you can add your own.

What it doesn't do

What counts as common is set by your governing documents and state law, not by a checklist.
Sitesui records the walk; it does not decide who is responsible for maintaining what.

Which plan

Pro

Pro at $19/month covers a self-managed association; Business at $99/month covers a management company's portfolio.

Choose Pro — $19/month Every plan, every price

HOA common area checklist Playground inspection checklist HOA annual inspection checklist