{ "section": "5550", "code": "California Civil Code", "law_code": "CIV", "citation": "California Civil Code § 5550", "heading": "The Reserve Study — Every Three Years, Reviewed Annually", "heading_is_editorial": true, "effective": "2025-01-01", "amended_by": "Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 288, Sec. 2. (SB 900) Effective January 1, 2025.", "official_credit_line": "Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 288, Sec. 2. (SB 900) Effective January 1, 2025.", "official_url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=5550.", "page_url": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves", "pending_amendment": { "bill": "AB 2050", "author": "Assembly Member Caloza (Coauthors: Assembly Members Dixon and Zbur)", "act": "An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 5550 of, and to add Section 5552 to, the Civil Code", "chapter": "796", "statutes_of": "2026", "citation": "Stats. 2026, Ch. 796 (AB 2050)", "chaptered": "2026-09-29", "effective": "2027-01-01", "urgency": false, "verb": "added", "official_url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2050", "checked": "2026-10-11", "renumbered": {}, "renumbered_count": 0, "changes": [ { "id": "a", "label": "(a)", "was_id": "a", "change": "amended", "was": "At least once every three years, the board shall cause to be conducted a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection of the accessible areas of the major components that the association is obligated to repair, replace, restore, or maintain as part of a study of the reserve account requirements of the common interest development, if the current replacement value of the major components is equal to or greater than one-half of the gross budget of the association, excluding the association’s reserve account for that period. The board shall review this study, or cause it to be reviewed, annually and shall consider and implement necessary adjustments to the board’s analysis of the reserve account requirements as a result of that review.", "now": "At least once every three years, the association shall cause to be conducted a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection of the accessible areas of the major components that the association is obligated to repair, replace, restore, or maintain as part of a study of the reserve account requirements of the common interest development, if the current replacement value of the major components is equal to or greater than one-half of the gross budget of the association. The association shall review and update this study annually and shall consider and implement necessary adjustments to the association’s funding of the reserve account as a result of that review." }, { "id": "b-4", "label": "(b)(4)", "was_id": "b-4", "change": "amended", "was": "An estimate of the total annual contribution necessary to defray the cost to repair, replace, restore, or maintain the components identified in paragraph (1) during and at the end of their useful life, after subtracting total reserve funds as of the date of the study.", "now": "Cost of repair, replacement, restoration or maintenance of the components identified in the report required in Section 5551." }, { "id": "b-5", "label": "(b)(5)", "was_id": "b-5", "change": "amended", "was": "A reserve funding plan that indicates how the association plans to fund the contribution identified in paragraph (4) to meet the association’s obligation for the repair and replacement of all major components with an expected remaining life of 30 years or less, not including those components that the board has determined will not be replaced or repaired.", "now": "An estimate of the total annual reserve account transfer necessary to defray the cost to repair, replace, restore, or maintain the components identified in paragraph (1) during and at the end of their useful life, after subtracting total reserve funds as of the date of the study." }, { "id": "b-6", "label": "(b)(6)", "was_id": null, "change": "added", "was": null, "now": "A reserve funding plan that indicates how the association plans to fund the reserve account transfer identified in paragraph (5) to meet the association’s obligation for the repair and replacement of all major components with an expected remaining life of 30 years or less, not including those components that the board has determined will not be replaced or repaired." }, { "id": "b-7", "label": "(b)(7)", "was_id": null, "change": "added", "was": null, "now": "The minimum reserve contribution level to prevent the projected association reserve account balance from falling below zero over the following 30 years." }, { "id": "b-8", "label": "(b)(8)", "was_id": null, "change": "added", "was": null, "now": "A statement informing the association that, beginning January 1, 2032, state law will require an association to take certain actions if the association projects the reserve account balance to fall below zero over a 30-year period, including transferring a minimum of 15 percent of its gross annual budget to the reserve account and, under specified conditions, levying a reserve funding special assessment, as prescribed." }, { "id": "c", "label": "(c)", "was_id": "c", "change": "amended", "was": "For purposes of this section, “major components” includes gas, water, and electrical service to the extent that the association is responsible for repair or replacement of those lines pursuant to Section 4775.", "now": "For purposes of this section, “major components” includes, but is not limited to, exterior elevated elements defined and inspected pursuant to Section 5551, and gas, water, and electrical service to the extent that the association is responsible for repair or replacement of those lines pursuant to Section 4775." }, { "id": "d", "label": "(d)", "was_id": null, "change": "added", "was": null, "now": "This section shall become operative on January 1, 2032." } ], "note": "Enacted law that has not yet taken effect. The text in `subdivisions` is the text in force; these are the changes already signed, with the date each starts. Not present in the Legislative Counsel's code tables until then." }, "version_history": [ { "effective": "2025-01-01", "change": "amended", "bill": "SB 900", "acts": [ "SB 900" ], "attribution": "single", "citation": "Stats. 2024, Ch. 288 (SB 900)", "official_credit_line": "Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 288, Sec. 2. (SB 900) Effective January 1, 2025.", "superseded_credit_line": "Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 180, Sec. 2. (AB 805) Effective January 1, 2013. Operative January 1, 2014, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 180.", "snapshot": 2025, "renumbered": {}, "changes": [ { "id": "c", "label": "(c)", "was_id": null, "change": "added", "was": null, "now": "For purposes of this section, “major components” includes gas, water, and electrical service to the extent that the association is responsible for repair or replacement of those lines pursuant to Section 4775." } ] } ], "verified": "two sources agree", "verification_note": "Text taken verbatim from the Legislative Counsel of California official code database and checked word for word against an independent publisher.", "sources": [ { "url": "https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip", "accessed": "2026-10-11", "name": "leginfo (Legislative Counsel official bulk code database, LAW_SECTION_TBL)", "note": "Authoritative. Retrieved with tools/fetch.py, which reads the archive's central directory by HTTP range request and fetches only this section's member. The leginfo.legislature.ca.gov HTML page sits behind a bot challenge; this is the same database that backs it." }, { "url": "https://california.public.law/codes/civil_code_section_5550", "accessed": "2026-10-11", "name": "California Public Law (Public.Law)", "note": "Independent publisher, used to check the text word for word.", "edition": "2025" } ], "subdivisions": [ { "id": "a", "label": "(a)", "text": "At least once every three years, the board shall cause to be conducted a reasonably competent and diligent visual inspection of the accessible areas of the major components that the association is obligated to repair, replace, restore, or maintain as part of a study of the reserve account requirements of the common interest development, if the current replacement value of the major components is equal to or greater than one-half of the gross budget of the association, excluding the association’s reserve account for that period. The board shall review this study, or cause it to be reviewed, annually and shall consider and implement necessary adjustments to the board’s analysis of the reserve account requirements as a result of that review.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-a" }, { "id": "b", "label": "(b)", "text": "The study required by this section shall at a minimum include:", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b" }, { "id": "b-1", "label": "(b)(1)", "text": "Identification of the major components that the association is obligated to repair, replace, restore, or maintain that, as of the date of the study, have a remaining useful life of less than 30 years.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b-1" }, { "id": "b-2", "label": "(b)(2)", "text": "Identification of the probable remaining useful life of the components identified in paragraph (1) as of the date of the study.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b-2" }, { "id": "b-3", "label": "(b)(3)", "text": "An estimate of the cost of repair, replacement, restoration, or maintenance of the components identified in paragraph (1).", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b-3" }, { "id": "b-4", "label": "(b)(4)", "text": "An estimate of the total annual contribution necessary to defray the cost to repair, replace, restore, or maintain the components identified in paragraph (1) during and at the end of their useful life, after subtracting total reserve funds as of the date of the study.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b-4" }, { "id": "b-5", "label": "(b)(5)", "text": "A reserve funding plan that indicates how the association plans to fund the contribution identified in paragraph (4) to meet the association’s obligation for the repair and replacement of all major components with an expected remaining life of 30 years or less, not including those components that the board has determined will not be replaced or repaired.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-b-5" }, { "id": "c", "label": "(c)", "text": "For purposes of this section, “major components” includes gas, water, and electrical service to the extent that the association is responsible for repair or replacement of those lines pursuant to Section 4775.", "anchor": "https://quoroom.org/law/reserves#s5550-c" } ] }