California · Davis-Stirling Act

Three fights about the roof.

What it is made of, what may be bolted to it, and how it is divided when one roof covers several owners who all want the sun. The Act answers each separately, and the measurements matter: 36 inches, and a usable area that has to be allocated equitably.

What the roof is made of

§ 4720(a) is a one-line prohibition: no association may require a homeowner to install or repair a roof in a way that violates Health and Safety Code § 13132.7, the state's roofing fire-retardancy standard. An aesthetic covenant cannot override a fire rule.

§ 4720(b) goes further for communities in a very high fire severity zone — as designated either by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or by a local agency. There, the governing documents shall allow for at least one type of fire retardant roof covering material meeting that standard. Not "shall not prohibit": shall affirmatively allow one. A palette of approved materials that happens to contain no compliant option does not satisfy the subdivision.

Antennas and satellite dishes: the 36-inch line

§ 4725(a) voids any covenant that effectively prohibits or restricts installing or using a video or television antenna, including a satellite dish — or restricts attaching one to a structure where the antenna is not visible from any street or common area — but only as applied to an antenna with a diameter or diagonal measurement of 36 inches or less. Above that size the section simply does not help.

§ 4725(b) then preserves reasonable restrictions, defined with the same cost-and-performance test the Act uses for charging stations: those that do not significantly increase the cost of the antenna system including all related equipment, or significantly decrease its efficiency or performance. And it lists four things that are reasonable, so there is no argument about them:

1. Requiring an application and notice to the association before installation.
2. Requiring association approval to install on a separate interest owned by someone else.
3. Provision for the maintenance, repair or replacement of roofs and other building components.
4. Requiring the installer to indemnify or reimburse the association or its members for loss or damage caused by installation, maintenance or use.

§ 4725(c): where approval is required, the application is processed in the same manner as an application for an architectural modification and the decision shall not be willfully delayed — the same formula as § 4745(e), but without the 60-day deemed approval that section attaches. § 4725(d) awards attorney's fees to the prevailing party.

Solar on a roof that several owners share

§ 4746 does not create the right to install solar — that is Civil Code §§ 714 and 714.1, two of the outside provisions § 4700 points at. What § 4746 does is add requirements for the harder case: a multifamily common area roof shared by more than one homeowner. § 4746(d) says so in terms, and (e) preserves the association's authority under § 714.1.

Two things the association shall require, under § 4746(a):

1. The applicant must notify every owner of a unit in the building on which the installation will sit.
2. The owner and each successive owner must carry homeowner liability coverage at all times, with the certificate delivered within 14 days of approval and annually thereafter — the same running obligation that attaches to a charging station under § 4745(f)(3), and the same one that lapses quietly at resale.

§ 4746(b)(2) puts the familiar running costs on the owner and each successor: damage to the common area, exclusive use common area or separate interests from installation, maintenance, repair, removal or replacement; maintenance, repair and replacement of the system until it is removed, plus restoration afterwards; and disclosure to prospective buyers of the system and these responsibilities.