Hi, Tom.
Good questions. There is no specific section of the Declaration that states exterior windows and screen doors are common areas. Rather, these are legal interpretations based on the words used in the Declaration.
In your case, it is necessary to review the sections of the Declaration pertaining to the boundaries of Apartments in connection with the description of common areas to determine whether exterior windows and screen doors should be considered part of an Apartment (and therefore be the responsibility of the individual owners) or be considered common areas (and therefore be the responsibility of the Association).
Common areas are defined in Section 5.01 of the Declaration as “all parts of a building, except for the Apartments as defined by section 4.01, and the land.” Thus, if exterior windows and screen doors are not included in the boundary of an Apartment, as defined in section 4.01, then they are by default common areas.
Legally speaking, an Apartment is essentially nothing more than a box of air. Its boundaries are defined in Section 4.01 Boundary of Apartment as follows:
The apartment boundaries are the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors ceilings, windows and doors and the apartment includes the airspace so encompassed except that any . . . structural or other mechanical parts of the building contained within a wall which is included in the perimeter of an apartment shown on the plans shall be part of the common area to the point of the surface of such wall . . . . (emphasis added)
At most, the interior finished surface of the window frame (i.e. paint) is included within the boundary of an apartment. As a result, if the interior trim on a window frame needed to be painted it would be the responsibility of an individual owner. However, the window frame and all structural components of the window are common areas and thus the responsibility of the Association.
Screen doors are clearly outside of the Apartment boundary and are therefore also common areas and the responsibility of the Association. Under the same analysis, it is clear that exterior doors are part of the common area building structures and the Association’s responsibility.
Keep in mind, however, that if all exterior doors in the condominium need to be replaced as indicated in your email, through economies of scale, it should be much cheaper for the Association to have the work done all at once than to have the individual owners contract separately to have each door replaced. So maybe this isn’t so bad after all.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Kris
