Florida HOA Design & Architectural Law

Florida at a glance

Chapter 720 and the 2024 reforms

Florida homeowners' associations are governed by Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes; condominium associations fall under Chapter 718. The 2024 legislative session (notably HB 1203) significantly increased the obligations placed on HOAs and community association managers, and for boards operating in 2026 those rules are now the everyday standard. Architectural review specifically is shaped by §720.3035, which provides that an HOA or its architectural review committee has authority only to the extent it is stated in — or reasonably inferred from — the declaration or duly published guidelines. In other words, a Florida ARC cannot invent standards on the fly.

How denials must be handled

Under §720.3035, when an association denies an architectural request, it must act within the authority granted by the recorded declaration or published guidelines, and a denial should identify the specific rule or covenant relied upon and the part of the request that does not conform. This is a meaningful constraint: it pushes associations toward clear, published design standards and away from subjective, unwritten preferences. If your guidelines aren't recorded or properly published, your committee's authority to enforce them is on shaky ground.

Solar & EV charging

Solar — §163.04

Florida Statute §163.04 provides that no deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement may prohibit the installation of solar collectors on a building. An association may determine the specific location where panels are installed, so long as that determination does not impair the system's performance. The practical rule mirrors other strong-solar states: regulate placement reasonably, never prohibit.

EV charging — depends on your community type

This is where Florida diverges. Condominiums have an explicit statutory right-to-charge under §718.113, which sets out an owner's right to install a charging station in their limited common element parking space. Chapter 720 does not give single-family HOA owners that same express statutory right — so for an HOA, the outcome turns on the declaration, the published guidelines, and a reasonableness analysis. Communities should not assume the condo rule applies to them; HOA guidelines should address EV charging directly.

Florida-friendly landscaping (§720.3075(4))

Florida Statute §720.3075(4) prohibits HOA governing documents from forbidding or being enforced to prohibit "Florida-friendly landscaping" — the state's water-conserving, environmentally sustainable landscaping standard — on a homeowner's land. Associations retain the ability to set reasonable standards, but they cannot require thirsty turf in place of qualifying water-wise landscaping. Given Florida's water-management pressures, design guidelines should explicitly recognize Florida-friendly landscaping rather than risk an unenforceable turf mandate.

What this means for Florida boards & managers

The through-line of Florida's framework is documentation. Under §720.3035, your architectural authority lives or dies by what's actually in your recorded declaration and published guidelines, and the 2024 reforms raised the bar on how associations operate and communicate. Priorities: make sure your design standards are properly published and specific enough to enforce; align them with the solar (§163.04) and Florida-friendly landscaping (§720.3075) carve-outs; and address EV charging explicitly, since Chapter 720 leaves it to you. Clean, current guidelines are the difference between defensible decisions and unenforceable ones.

Disclaimer: This page is a general informational overview of Florida law compiled June 2026 and is not legal advice. Chapter 720 was substantially amended in 2024 and continues to evolve; application varies by community. Always confirm the current law with a licensed Florida community-association attorney before drafting, adopting, or enforcing governing documents.