What are common elements in a condo? Everything in a common-interest community that is not somebody's unit: the structure, the roof, the corridors, the pool and the grounds, owned by all the owners together.
Nevada defines common elements at NRS 116.017 as all portions of a condominium other than the units, plus the easements that serve the units. In practice that is the foundation, the exterior walls, the roof, the corridors and stairwells, the elevators, the parking structure, the pool, the clubhouse and the landscaping. In a planned community rather than a condominium the phrase covers the real estate the association owns or leases, other than the lots themselves. A limited common element, NRS 116.059, is a piece of the common elements the declaration hands to the exclusive use of one unit or a few: a balcony, a patio, an assigned parking space, a storage cage, the front stoop.
The declaration and the recorded plat draw the line, and the plat is required to show unit boundaries under NRS 116.2109. Each unit is also allocated an undivided interest in the common elements and a matching share of common expenses under NRS 116.2107, written as a fraction or a percentage, sometimes equally and sometimes by floor area. That allocation is the dues share and the vote. In a 120-unit building splitting everything equally, one unit owns a 120th of the roof and pays a 120th of the budget, so a $600,000 roof replacement with nothing in reserves is a $5,000 special assessment per unit.
For a buyer the useful question is who fixes what and who insures it. The association insures the common elements under NRS 116.3113 and maintains them out of dues and reserves. A limited common element is usually split, with the association responsible for the structure of the balcony and the owner for what sits on it, and the declaration says which. Read the resale package delivered under NRS 116.4109 for that boundary before the five-day cancellation window closes, and confirm whether the parking space is deeded, assigned as a limited common element, or only a habit.
A worked example
A 120-unit condominium allocates every unit an equal undivided interest, so each owner holds a 120th of the common elements and pays a 120th of the budget. Dues are $310 a month. The roof comes due at an estimated $600,000 with $210,000 in reserves, and the board levies the $390,000 gap as a special assessment: $3,250 a unit, offered as a lump sum or as $271 a month for twelve months on top of the dues.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a common element and a limited common element?
A common element serves everyone and everyone pays for it: the roof, the corridors, the pool. A limited common element is part of the common elements set aside by the declaration for the exclusive use of one unit or a few, such as a balcony, a patio or an assigned parking space, and the declaration usually splits its upkeep between the association and that owner.
Who pays to repair a condo balcony?
It depends on what the declaration says, because a balcony is normally a limited common element rather than part of the unit. The common split gives the association the structure, the waterproofing and the railing, and gives the owner the surface finish and anything stored on it. Read the maintenance article before assuming either way.