The five-year study gets the attention, but the statute sets two clocks. NRS 116.31152 asks the executive board to have a study conducted at least every five years, and to review the results of that study at least once a year to decide whether reserves are sufficient. The second clock runs four times for every turn of the first.
Who does the review
The board does. The statute does not require a permit holder for the yearly review, so a treasurer and the community manager can prepare it. Some boards pay their provider for an update without a site visit in some years. That is a choice, not a requirement, and it makes most sense when costs have moved sharply.
What to put on the table
Ask the manager for four things a week before the meeting:
- The reserve balance at the end of the last month, and the balance the study projected for that date.
- Every reserve expense since the last review, with the component it belongs to.
- Any component that has failed early, or been put off.
- Quotes received for projects due in the next two years.
The comparison
Line the actual figures up against the study. Three questions cover most reviews:
- Is the balance on track? If it is well below the projection, find out why: a project came early, costs rose, or contributions fell short.
- Has any timing changed? In Nevada’s sun, seal coats, paint and pool plaster often come due sooner than a national table says. Move them in the board’s working copy of the projection.
- Have costs moved? A bid that is far above the study’s figure for the same work is a signal to update the rest of the line items too.
The decision
End with a decision on the reserve contribution for the coming budget, even when the decision is to leave it unchanged. NRS 116.31151 has the board send owners a reserve budget summary with the annual budget, so the review is also where that summary’s figures come from.
Write the review into the minutes: the date, the figures looked at, any components re-timed and the funding decision. That record is the best evidence that the board did what the statute asks.
When the review says “order a new study”
Order early if the review turns up a large shortfall, a new amenity, or a component list that no longer matches the community. The five-year limit is the latest date, not the only one. For the rules in full, see the guide to NRS 116 reserve study law, or go back to the Nevada reserve study overview and its chart of component lives.