Nevada HOA ADUs & Modifications

Section 1: Overview — ADUs and modifications in Nevada

Nevada protects owners, and it does so through a real regulator and a detailed statute. NRS Chapter 116 spells out rights that limit what an association can dictate — among them a solar and distributed-generation right (NRS 116.333)¹ and a drought-tolerant-landscaping right (NRS 116.330)² — while the state licenses the managers who run these communities and routes most disputes through mandatory pre-suit mediation. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), though, stay a question of municipal and county zoning, answered alongside the declaration.

The governing statute is the Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act, NRS Chapter 116, a Uniform Common-Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) chapter.³ NRS Chapter 116A licenses community managers.⁴ And NRS 116.1104 makes many of these provisions mandatory, so an association cannot vary them by agreement, waive them, or evade them.⁵ On solar, the statute constrains the association rather than handing the owner an unconditional right: an owner whose governing documents allow architectural restrictions submits a request, and the association must approve or deny it within statutory deadlines — or the request is deemed approved.¹

Whether an owner may build an ADU turns on local zoning — Clark and Washoe Counties, and the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Reno, and Sparks — plus the declaration; no confirmed statewide statute overrides association governing documents on ADUs.⁶ Four federal overlays bind every Nevada association no matter what state law says: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, the FCC OTARD rule for antennas and dishes, the Fair Housing Act for reasonable disability modifications, and ADA Title III for common-area public accommodations.⁷ The sections that follow lay out the legal framework, the compliance duties it creates, the recent activity in the Legislature and the courts, and where Nevada stands nationally.

Section 2: The legal framework

2A. NRS Chapter 116, manager licensing, and the regulator

Nevada's common-interest communities answer to the Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act, NRS Chapter 116, a UCIOA-derived chapter that governs condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives.³ Under NRS 116.1201, the chapter reaches every common-interest community created in the state, subject to stated exceptions; several provisions extend back to communities created before January 1, 1992, and the chapter ties its full application to that date.⁸ The older condominium law, NRS Chapter 117, still governs property divided into condominiums under a plan recorded before January 1, 1992.⁹ The defining feature is NRS 116.1104: except where the chapter expressly says otherwise, its provisions may not be varied by agreement, and the rights it confers may not be waived — so a declaration cannot override a mandatory statutory provision.⁵

Nevada licenses the people who run associations. NRS Chapter 116A requires a community manager to hold a certificate and sets the education and practice standards, and NRS 116A.400 bars anyone from acting as a community manager without one.⁴ Enforcement sits with a real regulator: the Real Estate Division within the Department of Business and Industry, the Office of the Ombudsman for Owners in Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels, and the Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels, which adopts the regulations codified in NAC 116 and hears disciplinary matters.¹⁰

Architectural review itself flows from the declaration, layered over NRS Chapter 116. The general unit-alteration provision, NRS 116.2111 (alterations of units and access to units), operates subject to the declaration.¹¹ A reviewing body — an architectural committee or the executive board — applies the standards in the governing documents, and board members act as fiduciaries under a duty of care and the business-judgment rule (NRS 116.3103).¹² Where NRS Chapter 116 grants a specific owner right, that statute limits what the declaration and the reviewing body may prohibit.

2B. The enumerated owner rights, including solar

The strongest constraint on architectural authority is the solar right. Effective October 1, 2025, Senate Bill 440 (2025) — sponsored by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor and signed by Governor Joe Lombardo — added NRS 116.333 and NRS 116.334, building a request-and-approval framework for a distributed generation system (a solar system as defined in NRS 598.9804).¹³ An owner in an association whose governing documents authorize architectural restrictions submits a request to install a system in an exclusive-use area and may not install it without approval. If the association has adopted rules under NRS 116.334, it must approve or deny within 35 days, put any denial in writing, and ground that denial in those rules; miss the 35 days, and the request is deemed approved. On a resubmission that answers the stated reasons, the association must act within 15 days or the request is again deemed approved. If the association has adopted no rules, it must approve within 15 days and may neither deny the request nor attach conditions.¹ The conditions it may impose are narrow: rules may keep panels off a street-facing roof only where the production loss stays at or below 10 percent (measured by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's PVWatts Calculator), may require painted conduits, batteries stored in a garage, and inverters placed out of view, and may not force compliance costing more than 3 percent of the cash cost of installation.¹⁴

Drought-tolerant landscaping carries its own protection under NRS 116.330. Neither the executive board nor the governing documents may stop an owner from installing or maintaining xeriscaping — decorative rock and artificial turf included — in an area the owner occupies exclusively, such as a front or back yard, though the owner must first submit plans for architectural review and the design must fit the community's style. Courts construe the statute liberally in favor of xeriscaping, and the board may not unreasonably withhold approval.² Given Nevada's water reality and the region's turf-reduction rules, that right carries real practical weight.

Several display and use rights round out the framework, and we treat them here at framework level, with the fuller solar deep-dive reserved for our Solar Rights coverage. NRS 116.320 protects display of the flags of the United States and of the State of Nevada, subject to reasonable placement rules.¹⁵ NRS 116.323 protects religious and cultural items in exclusive-use areas.¹⁶ NRS 116.325 protects political signs, capping each at 24 by 36 inches and holding owners to one sign per candidate, political party, or ballot question.¹⁷ NRS 116.332 protects storage of solid-waste and recyclable-material containers.¹⁶ On vehicles, NRS 116.350 limits how an association may regulate certain roads and governs the parking and storage it may permissibly control.¹⁶ NRS 116.345 bars a planned-community association from taking certain actions on property, buildings, and structures, and requires, before a new building or structure goes up, the written consent of a majority of owners and residents within 500 feet of the proposed spot.¹⁸ For EV charging, Nevada offers no dedicated NRS Chapter 116 provision, so an installation runs through the general alteration framework of NRS 116.2111 and the declaration.¹⁹

2C. ADUs, dispute resolution, and federal overlays

Nevada has no confirmed statewide statute that overrides association governing documents on ADUs. So the question comes in two layers: local zoning decides whether the locality allows an ADU, and the declaration decides whether the community does. AB 396, enacted as Chapter 365, Statutes of Nevada 2025, orders counties of 100,000 or more (Clark and Washoe) and cities of 60,000 or more to adopt an ordinance, "providing that if the governing body of certain counties and cities does not adopt such an ordinance by July 1, 2026, accessory dwelling units are authorized on any parcel zoned for residential use without restriction" — but it works at the zoning layer under NRS Chapter 278 and does not stop associations from restricting ADUs in their governing documents.⁶ That sets Nevada apart from HOA-preemption states such as California (Civ. Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152), where the statute reaches the association's documents directly.²⁰

Dispute resolution follows a distinctive, mandatory pre-suit regime. Under NRS 38.310, no one may commence a civil action over the interpretation, application, or enforcement of governing documents — or over assessment procedures — until the claim has gone to mediation (or, by agreement, a referee program) under NRS 38.300 to 38.360, and until any association administrative procedures are exhausted; a court must dismiss an action filed in violation.²¹ That requirement reaches architectural and modification disputes. In 2025 the Nevada Supreme Court clarified that it is a claim-processing rule, not a jurisdictional bar, so a party can waive or forfeit it by failing to raise it in time.²²

Four federal overlays bind every Nevada association regardless of state law. The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 protects the U.S. flag (Nevada separately protects the state flag under NRS 116.320).²³ The FCC OTARD rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000, protects antennas and satellite dishes.²⁴ The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3), requires associations to permit reasonable modifications for disability at the resident's expense.²⁵ And ADA Title III reaches common-area facilities that qualify as public accommodations.²⁶

Section 3: Compliance obligations created by the framework

A. Architectural review process obligations

An association's power to review and approve or deny modifications comes from the declaration, layered over NRS Chapter 116; the general unit-alteration provision is NRS 116.2111, a state statute reaching condominiums and planned communities, while the review standards themselves come from the declaration.¹¹ For distributed generation systems, NRS 116.333 and NRS 116.334 impose a defined request process, written denials grounded in adopted rules, and decisions within 35 days for an initial request or 15 days on resubmission or where no rules exist — with inaction deeming the request approved.¹ Because NRS 116.1104 makes these provisions mandatory, an association cannot use the declaration to stretch the deadlines or widen the grounds for denial.⁵ Boards should keep written records of requests, decisions, and reasons, in line with the fiduciary and recordkeeping duties of NRS 116.3103.¹²

B. Modifications the association must permit

The association must permit solar and distributed generation systems, subject only to the narrow conditions in NRS 116.333 and NRS 116.334, and it must permit drought-tolerant landscaping under NRS 116.330 — in each case through a request-and-reasonable-condition process, not an outright ban.^1,2 It must allow display of the U.S. and Nevada flags under NRS 116.320.¹⁵ Independently, federal overlays require it to permit the U.S. flag (Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005), antennas and dishes (OTARD, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000), reasonable disability modifications at the resident's expense (FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)), and access compliance for common-area public accommodations (ADA Title III).^23,24,25 The operational point is the one that recurs: these frameworks hold the association to reasonable, non-prohibitory conditions, not blanket denial.

C. ADU obligations and limits on HOA authority

No provision of NRS Chapter 116 forces an association to permit an ADU against its declaration. Municipal and county ADU zoning binds the locality, not the association; AB 396 (2025) requires certain counties and cities to authorize ADUs by ordinance under NRS Chapter 278, but it does not reach association documents.⁶ Inside a community, the declaration decides whether an ADU is allowed, so an owner generally needs both local zoning approval and declaration or architectural approval.

D. Enforcement, dispute resolution, and appeal obligations

Before filing most civil actions over governing documents or NRS Chapter 116 — architectural disputes included — a party must first complete pre-suit ADR under NRS 38.310, and a court must dismiss any action filed without it, though a party may waive the requirement by not raising it in time.^21,22 Any administrative procedure that NRS Chapter 116 or the declaration requires must also be exhausted. After ADR, trial-level disputes proceed in the Nevada district courts, with appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court, which may assign cases to the Nevada Court of Appeals — established in 2014 under a push-down model.²⁷

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Two 2025 laws set the recent legislative picture in Nevada. One hands owners a request-driven right to put solar on the roof; the other pushes larger counties and cities to open the door to accessory dwelling units. Neither one gives a board fresh power to say no.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two 2025 appellate decisions shaped the litigation landscape — one on how the pre-suit ADR requirement gets enforced, the other on what a homeowner must prove to sue an association under the statute. Both bear directly on how governing-document and modification disputes play out.

C. Active legislative debates

The 2025 session produced active proposals that never became law — among them SB 152, an EV-charging measure that would have curbed association limits on charger installation before it died in committee, alongside broader NRS Chapter 116 governance bills; several are expected to return in the 2027 session.¹⁹ A separate 2025 measure on religious and cultural door displays, SB 201, advanced through the process.²⁹

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Nevada sits among the strong-statute flagship states, marked by a UCIOA-based chapter with mandatory provisions (NRS 116.1104), a real regulator (the Real Estate Division, the Ombudsman, and the Commission), community-manager licensing under NRS Chapter 116A, compulsory pre-suit ADR under NRS 38.310, and enumerated owner rights that include a solar and distributed-generation right (NRS 116.333) and a drought-tolerant-landscaping right (NRS 116.330). On ADUs, Nevada parts ways with the HOA-preemption states such as California (Civ. Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152): here the ADU question is a matter of local zoning under NRS Chapter 278 plus the declaration, not a statewide override of association documents. For a multi-state operator, the practical read is clear — in Nevada an association cannot prohibit solar or drought-tolerant landscaping, must run most disputes through pre-suit ADR, and works under a state regulator with licensed managers, while ADUs stay a zoning-and-declaration question.

This coverage updates quarterly as the Legislature, the Commission, and the Nevada courts act. And the constant underneath all of it: the federal frameworks — the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, OTARD, the Fair Housing Act, and ADA Title III — apply to Nevada associations no matter what the state framework says.

1. Nevada SB 440 (2025), Enrolled, Sec. 13.3 (codified as NRS 116.333), Request by unit's owner to install distributed generation system; approval/denial within 35 days (adopted rules) or 15 days (resubmission or no rules); deemed approval on inaction ↩
2. NRS 116.330, Right of units' owners to install or maintain drought tolerant landscaping; conditions and limitations (Nevada Legislature, Chapter 116) ↩
3. NRS Chapter 116, Common-Interest Ownership (Uniform Act), Nevada Legislature ↩
4. NRS Chapter 116A, Regulation of Community Managers and Other Personnel; NRS 116A.400 (certificate required to act as community manager) ↩
5. NRS 116.1104, Provisions of chapter may not be varied by agreement, waived or evaded; exceptions (Nevada Legislature) ↩
6. Nevada AB 396 (2025), Second Reprint (Chapter 365, Statutes of Nevada 2025), Sec. 1 (Chapter 278 ADU ordinance mandate), Sec. 11 (July 1, 2026 default), Sec. 10 (administrative fine to $5,000) ↩
7. FCC, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 ↩
8. NRS 116.1201, Applicability; regulations (applies to all common-interest communities created within the state, subject to exceptions; references to communities created before January 1, 1992) ↩
9. NRS 117.020, Applicability (Chapter 117 applies to condominiums for which a plan was recorded before January 1, 1992) ↩
10. Nevada Real Estate Division, Common-Interest Communities program (Real Estate Division, Office of the Ombudsman, and Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels) ↩
11. NRS 116.2111, Alterations of units; access to units (Nevada Legislature, Chapter 116) ↩
12. NRS 116.3103, Power of executive board; members and officers are fiduciaries; duty of care; business-judgment rule (Nevada Legislature) ↩
13. Nevada SB 440 (2025), Committee on Commerce and Labor, signed by Governor Joe Lombardo, effective October 1, 2025 (Nevada Legislature, 83rd Session bill records) ↩
14. Nevada SB 440 (2025), Enrolled, Sec. 13.7 (codified as NRS 116.334), authorized rule content: street-facing panels only if production loss ≤10% per NREL PVWatts, painted conduits, garaged batteries, hidden inverters; compliance cost limited to 3% of installation cost ↩
15. NRS 116.320, Right of units' owners to display flag of the United States or of the State of Nevada in certain areas (Nevada Legislature) ↩
16. NRS 116.323 (religious or cultural items), NRS 116.332 (solid-waste/recyclable containers), NRS 116.350 (regulation of roads; parking and storage of vehicles), Nevada Legislature, Chapter 116 ↩
17. NRS 116.325, Right of units' owners to exhibit political signs; not larger than 24 inches by 36 inches; no more than one sign per candidate, political party, or ballot question (Nevada Legislature) ↩
18. Nevada Real Estate Division, guidance citing NRS 116.345(3) (planned-community building/structure requires written consent of a majority of owners and residents within 500 feet) ↩
19. Nevada HOA guide noting no statutory EV-charger protection; Nevada SB 152 (2025) (EV charger installation) died in committee ↩
20. California Civil Code § 4751 (ADU provisions void as to common-interest developments); compare Colorado HB 24-1152 ↩
21. NRS 38.310, Limitations on commencement of certain civil actions (pre-suit mediation/ADR under NRS 38.300 to 38.360; court shall dismiss actions filed in violation), Nevada Legislature ↩
22. Kosor, Jr. v. S. Highlands Cmty. Ass'n, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 34 (June 18, 2025) (NRS 38.310 is a nonjurisdictional claim-processing rule that may be waived or forfeited) ↩
23. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-243 ↩
24. FCC, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 ↩
25. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3) (reasonable modifications for disability, resident-paid), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ↩
26. Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III (public accommodations), U.S. Department of Justice ↩
27. Nevada Judiciary (District Courts; Supreme Court of Nevada; Nevada Court of Appeals, established 2014 under a push-down assignment model) ↩
28. Divina Piazza v. Spring Mountain Ranch Master Ass'n, No. 88493-COA (Nev. Ct. App., July 31, 2025) (NRS 116.4117 private action requires actual damages) ↩
29. Las Vegas Review-Journal, summary of 2025 Nevada HOA bills (SB 201 religious/cultural door displays; EV-charging and other measures that died) ↩