Nevada HOA Architectural Review

Section 1: Overview — How architectural review works in Nevada

Nevada runs architectural review as a UCIOA-based, regulator-first state. Architectural authority flows from the recorded declaration, but the Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act, Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116, administers that declaration and hands owners specific statutory rights the association cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict.¹ An executive board or an architectural committee reviews applications under the standards the governing documents set out — yet those documents never operate on their own. They work inside a detailed statutory frame.

The statute layers a cluster of owner carve-outs on top of the declaration: solar and other distributed-generation systems, wind energy, the US and Nevada flags, religious or cultural items, political signs, and drought-tolerant landscaping.^2,3,4,5 The landscaping right and the distributed-generation right still answer to architectural review and a compatibility standard under the governing documents.⁵ Before most owners or associations can sue over how the governing documents are interpreted or enforced, they must exhaust the internal procedures and take the dispute to mediation or arbitration.⁶ A state regulator — the Ombudsman and the Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels, both housed in the Real Estate Division — registers associations, educates owners and boards, supports ADR, and disciplines violations.⁷ Enforcement of the governing documents runs through fines the board may impose only after a hearing, and through the association's assessment lien; litigation, once ADR is done, climbs from District Court to the Nevada Court of Appeals (created in 2014 on a deflective model) and then to the Nevada Supreme Court.^8,9 The sections that follow lay out the framework, the compliance obligations, and the recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2: The architectural-review framework

2A. Source and scope of architectural authority

Architectural authority in Nevada starts with the recorded declaration — the CC&Rs — and the executive board exercises it, or a design-review committee does where the governing documents create one. The Nevada Common-Interest Ownership Act, Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116, administers that authority; this UCIOA-based statute governs the condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives that Nevada creates.¹ Section 116.1201 spells out the chapter's applicability and its exceptions. Section 116.1203 carves out a partial exemption for certain small planned communities — no more than 12 units and not subject to developmental rights — where only limited provisions apply unless the declaration adopts the full chapter.^10,11 Community managers who run these associations earn a separate certification under ch. 116A, and most Nevada associations organize as nonprofit corporations under ch. 82.^12,13

Nevada is not a covenant-primary state. The statute stacks owner rights, a state regulator, and mandatory alternative dispute resolution on top of the declaration, and no one may vary, waive, or evade its core owner protections except as the chapter allows.¹⁴ For the professional reader, the order of precedence runs like this: Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116, including its non-waivable owner rights, then the declaration, then the bylaws, then the rules and architectural guidelines. A design guideline that collides with a statutory owner right — or with the declaration — is vulnerable. That ordering matters, because architectural committees often work from a guideline booklet several layers below the statute, and a guideline cannot lawfully cut below the floor ch. 116 sets.

2B. The approval process, standards, and dispute resolution

Nevada sets no general statutory deadline for deciding an architectural application, no general deemed-approval rule, and no general written-denial requirement. The governing documents set the application process — the timelines, the submittal contents, and the decision format — while the statute supplies the substantive owner rights an association cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict. One exception stands out: distributed-generation, or rooftop solar, requests. Since October 1, 2025, an association that has adopted solar rules must approve or deny a request within 35 days, and within 15 days on a resubmission; an association with no adopted solar rules must approve within 15 days and may not deny or condition the request; and if the association misses the deadline, the request wins deemed approval.²

The governing standard is reasonableness and statutory compliance. A court will enforce a declaration term that is valid, reasonable, and consistent with ch. 116, and association rules must relate reasonably to their purpose, read clearly enough for an owner to understand, square with the governing documents, and apply uniformly.¹⁵ Selective or inconsistent enforcement can sink a rule — the single most common vulnerability in a contested architectural denial. Before a party files most civil actions over the interpretation, application, or enforcement of the CC&Rs, bylaws, or rules, that party must submit the claim to mediation or arbitration under Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 38.300 to 38.360 and, in a ch. 116 community, must first exhaust the administrative procedures in the governing documents; a court must dismiss an action that ignores this requirement.⁶ The clock on the statute of limitations stops while the claim sits in ADR.¹⁶ Separately, an aggrieved owner may file an affidavit of violation with the Real Estate Division, and the Ombudsman processes it under § 116.760; on a solar or wind dispute, the Director of the Governor's Office of Energy must decide within 30 days whether a restriction is unreasonable, under § 701.180(6).¹⁷ The operational takeaway for the professional reader: a defensible denial rests on a specific, consistently applied guideline grounded in the declaration, put in writing even though the general statute does not compel it, and handled with the knowledge that a premature lawsuit will be dismissed.

2C. Statutory and federal limits on architectural authority

The statutory carve-outs limit architectural discretion item by item. Solar and other distributed-generation systems move through the approval process in § 116.333 and the rulemaking limits in § 116.334, and § 111.239 voids any covenant that prohibits or unreasonably restricts a solar energy system.^2,18,19 Wind energy gets separate treatment under § 116.2111: the statute allows it only "if the boundaries of the unit encompass 2 acres or more," and the owner "may not add" it unless he "first obtains the written consent of each owner of property within 300 feet of any boundary of the unit"; any visible alteration must follow the governing-document procedures and, to the maximum extent practicable, match the community's style.²⁰ The statute protects the US and Nevada flags, subject to reasonable placement-and-manner rules.³ It protects religious or cultural items under § 116.323.²¹ It protects political signs, subject to size and number conditions.⁴ And it makes drought-tolerant landscaping expressly subject to architectural review and a compatibility standard — but the board may not unreasonably deny approval or unreasonably brand the xeriscape incompatible.⁵

The regulator sits above these disputes. The Ombudsman helps owners and associations, the Commission and its hearing panels discipline violations, and § 116.750 defines the jurisdiction.^7,22,23,24 The Commission's authority has a firm limit, though: it may not reach into the internal activities of an association beyond the powers the statute grants.²⁵ Nevada law confirms no EV-charging carve-out — a 2025 bill that would have created one did not pass, so the declaration still governs EV charging.²⁶ Federal overlays add to all of this: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 permits reasonable safety restrictions, the FCC OTARD rule limits restrictions on covered antennas and dishes, and the Fair Housing Act's reasonable-modification right is owner-funded and bounded by reasonableness.^27,28,29

Section 3: Compliance obligations in the architectural-review process

3A. Adopting and maintaining architectural standards

Architectural standards and design guidelines come from the declaration and bylaws, which authorize the board or committee to review exterior changes; this obligation is contractual, not statutory. The statute then overlays a floor: any rule the association adopts, architectural guidelines included, must be reasonable, clear, consistent with the governing documents, and uniformly enforced under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31065.¹⁵ A guideline that restricts a protected item — solar, landscaping, flags, signs, religious or cultural items — must yield to the statutory owner right.⁵

3B. Reviewing and deciding applications

The declaration sets the timelines, submittal requirements, and decision format for a general architectural application; ch. 116 imposes no general decision deadline, deemed-approval rule, or written-denial mandate. The statute carves out one exception: an association must decide a distributed-generation, or solar, request within the 35-day or 15-day windows of § 116.333, deliver a denial notice that details the reasons, and live with deemed approval if it misses the deadline.² For visible alterations that § 116.2111 covers, the work must follow the governing-document procedures and, to the maximum extent practicable, match the community's style — a statutory standard.²⁰

3C. Honoring statutory and federal owner protections

Each carve-out marks a statutory limit on architectural discretion: solar and distributed generation (§ 116.333, § 116.334, § 111.239); wind energy, with its two-acre and 300-foot-consent conditions (§ 116.2111); the US and Nevada flags (§ 116.320); religious or cultural items (§ 116.323); political signs (§ 116.325); and drought-tolerant landscaping, which answers to architectural-compatibility review but which the board may not unreasonably deny (§ 116.330).^{18,20,3,21,4,5} Statute also addresses security and energy shutters and solid-waste containers (§ 116.2111; § 116.332).^20,30 Federal protections — the Flag Act, OTARD, and the FHA reasonable-modification right — apply on top of state law.²⁸

3D. Enforcement and dispute resolution

Fines for governing-document violations follow a statutory process: the board must give written notice and hold a hearing before it imposes a fine, and under § 116.31031(1) "the amount of the fine must not exceed $100 for each violation or a total amount of $1,000 per hearing against each unit's owner or tenant or invitee." That cap falls away only for a violation that poses "an imminent threat of causing a substantial adverse effect on the health, safety or welfare" of owners or residents.⁸ The association's assessment lien and its limited super-priority component are statutory (§ 116.3116), and that super-priority does not reach fines.³¹ Mandatory pre-suit ADR under § 38.310 is also statutory, and it applies before most architectural-enforcement litigation; a court must dismiss an action that skips it.⁶ The Real Estate Division, the Ombudsman, and the Commission supply a statutory enforcement and dispute-support channel (§ 116.625, § 116.750, § 116.760).^7,24,17

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Nevada's Legislature meets in regular session only in odd-numbered years, so the 2025 session — the 83rd — is the recent one that matters; the next regular session convenes in 2027.

B. Recent rulings

C. Active legislative debates

The 2025 session left two architectural-adjacent issues open. A proposal to create an EV-charging installation right in common-interest communities did not pass, and a broad association-reform bill that would have swapped mandatory mediation for nonbinding arbitration also failed. Both could return in 2027.²⁶

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Nevada is a UCIOA-based, regulator-first state with a substantial carve-out cluster and mandatory pre-suit ADR. That places it among the most heavily regulated states for community associations, alongside California and Florida, and sets it apart from covenant-primary states where the recorded documents do most of the work. For a multi-state operator, the practical point is that the declaration is only the starting line: the statute confers specific owner rights — solar, wind, flags, religious and cultural items, political signs, landscaping — a state regulator and a mandatory ADR track shape how disputes play out, and several of those rights, landscaping and distributed generation in particular, still answer to architectural-compatibility review rather than standing absolute. That combination contrasts sharply with thin-statute states such as Montana and Mississippi, where associations operate with far less statutory overlay and the CC&Rs dominate.

HOA Weekly updates this Nevada architectural review coverage quarterly as the Legislature, the Commission, the Nevada Court of Appeals, and the Nevada Supreme Court act. Federal frameworks — the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, the FCC OTARD rule, and the Fair Housing Act — apply to Nevada associations in addition to state law.

1. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116 (Common-Interest Ownership (Uniform Act)), § 116.1101 et seq. ↩
2. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.333 (Request to install distributed generation system; approval or denial; resubmission) ↩
3. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.320 (Display of flag of the United States or of the State of Nevada) ↩
4. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.325 (Political signs) ↩
5. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.330 (Drought tolerant landscaping) ↩
6. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 38.310 (Limitations on commencement of certain civil actions); §§ 38.300 to 38.360 ↩
7. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.625 (Ombudsman for Owners in Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels) ↩
8. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31031 (Power of executive board to impose fines; limitations; procedural requirements) ↩
9. Nevada Judiciary, About the Court of Appeals (established 2014; deflective model) ↩
10. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.1201 (Applicability; exceptions) ↩
11. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.1203 (Exception for small planned communities) ↩
12. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 116A (Community Managers) ↩
13. Nev. Rev. Stat. ch. 82 (Nonprofit Corporations) ↩
14. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.1104 (Provisions may not be varied by agreement, waived or evaded; exceptions) ↩
15. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.31065 (Rules) ↩
16. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 38.350 (Statute of limitations tolled) ↩
17. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.760 (Affidavit of alleged violation filed with Real Estate Division); see also § 701.180(6) ↩
18. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.334 (Rules and regulations related to distributed generation system; conditions and limitations) ↩
19. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 111.239 (Restrictions on use of solar energy system void and unenforceable) ↩
20. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.2111 (Alterations of units; access to units — shutters, wind energy) ↩
21. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.323 (Display of religious or cultural items) ↩
22. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.600 et seq. (Commission for Common-Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels) ↩
23. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.675 (Hearing panels) ↩
24. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.750 (Jurisdiction of Real Estate Division, Ombudsman, Commission and hearing panels) ↩
25. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.755 (Rights, remedies and penalties cumulative; limitations on Commission power over internal activities) ↩
26. S.B. 152, 83rd Sess. (Nev. 2025) (EV charging; did not pass); see also 2025 CAI Nevada Legislative Session Report ↩
27. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-243 (4 U.S.C. § 5 note) ↩
28. 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (FCC OTARD rule) ↩
29. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(A) (Fair Housing Act reasonable modification) ↩
30. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.332 (Containers for collection of solid waste or recyclable materials) ↩
31. Nev. Rev. Stat. § 116.3116 (Liens against units for assessments) ↩
32. S.B. 440, 83rd Sess. (Nev. 2025), Chapter 262 (effective October 1, 2025) ↩
33. S.B. 201, 83rd Sess. (Nev. 2025), Chapter 300 (effective July 1, 2025) ↩
34. Kosor v. Southern Highlands Cmty. Ass'n, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 34, Docket No. 87942 (Nev. June 18, 2025) ↩