Pennsylvania HOA ADUs & Modifications

Section 1: Overview — ADUs and modifications in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania runs member modifications through two parallel uniform statutes: the Uniform Condominium Act, or UCA, for condominiums, and the Uniform Planned Community Act, or UPCA, for planned communities. Within that framework, the recorded declaration holds the real authority over most additions, exterior changes, and installations. The UCA, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3101 through 3414, reaches every condominium, whatever its size. The UPCA, 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 5101 through 5414, reaches planned communities with more than twelve units, and it largely leaves smaller communities alone unless the declaration opts in.^1,2 Pennsylvania passed these as two separate acts modeled on the uniform codes, not as one combined common-interest ownership act. So the first move in any question is to pin down the community type.

Solar sits with the declaration, because Pennsylvania has passed no statute barring associations from restricting solar energy systems.³ Whether an owner may build an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is a municipal-zoning question under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, and no confirmed state statute preempts association governing documents on ADUs.⁴ Four federal overlays bind Pennsylvania associations no matter what the state does: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, the FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices, or OTARD, rule for antennas and dishes, the Fair Housing Act's reasonable-modification requirement for residents with disabilities, and Americans with Disabilities Act Title III for common-area facilities open to the public.^5,6,7 The sections that follow lay out the statutory framework, the compliance duties it creates, and the recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2: The legal framework

2A. The two uniform acts and their scope

The legislature added the Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act on July 2, 1980, and it organizes condominium law into four chapters: general provisions (Chapter 31); creation, alteration and termination (Chapter 32); management (Chapter 33); and protection of purchasers (Chapter 34).¹ Under 68 Pa.C.S. § 3102, the UCA governs every condominium created in Pennsylvania after its effective date, and a listed set of sections reaches pre-UCA condominiums for events that occur after that date, without wiping out existing declaration provisions.⁸ Condominiums created before the UCA answered to the Unit Property Act (act of July 3, 1963), since repealed. A pre-UCA condominium can bring itself fully under the UCA by an amendment that sixty-seven percent of those whose action would be required to remove the property from the Unit Property Act approve.⁸

The legislature added the Uniform Planned Community Act on December 19, 1996, and it took effect February 2, 1997.² It runs on a parallel four-chapter structure (Chapters 51 through 54). Under 68 Pa.C.S. § 5102, a planned community with no more than twelve units that is not a flexible planned community answers only to sections 5105, 5106, 5107, and 5218, unless the declaration says the entire subpart applies; communities with more than twelve units fall under the full act.² Certain sections reach back to pre-1997 communities, but only for events after the effective date, and they leave existing declaration provisions in place.² The Office of Attorney General runs a registration and deposit-protection function: a planned community that does not escrow unit deposits must register with that office and post a bond or letter of credit, held there, to guarantee UPCA compliance. That function ties to developer deposits under 68 Pa.C.S. § 5408, not to ongoing association governance.⁹ Pennsylvania keeps no general HOA operations regulator, and it does not license community association managers.

Which act applies turns on the community type. Stacked or vertical ownership with common elements is typically a condominium under the UCA. Single-family or townhouse developments with shared roads and amenities are typically planned communities under the UPCA. In both, the declaration sets the architectural-review structure. Section 5106 confirms that nothing stops an association, where the declaration or bylaws authorize it, from providing architectural review of units, landscaping, building exteriors, and aesthetics.¹⁰ Pennsylvania courts read a recorded declaration as a contract and enforce reasonable covenants, while they construe restrictive covenants strictly against the party trying to enforce them.¹¹

2B. Solar and other categories

Pennsylvania has passed no solar-access or solar-rights statute that bars an association or a covenant from restricting solar installations. Independent solar-industry surveys say so plainly: Palmetto's state-by-state review reports that "Pennsylvania does not have any solar access laws," and EnergySage lists Pennsylvania among the states that "don't specifically address solar access rights."^3,12 With no such provision on the books, solar in a Pennsylvania community answers to the declaration within the UCA or UPCA framework, subject to the federal overlays. HOA Weekly claims no Pennsylvania HOA solar mandate, because the legislature has enacted none.

Flags are the one modification category where Pennsylvania has actually enacted an association-specific statute. The American, Commonwealth and Military Flag Act (Act 93 of 2006), codified at 44 P.S. § 50.3, says that, whatever the declaration or bylaws provide, an association may not prohibit the outdoor display of one American flag, one Commonwealth flag, and one military flag on a unit owner's property or exclusive-control area, subject to reasonable rules on size, placement, and flagpole use.¹³ This state statute works alongside the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005.

Pennsylvania has no HOA-specific statute on electric-vehicle charging or on landscaping. Senate Bill 1125 of the 2023-2024 session, sponsored by Senator John Kane, would have let unit owners in condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities install EV charging stations for personal use, but it never became law, so EV charging still answers to the declaration.¹⁴ Landscaping is a declaration matter, too; § 5106 lists it as a permissible subject of association architectural review, and the municipal building code sets the outer construction standard.¹⁰ The practical effect is straightforward: with no category-specific mandate on solar, EV charging, or landscaping, the declaration binds, subject only to the federal overlays and the state flag act.

2C. ADUs and federal overlays

Pennsylvania has no confirmed statewide statute that overrides association governing documents on accessory dwelling units. Land use runs at the municipal level under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247 of 1968), 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., which hands townships, boroughs, and cities authority over zoning districts, permitted uses, and dimensional standards.⁴ Whether an ADU is allowed by right, by special exception, or by conditional use — and how big it can be and where it can sit — varies by municipality. Philadelphia, for one, permits accessory dwelling units in specified residential districts under its zoning code, with an 800-square-foot cap and an owner-occupancy deed restriction in the RSA-5 and CMX-1 districts.¹⁵ So ADUs demand a two-layer analysis: the municipality decides whether zoning allows the unit, and the declaration decides, on its own, whether the community allows it. A valid municipal permit does not defeat a recorded covenant that prohibits or limits ADUs. That sets Pennsylvania apart from states that preempt association documents on ADUs, such as California (Civil Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152).

Four federal overlays bind every Pennsylvania association, whatever state law says. The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-243) bars an association from stopping a member from displaying the United States flag, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner rules.⁵ The FCC OTARD rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000, blocks restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance, or use of covered antennas and satellite dishes one meter or less within the owner's exclusive use or control.⁶ The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(A), requires an association to permit reasonable modifications to a dwelling for a resident with a disability, generally at that resident's expense.⁷ Americans with Disabilities Act Title III reaches common-area facilities that operate as public accommodations. These are federal requirements, not Pennsylvania statutes.

Section 3: Compliance obligations created by the framework

A. Architectural review process obligations

The authority to review a modification, and to approve or deny it, comes from the declaration, which the UCA and UPCA presuppose and enforce. For planned communities, 68 Pa.C.S. § 5106 confirms that an association may provide architectural review of units, landscaping, building exteriors, and aesthetics if the declaration or bylaws authorize it.¹⁰ The management chapters — UCA Chapter 33 and UPCA Chapter 53 — give the association its power to adopt and enforce rules. So a review committee should act within the powers the declaration grants, apply its standards consistently, put its decisions in writing, and keep records. That duty rests on state statute plus the declaration: the UCA for condominiums of any size, the UPCA for planned communities over twelve units.¹⁶

B. Modifications the association must permit

Pennsylvania imposes no confirmed category-specific mandate requiring associations to permit solar, EV charging, or landscaping changes, so those turn on the declaration. The binding cross-cutting duties are federal. An association may not stop display of the United States flag (Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005), may not impair covered antennas or dishes in a member's exclusive-use area (OTARD, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000), must permit resident-paid reasonable modifications for disability (Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(A)), and must meet ADA Title III for public-accommodation common areas.^5,6,7 One state overlay rides alongside them: the American, Commonwealth and Military Flag Act, 44 P.S. § 50.3, bars prohibiting one American, one Commonwealth, and one military flag.¹³ All of these reach both condominiums (UCA) and planned communities (UPCA), and the flag, antenna, disability, and ADA duties apply no matter where a community falls on the UPCA's twelve-unit threshold.

C. ADU obligations and limits on HOA authority

No Pennsylvania statute forces an association to permit an ADU against the declaration. Municipal zoning under the Municipalities Planning Code (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.) binds the locality and decides whether an ADU is allowed as a land use, but it does not override a recorded covenant.⁴ So the association's authority over ADUs rests on the declaration, subject to the federal overlays where an ADU request doubles as a disability accommodation. This holds for condominiums (UCA) and planned communities (UPCA) alike.

D. Enforcement, dispute resolution, and appeal obligations

Before it enforces a violation or levies a fine, an association must follow the procedures its declaration and the acts require, including notice and an opportunity to be heard. The fining power sits at 68 Pa.C.S. § 3302(a)(11) for condominiums and § 5302(a)(11) for planned communities.¹⁷ Act 115 of 2022 added meeting, voting, and bylaw-amendment procedures to both acts, and those procedures shape how associations adopt and change rules.¹⁸ Contested modification and covenant disputes are civil matters; they begin in the Court of Common Pleas, move to the Superior Court on appeal, and reach the Pennsylvania Supreme Court only by allowance.¹¹ The Commonwealth Court is not the ordinary venue for a homeowner-association civil appeal — it hears government and administrative matters.

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

Two measures dominate Pennsylvania's recent legislative picture. One is still pending, and it would, for the first time, hand owners a right to install solar over a contrary covenant. The other already passed, and it reshaped how associations meet, vote, and amend their bylaws. Here is where each stands.

B. Recent appellate rulings

Two Superior Court decisions frame the current law — one on how far a covenant reaches, the other on how much deference a documented architectural denial earns.

C. Active legislative debates

The active debate centers on solar access, where Senate Bill 618 sits in the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee, and on the recurring push to give community-association owners a right to install EV charging stations, revived each session since the 2023-2024 EV bill (SB 1125) lapsed. No ADU preemption bill reaching association documents is advancing right now.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Pennsylvania sits with the uniform-act, two-statute states. What sets it apart: the UPCA's more-than-twelve-unit threshold (the UCA, by contrast, covers every condominium); an Attorney General registration and deposit-protection role tied to developer deposits rather than to ongoing governance; and a two-intermediate-court structure in which homeowner-association civil appeals run through the Superior Court, not the Commonwealth Court. On ADUs, Pennsylvania parts ways with HOA-preemption states such as California (Civil Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152); its ADU question is a municipal-zoning matter layered over the declaration. For a multi-state operator, the takeaway is short: in Pennsylvania, the declaration is the operative authority on most modifications within the UCA or UPCA framework, and ADUs stay a zoning-and-declaration question, not a state-preemption one.

HOA Weekly updates its Pennsylvania ADUs and Modifications coverage quarterly, as the General Assembly and the Pennsylvania courts act. The federal frameworks noted above — the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, OTARD, the Fair Housing Act, and the ADA — apply to Pennsylvania associations regardless of the state framework.

1. 68 Pa.C.S. Ch. 31 (Uniform Condominium Act; §§ 3101–3102, short title and applicability; Chapter 31 added July 2, 1980, P.L.286, No.82) ↩
2. 68 Pa.C.S. § 5102 (Uniform Planned Community Act applicability; twelve-unit threshold and opt-in; Chapter 51 added December 19, 1996, P.L.1336, No.180) ↩
3. Palmetto, "Solar Access Laws by State" ("Pennsylvania does not have any solar access laws") ↩
4. Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P.L.805, No.247 (53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.) ↩
5. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-243, 120 Stat. 572 ↩
6. 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule (eCFR) ↩
7. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(A), Fair Housing Act reasonable modifications (U.S. House, Office of the Law Revision Counsel) ↩
8. 68 Pa.C.S. § 3102, Applicability of subpart, and Unit Property Act (act of July 3, 1963) conversion provision ↩
9. Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Uniform Planned Community Registration (escrow, bond or letter of credit; 68 Pa.C.S. § 5408) ↩
10. 68 Pa.C.S. § 5106 (applicability of local ordinances and building codes; architectural review of units, landscaping, building exteriors, and aesthetics) ↩
11. Tractman v. Conner, Nos. 2750 & 2784 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Feb. 13, 2025) (non-precedential; UPCA and restrictive covenants strictly construed) ↩
12. EnergySage, "Can I Install Home Solar Panels With An HOA?" (listing Pennsylvania among states that do not address solar access rights) ↩
13. American, Commonwealth and Military Flag Act (Act 93 of 2006), 44 P.S. § 50.3 ↩
14. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Senate Bill 1125 (Title 68 EV charging stations for condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities; not enacted) ↩
15. Philadelphia Zoning Code § 14-604(11), Accessory Dwelling Units (800 sq. ft. cap; owner-occupancy deed restriction) ↩
16. 68 Pa.C.S. § 5302, Power of unit owners' association (UPCA Chapter 53 management powers) ↩
17. 68 Pa.C.S. § 3302(a)(11) (UCA) and § 5302(a)(11) (UPCA), power to levy reasonable fines after notice and opportunity to be heard ↩
18. Act No. 115 of 2022, Real and Personal Property (68 Pa.C.S.) Omnibus Amendments (enacted from HB 1795, Nov. 3, 2022) ↩
19. Pennsylvania General Assembly, Senate Bill 618 (2025-2026), "Ensuring All Residential Homeowners Have Access to Solar Energy," referred to Urban Affairs & Housing April 11, 2025 ↩
20. Senate Co-Sponsorship Memorandum 44699 (Sen. Katie Muth), noting prior Senate Bill 826 (2021-2022) and Senate Bill 31 (2023-2024) ↩
21. Pennsylvania General Assembly, House Bill 1795 (2021-2022), Last Action: Act No. 115 of 2022, Nov. 3, 2022 ↩
22. Pauletta v. Riverview Manor Homeowners Association, No. 760 MDA 2025 (Pa. Super. Mar. 9, 2026) (non-precedential; UPCA design-control authority) ↩