Community Exterior Inspection Checklist
A printable route covering both the visitor sequence and the resident sequence — including the daily-use areas that appear on no tour.
On This Page
- How to Use This Checklist
- Inspection Checklist
- Sorting Findings
- Frequency
- What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This checklist walks the visitor route first, then the resident route, then the amenity and service areas. The resident sections are included deliberately, because mail, package, enclosure, and pet areas are used daily by everyone and appear on no showing.
Communities without a pool, playground, pet area, or carports skip those sections. Everything else applies to most residential properties.
How to Use This Checklist
- Walk the visitor route as a prospect would — entrance, guest parking, clubhouse approach, amenities.
- Then walk a resident route, from an assigned space to a building entrance, past mail and enclosure.
- Inspect in daylight, then separately after dark for lighting. Resident routes matter most for the night pass.
- Note anything that has been present since the last inspection. Persistence is what residents notice.
- Photograph and date findings, particularly where a board or owner will see the record.
Print this page directly from your browser. Navigation, sidebar, and calls to action are removed in print, leaving the checklist and a notes column.
Inspection Checklist
1. Entrance and Visitor Approach
- Community signage legible, clean, lit, and unobstructed
- Entry gates operational; surrounds clean
- Entry drive surface condition and drainage
- Guest and visitor parking condition, striping, and signage
- Approach landscaping maintained; sightlines clear
- First impression of the community from the entrance
2. Clubhouse and Amenity Buildings
- Entry paving at close inspection; substrate and finish recorded
- Glazing, frames, and door hardware
- Canopy, soffit, and signage band overhead
- Architectural features — columns, stone, feature lighting
- Furniture, planters, and receptacles at entries
- Mail and package area condition — treat as an entry, not a service area
- Fitness, restroom, and changing facility approaches
- Amenity building elevations and surrounds
3. Pool and Recreation Areas
- Deck surface type recorded; texture and finish intact
- Slip conditions — growth at the water edge, oil film, shaded sections
- Deck drainage clear; no standing water
- Coping and water edge — mineral deposition
- Furniture, umbrellas, and shade structures
- Fencing, gates, and latches — safety equipment
- Equipment enclosure and surrounds
- Outdoor kitchen, sport court, or fitness patio where present
4. Playground Areas
- Surfacing type recorded — loose fill or bonded
- Loose fill depth in high-use zones beneath swings and slides
- Containment edging intact and retaining fill
- Bonded surface condition — cracking, hardening, lifting at joints
- Foreign material in surfacing — glass, sharps, debris
- Equipment contact surfaces and seating
- Fall zones clear and adequately surfaced
- Standing water or drainage failure
- Route to a qualified safety inspection if any condition is uncertain
5. Pet Relief Areas
- Surface condition and drainage; standing liquid noted
- Odour level, and whether detectable from nearby units
- Bag stations stocked — the highest-leverage single item
- Receptacle capacity, servicing, and placement on the exit path
- Receptacle itself clean
- Uncollected waste present
- Fencing, gates, seating, and water station where present
- Lighting adequate for evening use
6. Resident Routes and Walkways
- Building entries and immediate approaches
- Primary walkways — trip hazards, displacement, lippage
- Slip conditions on shaded sections; growth that may not look dirty
- Joints, edges, and expansion lines
- Handrails, ramps, stairs, and nosings
- Accessible route continuity from accessible parking to entrances
- Route from assigned parking to each building
- Irrigation striking walkways or buildings
7. Trash and Recycling Enclosures
- Structure, gates, and hardware
- Slab condition, drainage, standing liquid
- Container lids, overflow, and material outside containers
- Odour level and whether detectable from nearby units
- Pest indicators — droppings, gnaw marks, burrows
- Liquid tracking onto adjacent paving
- Bulk item accumulation
- Distance and flow path to the nearest storm drain inlet recorded
8. Parking and Carports
- Guest parking — treat as a tour surface
- Accessible spaces, access aisles, and route continuity
- Assigned space staining; heavily stained positions noted individually
- Carport roof structure, beams, and bird activity
- Carport posts and columns — vehicle impact damage at bases
- Carport roof drainage discharge point
- Drive aisles, circulation, and speed control
- Catch basins and inlets clear; ponding noted after rain
- Striping and markings legible
9. Buildings and Grounds
- Street-facing elevations — condition, staining, growth
- Interior court and shaded elevations
- Wall bases, splash-back, and landscaping contact
- Roofline, gutters, and downspout discharge points
- Building signage and unit identification legible
- Perimeter fencing, walls, and boundary condition
- Graffiti anywhere, including concealed areas
- Windblown debris accumulation
10. Lighting — Inspect After Dark
- Entrance and guest parking lighting
- Resident parking and carport lighting
- Walkway lighting continuous along resident routes
- Building entry lighting
- Mail, package, and enclosure area lighting
- Amenity area lighting — pool, clubhouse, playground, pet area
- Stair and ramp lighting at every tread and landing
- Fixtures clean and lenses unobstructed
Sorting Findings
| Category | Examples | Route to |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate | Trip hazards, slip conditions, failed railings, unlit resident routes | Controlled on discovery under standing authority |
| Complaint-driver | Enclosure, pet area, pool deck condition | Address before it becomes a complaint |
| Scheduled | Soiling, growth, staining, general cleaning | Next scheduled cycle |
| Owner or resident | Individually assigned areas, vehicle-related staining | Route per CC&Rs or lease |
| Board or capital | Pavement failure, structural condition, drainage regrading | Assess, propose, and budget |
| Specializt | Playground surfacing, pest activity, structural assessment | Qualified party |
The complaint-driver category is specific to residential property and worth separating. Those three areas generate most resident complaints, and addressing them proactively is materially cheaper than addressing them after a complaint reaches the board.
Frequency
- Sections 3, 5 and 7 — weekly visual, monthly documented; more often in warm months.
- Sections 2 and 6 — weekly visual, monthly documented.
- Sections 1, 4, 8 and 9 — monthly documented.
- Section 10 — quarterly after dark, and before the short days.
- Full checklist — quarterly as a complete record.
- Annual full inspection — timed to inform the budget cycle.
What This Checklist Does Not Cover
This is a visual exterior maintenance inspection. It is not a playground safety inspection, a pool safety or health inspection, a structural assessment, a pest control evaluation, or a reserve study. Playground surfacing in particular requires inspection by a qualified party on an appropriate schedule, and nothing here substitutes for it.
Part of the HOA & Apartment Community Authority Center
This resource is part of the Power Wash NorCal HOA & Apartment Community Exterior Maintenance center — the complete reference for residential community exterior condition.
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How often should community common areas be inspected?
Pool, pet, and enclosure areas weekly by sight and monthly documented, more often in warm months; clubhouse and resident walkways weekly by sight and monthly documented; entrance, playground, parking, and buildings monthly; lighting quarterly after dark. The full checklist quarterly as a complete record.
What do community inspections most often miss?
The resident route — mail and package areas, assigned parking, the path from parking to building entrances, and pet areas. These are used daily by everyone and appear on no showing, which is why they are simultaneously the most-used and least-inspected surfaces on many communities.
Does this replace playground or pool safety inspection?
No. Playground surfacing and equipment inspection is a defined discipline requiring a qualified inspector on an appropriate schedule, and pool safety and health requirements are governed separately. This records conditions and routes them; it does not assess compliance.
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