HOA Approval
Do you need HOA approval for a kitchen remodel in Valencia?
It depends on your association's own documents. What does not depend on them is the process California requires the association to follow once it reviews your plans.
ยท 3 min read
The short answer
California Civil Code section 4765If your home sits inside a homeowners association, the first question is not the cabinets. It is whether the association's governing documents require approval before you change the home, and what its review procedure says. The state law that governs that review is California Civil Code section 4765.
When the rule applies
The section applies if the governing documents require association approval before a member makes a physical change to their separate interest or to the common area. If your documents do not require approval for the work you plan, this section does not come into play. Read the documents, or ask the association for them, before you assume either way.
What the association has to do
The review procedure has to be in the governing documents, with prompt deadlines and a stated maximum time to respond to an application or a request for reconsideration. A decision has to be made in good faith and cannot be unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious. The decision has to be in writing.
If the association says no, the written decision has to explain why and describe how to ask the board to reconsider. You are then entitled to reconsideration by the board at an open meeting.
What it cannot do
Whatever the governing documents say, a decision on a proposed change may not violate the law, including a building code or other applicable law governing land use or public safety. An association cannot approve work the building code forbids. The city's own permit rules are a separate question, and the permit guide covers which kitchen work needs one.
Where to find the procedure
The statute also requires the association to give its members notice each year of the requirements for approval of physical changes. That notice has to describe the kinds of changes that need approval and include a copy of the review procedure. If you cannot find it, ask the association for the current copy.
A sensible order of steps
Approval first, cabinets second
- 1
Get the guidelines
Ask for the architectural guidelines and the review procedure before anything else.
- 2
Write the scope down
Have the scope written before you apply, because an association can only approve what it can read.
- 3
Wait for it in writing
Do not order cabinets or schedule demolition until you have the written decision.
- 4
If it is a no, ask again
Ask for the reconsideration the statute gives you rather than redrawing the whole plan.
This is general information about one California statute, not legal advice. Your association's documents control the details, and the statute was read on the state's own site in October 2026. If a decision matters to you, follow the link and read the current text.
The contractor works with your association's process
A walkthrough produces the written scope an association needs to review, and the quote lists the work line by line.