What a New Jersey Reserve Study Must Contain

What does a New Jersey reserve study have to contain?

Seven things: the money in and out of the reserve fund, the physical condition of the common components, the cost of keeping the structure sound, estimates for future studies and inspections, corrective maintenance, a 30-year funding plan that never runs the fund below zero, and anything else needed to judge whether reserves are adequate.

The seven items

The money: Current reserve balances, with what comes in and goes out of the fund.
The condition: A physical analysis of the common components of the buildings and grounds.
The structure: The cost of keeping the load-bearing structure sound.
Future checks: Estimates for later studies and updates, and for periodic structural inspections.
Repairs already owed: The cost of any corrective maintenance.
The plan: A 30-year funding plan whose lowest balance is zero, plus any plans with a higher floor.
The rest: Anything else needed to judge whether reserves are adequate.

The money

The study starts from the reserve fund as it stands: balances, what goes in each year and what has come out. That is the base the funding plan builds on, so give the firm the latest audited statements and the current budget.

The condition of the components

This is the physical analysis: an inventory of the common elements the association must repair or replace, such as roofs, facades, balconies, paving, elevators, mechanical plant, pools and garages, with an estimate of each one's remaining life and replacement cost. In a high-rise it will run to a long list; in a townhouse HOA it may be roofs, roads and a clubhouse.

Keeping the structure sound

New since 2024, the study must count the cost of maintaining the structural integrity of the buildings. For a covered condo or co-op building, the structural inspection report is the obvious input, and its corrective maintenance list belongs here too.

Future studies and inspections

The study has to price its own successors: later studies and updates, and periodic structural inspections. That way the next study and the year 15 or year 25 inspection are paid from reserves instead of arriving as a special assessment.

The 30-year funding plan

Since the 2025 amendment, the required plan is one that lets the reserve fund reach a lowest balance of zero over 30 years, never below it. Plans with a higher floor may be added. The association then funds to one of the plans, or, if it existed when the law began, to 85 percent of one for up to five fiscal years. How that works in a budget.

Item list from N.J.S.A. 45:22A-44.2 as amended by P.L.2025, c.132; standards reference from CAI reserve study resources. Read November 6, 2026.

Short answers

Does the study have to follow CAI standards?

It has to follow the latest CAI National Reserve Study Standards or similar nationally recognized standards. Most firms working in New Jersey state which they use in the proposal; ask if yours does not.

Can the study include more than one funding plan?

Yes. The 30-year plan with a lowest balance of zero is required, and the statute expressly allows extra plans with a higher minimum balance. Boards often ask for one of each so they can compare the cost of a cushion.

Is a desk update without a site visit enough?

The statute asks for a study to be conducted and reviewed at least every five years and requires a physical analysis of the components. Ask the firm how it meets that in an update year and keep its answer with the study.