Who prepares a reserve analysis

Utah is one of the more permissive states on this point. A volunteer board with a spreadsheet, a tape measure and a free weekend is allowed to produce the analysis, as long as it covers the five required contents. Small communities with few components sometimes do exactly that.

The trade-off is the remaining-life and cost estimates. Those are judgment calls, and owners who later face a special assessment tend to ask who made them. A firm's report also carries more weight with lenders and buyers' agents.

No credential is required in Utah, but two are widely recognized:

• Reserve Specialist (RS), awarded by the Community Associations Institute to analysts who have completed a set number of studies and meet its standards.
• PRA, the Professional Reserve Analyst designation from APRA, the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts.

Engineers and architects also prepare reserve studies, particularly for condominiums with structural components. For a mid-rise building, an analyst who can tell sound concrete from spalling is worth more than a cheaper desk report.

Ask each firm the same questions: how many Utah associations it has studied in the last year, whether the fee includes a site visit, who will actually walk the property, whether the funding plan shows more than one scenario, and whether it will attend a board meeting to explain the results. Ask for a sample report and read the component list.

Our list of firms working in Utah gives the publicly stated facts for each one. If you would rather not compare, we can name one that works in your area.