Chicago Reserve Study

Chicago had 2,746,388 residents at the 2020 Census (U.S. Census Bureau), and a large share of its condominium homes sit in buildings with shared roofs, walls, boilers and, in the taller ones, elevators. Every one of those is a reserve component. The Condominium Property Act's duty to budget reasonable reserves (765 ILCS 605/9) applies to a six-unit walk-up in Logan Square exactly as it does to a 400-unit tower on the lakefront.

The exterior wall reports

The City's Department of Buildings runs a required reporting program for the exterior walls of high-rise buildings (Required Reporting for Exterior Walls of High Rise Buildings). Licensed professionals inspect the facade on the cycle the program sets for the building, and the owner files the reports with the city. For a condo, the owner is the association.

Hand the latest report to whoever prepares your reserve study. Repairs it flags become line items with a year attached; the next inspection cycle becomes a recurring cost. A study that ignores the report will understate the biggest number in a tower's budget.

What a study covers in a Chicago tower

• Envelope: masonry, tuckpointing, sealants, windows and balcony slabs or railings.
• Roof: membrane, flashing, rooftop equipment supports.
• Vertical transport: elevator controllers, machines and cabs, which are among the largest single items.
• Mechanical: boilers or chillers, cooling towers, domestic water booster pumps, risers.
• Life safety: fire alarm panels, sprinkler and standpipe systems, emergency generators.
• Garage: deck coatings, expansion joints, drainage, ventilation.
• Interiors: corridors, lobby, amenity rooms.

Plan for a site visit of a day or more, and for the provider to ask for elevator and mechanical service records as well as the facade reports.

Walk-ups, two-flats and courtyard buildings

Small Chicago condos are often converted vintage buildings: a flat or low-slope roof, brick that needs tuckpointing on a cycle, back porches, a shared boiler and a basement with water to manage. The component list is shorter, but each item is expensive relative to a handful of owners. As an illustration, with six units a $90,000 roof would be $15,000 a unit if nobody had saved for it. A modest study, updated on schedule, is how small boards avoid that conversation.

Taxes, assessments and the budget vote

The Cook County Assessor's Office reassesses property in the city every three years as part of a county-wide cycle (assessment calendar). A reassessment year can raise owners' tax bills at the same time the board is asking for a higher reserve contribution. Section 9(c) asks the board to weigh the financial impact on owners; a study that models a phased increase helps the board do that openly.

Fees in the city

Typical fees run from the low thousands for a small walk-up to $7,000 to $15,000 or more for a high-rise with a full component list. See the cost page for the full table. Mixed-use buildings with commercial space usually need the shared and residential components separated, which adds time.