Can a Florida condo association replace common-area grass with turf?

Start with the declaration, then the vote

Turf on a condo’s shared grounds changes the common elements, so the approval path comes before the product choice.

Fla. Stat. 718.113 says there shall be “no material alteration or substantial additions to the common elements” except in the manner the declaration provides. If the declaration doesn’t specify a procedure, “75 percent of the total voting interests of the association” must approve before the work begins.

So there are three questions, in this order:

1. What does your declaration say? It may set its own process for alterations, as originally recorded or as amended.
2. If it says nothing, the fallback is 75 percent of the association’s total voting interests, approved before work starts.
3. Is turf a material alteration at all? The statute doesn’t say. That one goes to association counsel.

The text quoted here is from the 2025 Florida Statutes, checked on 12 September 2026. Check the current version before a vote.

Florida’s HOA law doesn’t cover condos

Much of what you’ll read about Florida turf and associations is about homeowners’ associations under Chapter 720. That chapter “does not apply to any association that is subject to regulation under chapter 718,” the Condominium Act (Fla. Stat. 720.302).

That matters, because Chapter 720 is where the lot-by-lot turf protection sits. Our HOA turf article explains how that sightline rule works for a house. None of it carries over to a condo. The 2025 text of Chapter 718 doesn’t use the words turf, synthetic or Florida-friendly anywhere.

The Florida-friendly law doesn’t settle it either

Fla. Stat. 373.185 says “a deed restriction or covenant” may not stop “any property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping on his or her land.” It names deed restrictions and covenants. It never mentions a condominium or its declaration.

Common elements are, by definition, “the portions of the condominium property not included in the units” (Fla. Stat. 718.103). Whether a law about an owner’s own land reaches shared ground is a question for counsel, not for us.

It wouldn’t help turf in any case. UF/IFAS Extension states that “because synthetic turf is not alive, it does not meet the criteria of a plant choice” for a Florida-friendly landscape. The HOA side of that argument is set out in our Florida-friendly landscaping and HOAs guide.

Nor does the state turf law

Fla. Stat. 125.572 stops cities and counties from banning synthetic turf that meets state standards on single-family residential property. Those standards cover “single-family residential properties 1 acre or less in size.”

Florida DEP’s FAQ asks whether the rule applies to condominiums, duplexes, parks, athletic fields or commercial properties. The answer is “No.” It adds that the rule “does not address HOA requirements, deed restrictions or other private property agreements.”

So the state’s limit on local turf bans doesn’t reach your common areas. Ask your city or county whether any local landscaping rule applies to the site.

Is turf a “material alteration”?

Chapter 718 uses the phrase but doesn’t define it. What section 718.113 does do is name changes that aren’t material alterations:

• Hurricane protection installed under that section.
• Electric vehicle charging and natural gas fuel stations installed by the board.

It also lets the board install “solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy-efficient devices based on renewable resources” without unit owner approval. Turf isn’t on either list.

The same section makes maintenance of the common elements “the responsibility of the association.” So the real question is where replacing worn grass stops being upkeep and becomes a change to the common elements, under your declaration. Counsel answers that. What you can do is give counsel the facts:

• The area, measured, and what covers it now.
• What changes: the surface, the ground underneath, edging, drainage and any irrigation that comes out.
• How it will look from units, walkways and the street.

If you own a unit

• Your patio may not be yours to change. Limited common elements are “common elements which are reserved for the use of a certain unit or units,” as the declaration specifies (718.103). Ask the association in writing before planning turf there.
• Don’t alter shared ground on your own. A unit owner “shall not do anything” on the common elements that would “adversely affect the safety or soundness” of them (718.113).
• If you think the board skipped the vote, Fla. Stat. 718.1255 treats a disagreement over the board’s authority to “alter or add to a common area or element” as a dispute for mediation and nonbinding arbitration. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes, part of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, may employ or certify the arbitrators. Talk to a Florida attorney about whether your case fits.

If you sit on the board

• Put the contract in writing. Fla. Stat. 718.3026 requires written contracts for services and for materials the association buys.
• Know the bid threshold. If the payment exceeds “5 percent of the total annual budget of the association, including reserves,” the association must get competitive bids. It isn’t required to accept the lowest.
• Small associations can opt out. An association with 10 or fewer units may opt out of that section if two-thirds of the unit owners vote to do so.
• Vote on a real plan. Owners approve something specific when they can see the layout, the product, the infill and where the water goes.

For shared grounds in northeast Florida, our commercial turf service starts with a free visit to measure the area and check the ground. We then draw a custom layout, and nothing goes ahead until you approve it.

Questions to take to association counsel

1. Does our declaration, as amended, set a procedure for alterations to the common elements?
2. Is replacing this grass with turf a material alteration under our documents, or maintenance?
3. Is the area a common element, a limited common element or association property?
4. If a vote is needed, how are the voting interests counted, and who may cast them?

Before anyone orders turf

1. Pull the recorded declaration and every amendment. Find the alterations clause.
2. Mark the area on the condominium plat or survey.
3. Get counsel’s answer on material alteration in writing.
4. Check city or county landscaping rules for the site.
5. Measure the area and get a written layout and drainage plan.
6. Get competitive bids if the contract passes 5 percent of the budget, including reserves.
7. Hold the vote the declaration requires, or the 75 percent vote, and start only after approval.