The Condominium Act Limits What a Rule May Say, Not How It Is Made

Section 57-8-8.1, "Equal treatment by rules required -- Limits on rules," is the governing section. It works entirely by listing what a rule may not do and what it may do anyway.

It contains no procedure for adopting a rule. No advance notice to owners, no comment period, no meeting requirement specific to rulemaking, no delivery of the adopted text, and no owner veto.

Three provisions frame everything the section controls:

• A rule shall be reasonable.
• A rule shall treat similarly situated unit owners similarly, with narrow exceptions for the level and type of service, residential versus nonresidential use, and guest limits for units leased for less than 30 days.
• The section applies regardless of when your association was created. An older declaration does not exempt an association from these limits.

A rule may also not be adopted in a way that varies the short-term rental guest provision by amendment to a declaration.

Where Your Real Protections Are

Because the chapter regulates rule content rather than the rule-making process, a dispute about a rule works within the content limits and the governing documents.

Start with reasonableness and equal treatment. Section 57-8-8.1(14) and (1)(a) apply to every rule. A rule enforced against some owners and not others is vulnerable even where the rule itself is permitted.

Then read the declaration and bylaws. They control who may adopt rules, by what vote, and with what notice. Where the statute is silent, those documents are the procedure.

Then check the subject-specific limits in Section 57-8-8.1. The section addresses security cameras, religious and holiday displays, signs and flags, water-wise landscaping, sex offender access to protected areas, radon mitigation, driveway parking, vehicle operation and private roadway speed limits, public streets, stored items not visible from outside, and the owner's choice of contractor. Several of those are covered in more detail on other pages.

A management committee also owes a standard when deciding whether to enforce: it shall use reasonable judgment, and may not be arbitrary, capricious, or act against public policy.

Approval of Plans: The Fee Cap and the Reasoned Denial

Design review of your own construction or improvement is governed by Section 57-8-6.7, and it gives you two concrete rights.

The fee is capped at actual cost. An association may not charge a plan fee that exceeds the actual cost of reviewing and approving the unit plans. "Plan fee" means a fee charged for review and approval of unit plans, and "unit plans" means plans for the construction or improvement of a unit that the association must approve before the work may occur.

A denial must be explained in writing, in two specific parts. If the association denies a unit plan, it shall provide written notice specifying each governing document provision on which it relied, and the specific aspect of the proposed plan that does not conform to that provision.

Both parts are required. A denial that cites a provision without identifying what in your plan violates it, or that describes a problem without citing a provision, does not satisfy Subsection (3). This is the most checkable right on the page: read the denial letter against the two requirements and say in writing which one is missing.

How Rules Are Enforced Against You

A rule that exists can be enforced by fine, under Section 57-8-37, and the fine process does carry procedural protections the rulemaking process lacks: a written warning first, a cure period of at least 48 hours for a continuing violation, a cap of $500 per calendar month for violations of the same provision, a right to request an informal hearing within 30 days, and a 180-day window to appeal by civil action.

One limit is worth naming here. A management committee may delegate its fine rights and responsibilities to a managing agent, but may not delegate the hearing itself. A management company may not hold your hearing in place of the committee.

Read fines and hearings for the full sequence.

If You Are Facing a New Rule or a Denied Plan

For a new rule, the questions are content-based, not process-based. Is the rule reasonable? Does it treat similarly situated owners similarly? Does it do something Section 57-8-8.1 says a rule may not do? Does the declaration authorize it, and was it adopted as the declaration requires? There is no statutory notice period against which to measure the association, and no owner veto to invoke.

For a denied plan, read the denial against Section 57-8-6.7(3) first. If it does not name the governing document provision and the specific nonconforming aspect, state that in writing and request a compliant denial. Ask separately for the basis of any plan fee that exceeds the actual cost.

Keep everything in writing, and request the governing documents and any adopted rules as association records. Read records and record requests for how. For what a rule may say about the outside of your unit, read yard rules, displays, and animals.

Reviewed against Utah Code, current as of September 9, 2026.