In a condominium, you own a share of every common area. Under Section 57-8-7(2), "each unit owner shall be entitled to an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities in the percentages or fractions expressed in the declaration." In a community association, the common areas belong to the association. The phrase "undivided interest" does not appear anywhere in the Community Association Act.

That share is fixed to your unit. It cannot be sold separately, it cannot be altered without a two-thirds recorded amendment, and under Section 57-8-7(4), no owner may bring an action to divide the common areas. Any covenant to the contrary "shall be null and void."

What Counts as a Common Area

The default list is in the statute at Section 57-8-3(5) and includes yards, gardens, parking areas, storage spaces, and "such community and commercial facilities as may be provided for in the declaration." The list opens with the words "unless otherwise provided in the declaration," so read yours.

A limited common area is still a common area. Section 57-8-3(24) defines it as a common area "designated in the declaration as reserved for use of a certain unit or units to the exclusion of the other units." One rule here is self-executing and worth knowing: under Section 57-8-10(2)(b), shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, porches, balconies, and patios serving a single unit are limited common areas "regardless of whether the declaration makes such a provision." Your balcony is a limited common area, even if your declaration never says so.

Where your unit stops is answered by Section 57-8-7.2 when the declaration draws boundaries at a wall, floor, or ceiling. The finished surfaces are yours: paint, wallpaper, tile, and finished flooring. Everything behind them is common. Pipes and wiring follow a service test rather than a location test. A line serving only your unit is a limited common area; the moment it serves two units, it is a general common area.

Who Maintains What

The Act supplies a default, which is important because owners often assume the declaration is the only source. Under Section 57-8-7(7), except as the declaration or the insurance section provides otherwise, "an association of unit owners is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of common areas and facilities" and "a unit owner is responsible for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the unit owner's unit."

You Cannot Opt Out of an Amenity You Do Not Use

Section 57-8-26 provides that "no unit owner may be exempt from liability for the unit owner's contribution towards the common expenses by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any of the common areas and facilities or by abandonment of the owner's unit."

Two features make it stronger than it looks. It carries no "unless the declaration provides otherwise" qualifier, which is unusual in this chapter. And it closes both exits at once, the owner who never swims and the owner who has abandoned the unit and moved out. 

Charging for Use: The Fee Schedule Comes First

An association may charge for the use of a common area, but Section 57-8-8.1 attaches conditions that boards routinely miss. The fee power at Subsection (4)(a)(ii)(A) covers "the use, rental, or operation of the common areas, except limited common areas and facilities." An association may not impose a use fee for a limited common area at all.

Before imposing any such fee, Subsection (17) requires the association to "adopt a fee schedule by rule that describes the amount of each fee" and to "provide a copy of the fee schedule to each unit owner." A fee decided at a meeting and charged the same week might not satisfy that. Every rule must also be reasonable and must treat similarly situated owners similarly.

Losing Access

A management committee's power to cut off amenity access is narrower than most boards assume. Section 57-8-52 permits it only against an owner who is delinquent in paying an assessment, only "if authorized in the declaration, bylaws, or rules," and only as to two things: a utility service paid as a common expense, and "access to and use of recreational facilities."

The notice must state the amount due and your right to a hearing, and it must give at least 14 days to pay. You then have 14 days from receiving the notice to request an informal hearing in writing. A timely request stops the shutoff: the association may not terminate anything until the committee both conducts the hearing and enters a final decision. One further detail is easy to miss. Section 57-8-52(8) allows a reinstatement charge for restoring a utility service only. There is no statutory authority to charge you a fee to get your pool access back.

The Developer's Recreation Lease

A "lease of recreational areas or facilities" entered during the period of administrative control and designed to benefit the declarant "is not binding after the period of administrative control" unless owners holding a majority of the votes renew and ratify it. Subsection (4) adds that the section "shall be strictly construed to protect the rights of the unit owners." 

What the Statute Never Mentions

Some of the most useful things to know are the requirements that do not exist. No Utah statute requires a condominium to build, keep, staff, or set hours for any particular amenity, or governs how parking spaces are allocated, or addresses guest access. Those obligations, where they exist, come from your declaration. Regardless of what’s in your declaration, however, any rule is still subject to the requirement that it is reasonable and applied equally to all owners.

Selling common area is different, and the statute is specific. Under Section 57-8-32(2), unless the declaration or bylaws provide otherwise, an affirmative vote of at least 67% is required to sell, convey, or otherwise dispose of the property or any part of the common areas and facilities.

Where to Go Next

Read the declaration and the plat together before assuming anything about a particular space, because the plat is where unit boundaries and many limited common areas are drawn. If the association has begun charging an amenity fee, ask for the adopted fee schedule. If you have received a notice terminating access, note the date you received it: your 14 days run from that date, and a written request stops the clock.

Reviewed against the Utah Code, current as of August 12, 2026.