A separate approval from the building permit
An HOA's architectural review and a city or county building permit are two different approvals from two different authorities, and clearing one doesn't automatically clear the other.
Starting a siding job with only a permit in hand, on a property governed by an association, risks a stop-work demand or a fine from the association even on fully permitted work.
California requires a fair process and a written answer
California law requires an HOA to provide a fair, reasonable, and expeditious procedure for making architectural decisions, with that procedure spelled out in the association's own governing documents.[1]
A decision on a submitted request, approval or denial, has to come back in writing, not as a verbal yes from a board member at a meeting.[1]
Florida limits what an association can demand
Florida law restricts an association's architectural review to what's specifically stated or reasonably inferred in its governing documents, and it has to apply its own standards equally to every owner rather than case by case.[2]
The same law bars an association from making its own approval conditional on first obtaining a building permit, and it requires a denial to come with written notice naming the specific rule or covenant behind it.[2]
Washington leaves more of this to the covenants themselves
Washington's Homeowners' Association Act hands an association broad power to adopt rules and regulations, but it doesn't spell out an architectural-review procedure the way California's and Florida's statutes do.[3]
That means a Washington property's actual architectural-review steps, if any apply, live almost entirely in that specific community's own recorded covenants rather than in state law.[3]
What to actually submit to an architectural review committee
A typical submission includes the exact material, manufacturer, and color being proposed, often with a physical sample or manufacturer spec sheet attached, since 'new siding' alone is rarely specific enough for a committee to approve.
Submitting before signing a contractor contract, not after, avoids a scenario where a committee denial forces a renegotiation with a crew already scheduled to start.
What happens if you skip this step entirely
An association that discovers unapproved exterior work can demand it be reversed at the homeowner's own expense, independent of whatever the local building department already separately approved for the same project.
That risk is exactly why confirming your property's HOA status, and that specific association's review process, belongs on the same early checklist as confirming whether a local building permit is required at all.
Working the timeline backward from your contractor's start date
An association's review period, whatever it turns out to be under your specific governing documents, should be built into your project timeline before a contractor is scheduled to start, not discovered after a crew is already standing by.
Submitting early also leaves room for a committee's request to swap a color or product, a change that's far cheaper to make on paper than after material has already been ordered and delivered to the job site.