Texas law
Can my HOA stop me installing a standby generator?
No. Texas Property Code § 202.019 bars a Texas property owners' association from prohibiting a permanently installed standby generator rated at 7kW or more. The association can still regulate where it sits, require screening and licensed contractors, and set testing hours, within limits the statute sets out.
What the statute actually says
Texas Property Code § 202.019 — a property owners' association
“A property owners' association may not adopt or enforce a dedicatory instrument provision that prohibits, restricts, or has the effect of prohibiting or restricting an owner from owning, operating, installing, or maintaining a permanently installed standby electric generator.”
An association cannot write a rule banning standby generators, and cannot enforce one that already exists in its dedicatory instruments. What it may require instead is listed below.
Does it cover your generator?
It covers a unit that is:
A permanently installed generator fueled by natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel, biodiesel or hydrogen, fully enclosed in an integral manufacturer-supplied sound-attenuating enclosure, connected to the main panel by a manual or automatic transfer switch, and rated for a generating capacity of not less than seven kilowatts.
Every Cummins home standby model we sell meets that description: the smallest is 13kW, all of them ship in the manufacturer's enclosure, and each connects through a transfer switch. A portable generator is not covered.
What your HOA can still require
The statute lets an association require the following:
- Compliance with the manufacturer's specifications and with applicable codes
- That all electrical, plumbing and fuel-line connections be installed only by licensed contractors
- That LP gas connections comply with Railroad Commission rules
- That a non-integral fuel tank comply with municipal zoning
- Screening where the unit is visible from the street, visible from an adjoining residence across an unfenced side or rear yard, or visible through a wrought-iron or aluminum fence
- Reasonable periodic-testing times consistent with the manufacturer's recommendations
- Regulation of where on the property the generator sits
The 10 percent and 20 percent cost limits
An association may regulate where the generator sits, but a location restriction is unenforceable if it
| Restriction raises | By more than | Then |
|---|---|---|
| The cost of installing the generator | 10% | Unenforceable |
| The cost of installing and connecting the electrical and fuel lines | 20% | Unenforceable |
Applying the test needs a price for each part. Our quotes itemize the pad, the gas line and the electrical run separately, so if an association insists on a position that adds a long gas run or conduit pull, the line items show what that demand costs.
If the association stalls or refuses
Two more provisions matter here. Where pre-approval is required, approval “may not be withheld if the proposed installation meets or exceeds” what the association is entitled to require. And in a dispute, “the party asserting noncompliance bears the burden of proof” — it falls to the association to show what is wrong with the installation, not to you to prove it is fine.
We are not attorneys, and nothing here is legal advice. We can give you a written scope and an itemized price showing what a relocation demand would cost, which is the figure the two percentage tests are measured against. Read the statute at Texas Property Code § 202.019.
Your city may not have a say either
Separately from your HOA, Texas also limits what a city can require on a residential generator install. That one has a threshold and one significant exception — see what your city can and cannot require.
Questions
Can a Texas HOA prohibit a whole house generator?
No. Texas Property Code § 202.019 states that an association "a property owners' association may not adopt or enforce a dedicatory instrument provision that prohibits, restricts, or has the effect of prohibiting or restricting an owner from owning, operating, installing, or maintaining a permanently installed standby electric generator." A blanket ban is unenforceable in Texas, whatever the deed restrictions say.
What can my HOA still require?
The statute lists what it may require: compliance with the manufacturer's specifications and with applicable codes; that all electrical, plumbing and fuel-line connections be installed only by licensed contractors; that lp gas connections comply with railroad commission rules; that a non-integral fuel tank comply with municipal zoning; screening where the unit is visible from the street, visible from an adjoining residence across an unfenced side or rear yard, or visible through a wrought-iron or aluminum fence; reasonable periodic-testing times consistent with the manufacturer's recommendations; regulation of where on the property the generator sits. A location rule stops being enforceable once it raises the cost past the statute's 10 and 20 percent limits.
My HOA says the generator has to go somewhere that costs far more. Is that allowed?
Not if it is expensive enough. The statute makes a location restriction unenforceable where it "increases the cost of installing the standby electric generator by more than 10 percent" or "increases the cost of installing and connecting the electrical and fuel lines for the standby electric generator by more than 20 percent." An itemized quote, with the electrical and fuel line priced separately, is what lets you measure a relocation demand against those two limits.
Does this apply to my generator?
It applies to a permanently installed unit rated at not less than seven kilowatts, fueled by natural gas, LP, diesel, biodiesel or hydrogen, in the manufacturer's own sound-attenuating enclosure, connected through a transfer switch. Every Cummins home standby model we sell meets that description; the smallest is 13kW. A portable generator does not, and is not protected.
The HOA has not answered my approval request. What now?
Where pre-approval is required, the statute says approval "may not be withheld if the proposed installation meets or exceeds" what the association is allowed to require. And if it comes to a dispute, "the party asserting noncompliance bears the burden of proof" — the association has to show what is wrong, not the other way round.
Get the itemized quote your HOA argument needs
A free on-site survey gets you a written scope with the pad, gas line, transfer switch and electrical run priced separately. No obligation, and no deposit to get it.
Rather just talk to someone?
Leave a number and we will call you. No sales script, no obligation.
Got it. We will call you. If you would rather not wait, ring (214) 957-4307 and ask for whoever is on generators.