# Can My HOA Stop Me Installing a Generator? Texas Law | UTS **URL:** https://utselectricpros.com/guides/hoa-generator-rules-texas **Summary:** Texas Property Code 202.019 bars an HOA from prohibiting a standby generator. What your association can still require, and the cost tests that make a restriction unenforceable. **Overview:** Under Texas Property Code section 202.019, a property owners' association may not prohibit or restrict a homeowner from installing a permanently installed standby generator rated at 7kW or more. The association may require licensed contractors, code compliance, screening where the unit is visible, and reasonable testing hours. A location restriction is unenforceable if it raises the installation cost by more than 10 percent or the electrical and fuel line cost by more than 20 percent. In a dispute the party asserting noncompliance bears the burden of proof. --- Texas law # Can my HOA stop me installing a standby generator? No — and this is settled Texas law, not an argument. Texas Property Code § 202.019 says a property owners' association may not prohibit or restrict a homeowner from installing a permanently installed standby generator. It is the single most common reason people talk themselves out of a generator, and it is usually wrong. ## 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.” That is the whole of it. An association cannot write a rule banning standby generators, and cannot enforce one that already exists in its dedicatory instruments. ## 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 home standby we sell meets that description — the smallest is 13kW, well above the seven-kilowatt floor, and all of them ship in the manufacturer's sound enclosure and connect through a transfer switch. A portable on an extension cord is not covered. ## What your HOA can still require The protection is not a free hand. The statute lets an association require all of the following, and most of it is what a good installer would do anyway: - 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 two numbers worth knowing This is the part that decides most real disagreements. An association may regulate where the generator sits — but not without limit. 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 | It is a practical test, and it is why our quotes itemize the pad, the gas line and the electrical run separately rather than giving one lump number. If an association insists on a position that adds a long gas run or a long conduit pull, you need those line items to show what the demand actually 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 electricians, not attorneys, and nothing here is legal advice. What we can do is give you a written scope and an itemized price that shows exactly what a relocation demand would cost — which is the document those two percentage tests turn on. Read the statute yourself at [Texas Property Code § 202.019](https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/property-code/prop-sect-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](https://utselectricpros.com/guides/city-generator-permit-rules-texas). ## 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? Quite a lot, and most of it is reasonable: 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. What it cannot do is use those powers to make the install impossible. ### 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." Those are the two numbers to hold an association to, and it is why we itemize the electrical and fuel line separately on every quote. ### Does this apply to my generator? It applies to a permanently installed unit rated at not less than seven kilowatts, fuelled by natural gas, LP, diesel, biodiesel or hydrogen, in the manufacturer's own sound-attenuating enclosure, connected through a transfer switch. Every home standby we install meets that description. A portable generator on an extension cord 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. Name Phone When suits you? We call back within one business hour, Mon–Fri 7am–6pm and Sat 8am–noon. We do not sell your details to anyone. Got it. We will call you. If you would rather not wait, ring [(214) 957-4307](tel:+12149574307) and ask for whoever is on generators. --- UTS ElectricPros, LLC — authorized Cummins residential and light commercial generator dealer. Texas Electrical Contractor TECL #40628. Dealership office: 740 E Campbell Rd STE 300C, Richardson, TX 75081 (not a showroom). Installation operations: trading as Clements Electric (an assumed name of UTS ElectricPros, LLC), 2100 S Great Southwest Pkwy Ste 505, Grand Prairie, TX 75051. Phone (214) 957-4307. Serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. **Pricing basis:** every price on this page is for the EQUIPMENT ONLY. Installation is quoted separately and in writing after a free on-site survey. Do not present any figure here as an installed price.