May 20, 2026
Statute amended
RCW 64.90.470 fundamentally restructured: property insurance threshold lowered from full replacement cost to 80 percent of actual cash value; liability insurance reference changed from 'governing documents' to 'declaration'; fidelity insurance and unit-owner subrogation waivers added; new detailed provisions for insurance proceeds, rebuilding obligations, and unit reallocation added in subsections (4)–(11).
Statutory Text
Verified May 20, 2026 · LEG_WA_GOV
(1) Commencing not later than the time of the first conveyance of a unit to a person other than a declarant, the association must maintain in its own name, to the extent reasonably available and subject to reasonable deductibles: (a) Property insurance on the common elements and, in a plat community or miscellaneous community, also on property that must become common elements, insuring against risks of direct physical loss commonly insured against, which insurance, after application of any deductibles, must be not less than eighty percent of the actual cash value of the insured property at the time the insurance is purchased and at each renewal date, exclusive of land, excavations, foundations, and other items normally excluded from property policies; (b) Commercial general liability insurance, including medical payments insurance, in an amount determined by the board, but not less than any amount specified in the declaration, covering all occurrences commonly insured against for bodily injury and property damage arising out of or in connection with the use, ownership, or maintenance of the common elements and, in cooperatives, of all units; (c) Fidelity insurance; and (d) Other insurance required under the declaration. (2) In the case of a building that contains units divided by horizontal boundaries described in the declaration, or vertical boundaries that comprise common walls between units, the insurance maintained under subsection (1)(a) of this section, to the extent reasonably available, must include the units and, unless provided otherwise in the declaration, all improvements and betterments to the units. (3) If the insurance described in subsections (1) and (2) of this section is not reasonably available, the association must promptly cause notice of that fact to be given to all unit owners. The association may carry any other insurance it considers appropriate to protect the association or the unit owners. (4) Insurance policies carried pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of this section must provide that: (a) Each unit owner is an insured person under the policy with respect to liability arising out of the unit owner's interest in the common elements or membership in the association; (b) The insurer waives its right to subrogation under the policy against any unit owner or member of the unit owner's household; (c) Any act or omission by a unit owner, unless acting within the unit owner's scope of authority on behalf of the association, does not void the policy and is not a condition to recovery under the policy; and (d) If, at the time of a loss under the policy, there is other insurance in the name of a unit owner covering the same risk covered by the policy, the association's policy provides primary insurance. (5) Any loss covered by the property insurance policy under subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section must be adjusted with the association, but the insurance proceeds for that loss are payable to any insurance trustee designated for that purpose, or otherwise to the association, and not to any holder of a security interest. The …
Legal references last verified May 20, 2026.
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