Bare walls coverage is a condominium association’s master insurance policy that protects only the building’s structural shell and shared common areas. Everything inside your individual unit, from the drywall finishes inward, is yours to insure. That makes it the most restrictive of the common master policy types, and it shifts a much heavier insurance burden onto unit owners than most first-time buyers expect.
What the Association’s Policy Covers
A bare walls master policy draws a hard line at the building’s original structural components. The association insures the foundation, exterior walls, roof, and load-bearing elements. Common areas fall under the master policy too: hallways, stairwells, lobbies, elevators, parking structures, and mechanical rooms.
Shared utility infrastructure is covered, but only up to the point where it enters an individual unit. A main water supply line running through the building is the association’s responsibility. The branch line feeding your kitchen sink is yours. The same logic applies to electrical wiring, gas lines, and HVAC ductwork once those systems cross into your unit.
The master policy must settle claims on a replacement cost basis and must cover at least 100 percent of the replacement cost value of the project’s improvements, including common elements and residential structures.1Fannie Mae. Master Property Insurance Requirements for Project Developments
What You Have to Insure Yourself
The exclusion list is long. Under bare walls, the master policy covers none of the following inside your unit:
- Wall and floor finishes: paint, wallpaper, tile, hardwood, carpet, and subflooring
- Fixtures: lighting, ceiling fans, built-in shelving, and cabinetry
- Appliances: dishwashers, stoves, water heaters, and HVAC units serving only your space
- Plumbing and electrical: pipes, wiring, and outlets within your unit’s walls
- Improvements and upgrades: anything added by you or a previous owner after original construction
- Personal belongings: furniture, electronics, clothing, and anything not permanently attached
If you could strip the unit down to bare concrete and exposed studs, the association’s policy covers the concrete and studs. Everything that turned that shell into a livable home is on you.
How Bare Walls Differs From Other Master Policies
Associations usually carry one of three master policy types, and the difference directly determines how much insurance you need to carry on your own.
A single entity policy covers the structure, common areas, and all fixtures and finishes originally installed by the developer. Your HO-6 only needs to cover upgrades made after construction and your personal property. This is the most common master policy type.
An all-in (or all-inclusive) master policy is the broadest. It covers the structure, original fixtures, and any improvements unit owners have made. If you renovated your kitchen with custom cabinetry and a fire destroys it, the all-in policy covers the replacement cost. Under single entity, the association pays only for the original builder-grade cabinets and you cover the difference. Under bare walls, you cover all of it.
Before you buy an HO-6, confirm which type your association carries. The declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) spells it out, including how deductibles are allocated and what each owner must insure independently. Request the master insurance declarations page from your HOA board or property manager, which shows coverage limits, deductible amounts, and the policy expiration date.
What Your HO-6 Needs to Cover
Under bare walls, a standard HO-6 (condominium unit-owners) policy is not optional. It is your primary insurance for the entire interior of your home, and each coverage component carries real weight.
Dwelling Coverage (Coverage A)
Coverage A is the piece that matters most under bare walls. It pays to rebuild your unit’s interior from the studs inward after a covered loss: walls, flooring, cabinetry, fixtures, plumbing, wiring, and any improvements. Setting the right limit is where most owners go wrong. A common baseline for interior reconstruction runs around $100 per square foot, but the actual cost depends heavily on your finishes. A 1,200-square-foot unit with builder-grade materials might need $120,000 in Coverage A. The same unit with hardwood floors, stone countertops, and custom millwork could need $180,000 or more.
Personal Property Coverage (Coverage C)
Coverage C protects your movable belongings: furniture, electronics, clothing, cookware, and similar items. The right limit comes from a room-by-room home inventory, totaling the replacement cost of everything you own. Most people underestimate significantly. Walk through each closet, cabinet, and drawer and add up what it would cost to replace the contents from scratch.
Personal Liability
Liability coverage pays legal expenses and damages if someone is injured in your unit or if you accidentally damage someone else’s property. Limits generally start at $100,000, though many advisors recommend carrying at least $300,000. It also applies to incidents outside your home. Medical payments coverage, a related component, pays smaller medical bills for guests injured in your unit regardless of fault.
Loss of Use
If your condo becomes uninhabitable after a covered event, loss of use coverage pays additional living expenses: hotel stays, meals, and other costs above what you’d normally spend while your unit is repaired. Under bare walls, repairs can take months. This coverage keeps you housed during that period.
Loss Assessment
Loss assessment coverage is easy to overlook and painful to skip. When the association faces a major loss that exceeds the master policy’s limits, or when the master policy deductible comes due, the association assesses unit owners to cover the gap. Under many bylaws, the entire master policy deductible can be assigned to a single unit owner if the loss originated in their unit. Standard HO-6 policies include only $1,000 in loss assessment coverage. If your building’s master policy carries a $50,000 deductible and your kitchen fire triggered the claim, $1,000 won’t make a dent. Adding $25,000 to $50,000 in loss assessment coverage costs very little in additional premium.
Water Damage Under Bare Walls
Water damage is the most common source of confusion and conflict in condo insurance, and bare walls makes it worse. The dividing line between association and owner depends on where the problem starts.
A burst pipe in a shared water main running through the building is the association’s claim. A burst pipe inside your unit’s walls is yours. If your leaking dishwasher floods the unit below, you are generally responsible for your own damage and your neighbor files on their own HO-6 for theirs. Your liability coverage may come into play if negligence was involved.
The tricky scenarios involve damage that crosses unit boundaries. A shared pipe fails inside the wall between two units, water runs for hours, and both units need new flooring, drywall, and paint. The master policy covers the pipe itself if it is part of the building’s shared plumbing. But under bare walls, all interior damage in both units falls on the respective unit owners. Owners who assumed the association would handle a “building problem” end up filing on their own HO-6 policies.
Setting the Right Coverage Amounts
The single biggest risk under bare walls is underinsurance. Because the association covers nothing inside your unit, your Coverage A limit needs to reflect the full cost of rebuilding your interior from scratch.
- Get the master policy declarations page. Confirm the policy type is bare walls and note the deductible amount.
- Estimate your interior replacement cost. Multiply your unit’s square footage by a per-square-foot construction cost appropriate for your market and finish level.
- Inventory your personal property. Document every room and calculate the replacement cost of your belongings for Coverage C.
- Match loss assessment to the master deductible. If the master policy carries a $25,000 deductible, your loss assessment coverage should be at least that amount.
- Review annually. Renovation costs rise, and so do master policy deductibles. A policy that was adequate three years ago may leave you exposed today.
Fannie Mae recommends that borrowers work closely with an insurance professional to determine their individual coverage needs, and that advice holds whether you have a mortgage or not.2Fannie Mae. Individual Property Insurance Requirements for a Unit in a Project Development An agent who regularly writes condo policies can review your association’s master policy alongside your unit’s specifics and identify gaps you would not spot on your own.
If You Have a Mortgage
If you are financing a condo purchase, your lender will require an individual property insurance policy whenever the master policy does not cover your unit’s interior or improvements. Under bare walls, that makes an HO-6 mandatory for loan approval. Fannie Mae requires the coverage amount to be sufficient to restore your unit to its condition before a loss event, based on the best available information from the borrower, the insurer, and the association’s governing documents.2Fannie Mae. Individual Property Insurance Requirements for a Unit in a Project Development Even if you own your condo outright, skipping the HO-6 is a gamble that rarely pays off. The association’s bare walls policy will pay zero toward rebuilding your interior. Without your own policy, every dollar of that reconstruction comes out of pocket.