Most management companies are in business to make money, and will only expend the minimal amount of time and effort that the board demands, not the owners. If an owner doesn't like a certain company, the board doesn't care. The manager does what the board tells him/her to do. Failure to do as the board says can result in the company's loss of the account, and that is the last thing it wants. This is a sad paradigm, but it's what we have. That said, there are a handful of good managers in the area; that's it. In this day and age, people seem to be loathe to return phone calls and respond to e-mails. Of course, you always have the option of going over the manger's head in the company.
So the problem defaults to the board to "make" the manager and management company do the "right" things. Often, the board members have other agendas, and personal feelings toward certain owners. If you get on the board's bad side, good luck getting anything done. That's if you're lucky. If you're not, the board will even resort to harassment against you.
Many times, the board is never made aware that a request has been made. It is the manager's job to bring all requests to the board, but the fact of the matter is, they simply don't. So the next step after not getting a response for 30 days, is to go personally to a board meeting, and meet with the board. If you play your cards right, you'll get a majority of the board members to agree to spend the money for the repair. In this case, the board may have a plan for repair or replacement of all the decks at a certain point, but you may not be aware of it. Again, the manager should have responded, so that you are not left wondering if your request was even received and read. You dserve to know: "Yes, no, or we have a plan." Once you've made the board aware of the problem, if injury or damage results from its failure to take appropriate action, it becomes a case of negligence, and you can then engage the services of an attorney, who will take your case on a contingency basis so that yu don't have to come up with the money for a retainer. And in these cases, you sue the association, the board and the management company, so I guarantee you'll have their attention then. But a board is not doing its duty if it allows a case to get to this point, since it's so easy to avoid. I mean, the repair/replacement will be much less than the cost of the lawsuit, even though this would be paid for by insurance.
If what you're asking to to replace the deck on your own at your expense, you also deserve a timely response. Many associations have a "default" time frame for a response, after which the request is deemed to have been approved automatically. It is typical for an association to have in place a policy or rule (sometimes even a covenant) that says "If the board fails to respond to an architectural request within 30 days, the request is deemed to have been approved." Maybe your HOA has this, and by failing to answer you, the board has already "approved" your request. You need to look at your governing documents--the Declaration, the rules & regs, and any resolutions that the board may have adopted. The management company should be able to provide those, although, typically, when such a request is made, it will stonewall you as long as possible, since it knows "something is up." State law governs the timeframe in which the management company must comply with your request for records, after which you can file a complaint against the manager and the company with the Division of Real Estate. It is empowered to take action with respect to the licenses of both parties.
Another option available to you is "self-help." I don't usually advise this, but it is an alternative. You go ahead and replace the deck, matching the original one as closely as possible. But before doing so, take pictures of the problems with the old deck. Then you wait and see if the manager or board issues a citation for failure to comply with the architectural rules by submitting and obtaining permission beforehand. If you receive the violation notice, you then request a hearing before the board, at which time you play the safety card, telling it that you saved the association a ton of money by replacing an unsafe component. If the manager and board fail to file suit against you within one year of the time it became aware of, or should have reasonablybecome aware of, the violation, the association loses its right to take any action thereafter.
Good luck.
