homeowner bid for common area repairs?

Is it legal to hire a homeowner to do some onsite repairs in the common area? This homeowner is not on the board, but he is a member of some committees. One of the board members asked for his help in figuring out how to fix some chairs at the pool. The homeowner researched the best way to do it, ordered a free trial part, and successfully fixed one chair. He then submitted a bid proposing to fix the rest for a fee for his labor plus parts. The price is reasonable, and I'm sure that he would do a fine job. I just want to make sure that it is ethical to pay a fellow homeowner with HOA funds. Is this legal? Does it give the appearance of favoritism? Thanks for the advice.

If he submitted a reasonable bid and the board went through the bid process and chose the homeowner, there shouldn't be a problem. If this were a bigger project, say installing a new roof or painting the building, you would want to make sure he has all the required insurance coverages.

An issue we have run into with homeowners doing work is that if the repair doesn't work well or something happens, the homeowner sets themselves up for some steep criticism.

Our hoa tries to shy away from having homeowners do work around the complex. All the board members including president work on a volunteer basis and feel all the rest of the homeowner can do the same. It feels good to give back to the community.