One of the problems with manufactured housing and its perceived reliability in the mind of the consmer to withstand different weather and terrain conditions has been the disconnect between how the code requires the home to be designed and engineered in the factory and how the home is installed in the field. In other words, there is a lack of continuity between what the manufacturer sends out the door and the dealer and installer delivers and sets up on the home site. While the HUD Code of 1976 established that manufactured homes had to be factory designed and engineered to federal law standards with specific electrical, heating, plumging and thermal standards as well as performance requirements for structural design, construction, fire resistance, energy efficiency and transportation from the factory to the site , the installation standards were left to the local and state jurisdictional authorities. Interestingly, in some states installation requirements are rigorous while others, lax to non-existent.

To quote the code, "every HUD Code manufactured home is built in a factory, under controlled conditions, and has a special label affixed on the exterior of the home indicating that the home has been designed, constructed, tested and inspected to comply with the stringent federal standards set forth in the code. No manufactured home may be shipped from the factory unless it complies with the HUD Code and receives a certification label from an independent third party inspector."

So let's say the home was designed to meet Wind Zone II requirements, this home would not receive a HUD label and data compliance certificate nor could leave the factory without substantive engineering and design proof that the design met those specified Wind Zone engineering requirements. However, the irony is that after all the in-factory inspections and compliance requirements had been met and certified as HUD compliant, the home could simply be shipped out of the area to a state that might not mandate or enforce wind tie-downs at all. So conceivably, all the regulations set forth for factory production could be completely abandoned when the home arrived at the site. And most anyone that stays abreast of current events has seen how vulnerable manufactured homes are in high wind zone areas. Does "Wizard of Oz" come to mind?

However the new HUD Code is in the process of changing not only how local jurisdictions (those building department enforcing local codes) oversee HUD compliant housing, but also a complete revision of rules, regulations and requirements that will affect thousands of dealers and installers (those that perpetuate the market growth of the industry). So in short, this is a good thing and here is why: manufactured housing installation will finally be standardized and will match up with the factory design criteria. For instance if the home is designed in the factory for a 30 lbs. roof load, then it makes sense that a foundation must be installed based on the same specifications. What a concept that the understructure system should be able to support the roof - the same applies for wind and seismic zones as well.

Most of this is simply common sense and something that most general building contractors of site-built homes have been following for years. Items such as site preparation, drainage, fall, soil compaction are part and parcel to the check-list protocol for a standard site-built-home-contractor, and yet, something that the maverick, often unlicensed and uninsured installer has cast aside simply as nuisance or inconsequential to the installation standards. For a general spoof on the industry and the stereotype that unfortunately still prevails but needs to change, check out You Tube Bubba Inc., http://youtube.com/watch...

Thus, better regulatory installations will not only make homes safer, but will hopefully mitigate the pervasive and on-going issues of sticky doors, mating-line inconsistencies, understructure moisture intrusion, squeaks and the laundry list of other issues that can often leave homeowners unsettled about manufactured home living. Furthermore, it is our hope that with these changes, lending institutions will also begin to regard the manufactured housing industry with higher regard.Without the helping hand of the loan industry, not even the most affordable housing is a viable alternative for those that want to grab onto the American dream. Fortunately FHA has been aware of the state-to-state inconsistencies and in order to comply with their loan guidelines, they have requiree an engineer's certification of the home's foundation and any attached structures that may impact the structural integrity of the home. The engineer must cite that the home meets the HUD guidelines detailed the PERMANENT FOUNDATION GUIDE FOR MANUFACTURED HOMES, 1996. This is one situation where regulatory policy to enforce better installation guidelines will likely benefit all involved: the homeowner, the borrower, the lender, and most of all, the reputation of the manufactured home industry.