Manufactured and Mobile Home Inspections

Manufactured Home Inspection 

Under federal law, HUD is responsible for oversight of the Federal Manufactured Housing Program in the United States. Under HUD regulations, the homes are required to be inspected at one stage of production by an inspection agency approved by HUD. In addition, the manufacturer has an approved quality-control program in place throughout the production process. A HUD label is applied to each home section by the manufacturer to indicate that it follows the HUD Code compliance.

Inspection of the Manufactured Home Structure:

An inspection may verify that all the following items have been obtained, provided, constructed, or installed in compliance with a standard and the requirements of the local authority having jurisdiction, including:

  • Applicable permits, if provided.
  • Footings, particularly with respect to size and spacing.
  • Skirting or permanent foundation.
  • Vapor barrier.
  • Piers, particularly with respect to type, size and spacing.
  • Multi-section connections
  • Weather-stripping and weather seals installed on site.
  • Exposed structural connections.
  • Tie-down attachments.
  • Under-floor access provisions.
  • Under-floor ventilation provisions.
  • Stairs.
  • Site grading and drainage.
  • Site-installed exterior doors.
  • Clothes dryer exhaust ducted through skirting or foundation.
  • Heat tape and pipe insulation.
  • Duct crossovers (to ensure that they have been installed in compliance with this Standard and the duct manufacturer’s instructions).
  • Flue, chimney, and vents, particularly with respect to material, size, clearance, connections and terminations.
  • Factory-installed smoke detectors.
  • Wood stove (if applicable).
  • Heating and cooling system.
  • Hot-water source.

Each manufactured home should have a data plate affixed in a permanent manner near the main electrical panel or other readily accessible and visible location. Each data plate should be made of material what will receive typed information as well as pre-printed information, and which can be cleaned of ordinary smudges or household dirt without removing information contained on the data plate; or the data place should be covered in a permanent manner with materials that will make it possible to clean the data plate of ordinary dirt and smudges without obscuring the information.

 

A manufactured, or mobile home, is built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (HUD Code) and displays a red certification label on the exterior of each transportable section. Every home has a red and silver seal certifying that it was built in compliance with the federal code.

 

Manufactured homes are built in the controlled environment of a manufacturing plant and are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis. A manufactured home is a structure, transportable in one or more sections which, in traveling mode, is 8 body-feet or more in width or 40 body-feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 square feet more, and is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities.

 

The HUD Code, unlike conventional building codes, requires manufactured homes to be constructed on a permanent chassis. Modular homes are constructed to the same state, local or regional building codes as site-built homes.

Mobile Home Inspection

Under federal law, HUD is responsible for oversight of the Federal Manufactured Housing Program in the United States. Under HUD regulations, the homes are required to be inspected at one stage of production by an inspection agency approved by HUD. In addition, the manufacturer has an approved quality-control program in place throughout the production process. A HUD label is applied to each home section by the manufacturer to indicate that it follows the HUD Code.

 

Mobile homes built since June 15, 1976, must conform to the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards established under a law passed by the U.S. Congress. The standards are administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

 

Mobile homes are the only homes with a national building code. These homes are the only homes that are “manufactured homes,” as defined by HUD since June 15, 1976.

 

Homes built prior to June 15, 1976, even with modifications, do not meet the HUD Standards and cannot be accepted as compliant with their state’s housing code. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) does not insure mortgages on manufactured homes built prior to June 15, 1976.

Regardless of the upgrades made to the model, it is not possible to obtain a HUD label on any structure that was not produced and inspected as a manufactured home in accordance with HUD’s Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards and Regulations during its original construction.

Inspection of the Structure:

An inspection may verify that all the following items have been obtained, provided, constructed, or installed in compliance with a standard and the requirements of the local authority having jurisdiction, including:

  • Applicable permits, if provided.
  • Footings, particularly with respect to size and spacing.
  • Skirting or permanent foundation.
  • Vapor barrier.
  • Piers, particularly with respect to type, size and spacing.
  • Multi-section connections
  • Weather-stripping and weather seals installed on site.
  • Exposed structural connections.
  • Tie-down attachments.
  • Under-floor access provisions.
  • Under-floor ventilation provisions.
  • Stairs.
  • Site grading and drainage.
  • Site-installed exterior doors.
  • Clothes dryer exhaust ducted through skirting or foundation.
  • Heat tape and pipe insulation.
  • Duct crossovers (to ensure that they have been installed in compliance with this Standard and the duct manufacturer’s instructions).
  • Flue, chimney, and vents, particularly with respect to material, size, clearance, connections, and terminations.
  • Factory-installed smoke detectors.
  • Wood stove (if applicable).
  • Heating and cooling system.
  • Hot-water source.

Each manufactured home should have a data plate affixed in a permanent manner near the main electrical panel or other readily accessible and visible location. Each data plate should be made of material that will receive typed information as well as pre-printed information, and which can be cleaned of ordinary smudges or household dirt without removing information contained on the data plate; or the data place should be covered in a permanent manner with materials that will make it possible to clean the data plate of ordinary dirt and smudges without obscuring the information.

Get your manufactured or mobile home inspection by calling 330-540-2772 today! 

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