HUD Code Final Rule Amendments to Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act Finalized and Published
The Final Rule by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) amending the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 has been finalized and published in the Federal Register. The most significant update to the HUD Code in over a decade.
The Final Rule was a culmination of provisions previously approved by the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee with input from the manufactured housing industry and outstanding leadership from outgoing HUD Secretary, Ben Carson, pending the final HUD approval and implementation.
As amended, the purposes of the Act are: “(1) To protect the quality, durability, safety, and affordability of manufactured homes; (2) To facilitate the availability of affordable manufactured homes and to increase homeownership for all Americans; (3) To provide for the establishment of practical, uniform standards and, to the extent possible, performance-based Federal construction standards for manufactured homes; (4) to encourage innovative and cost-effective construction techniques for manufactured homes; (5) to protect residents of manufactured homes with respect to personal injuries and the amount of insurance costs and property damages in manufactured housing consistent with other purposes of this section; (6) to establish a balanced consensus process for the development, revision, and interpretation of Construction and Safety standards for manufactured homes and related regulations for the enforcement of such standards; (7) to ensure uniform and effective enforcement of Construction and Safety Standards for manufactured homes; and (8) to ensure that the public interest, and need for, affordable manufactured housing is duly considered in all determinations relating to the Federal standards and their enforcement.”
In addition, the amended Act generally requires HUD to establish Construction and Safety Standards that are reasonable and practical, meet high standards of protection, are performance-based, and are objectively stated. Congress specifically established the MHCC to develop proposed revisions to the Construction and Safety Standards for the MHCC process. Effective date of implementation: March 15, 2021.
Numerous changes to the Final Rule include:
Data Plate- Interior Passage – Starways – Smoke Alarm Requirements – Carbon Monoxide Detectors – Factory Constructed or Site-Built Garages – Factory Constructed or Site Built Attached Carports – Condensation Control and Installation of Vapor Retarders – Water Distribution Systems – Gas Piping Systems – Venting, Ventilation, and Combustion Air – Specific Requirements for Designing the Transportation System – Definitions – Attached Manufactured Home unit Separation.
Click here for the complete text of the Final Rule Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards as published in The Federal Register 0n 1/12/2021
In related news…
President-elect Joe Biden Nominates Congresswoman Marcia Fudge to lead HUD
Incoming President Joe Biden has nominated Rep. Marcia Fudge, of Ohio, to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Fudge has represented Ohio’s 11th Congressional District since 2008. The congresswoman serves on a number of committees, including the House Administration, Agriculture and Education, and Labor committees. She previously chaired the Congressional Black Caucus.
She chairs the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Elections and the Agriculture Committee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations.
“Representative Fudge is a talented lawyer, successful mayor, and effective legislator. She has shown time and time again, that there is nothing she can’t accomplish,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown D-Ohio said. “I am confident that as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development she will work to address the health crisis and our affordable housing crisis, and make our housing more equitable.”
Rep. Fudge along with other Biden nominees will be subject to confirmation in The U.S. Senate.
