HUD Code Definitions

Certification label means the approved form of certification by the manufacturer that is permanently affixed to each transportable section of each manufactured home manufactured for sale in the United States.

Certification report: the report prepared by an IPIA (see definition below) for each manufactured home manufacturing plant in which the IPIA provides a complete description of the initial comprehensive inspection of the plant, an evaluation of the quality assurance program under the approved quality assurance manual, and the identity of the DAPIA (see definition below) which approved the designs and quality assurance manual used in the plant. Where appropriate the certification report may be made by a DAPIA.

Date of manufacture: the date on which the required label is affixed to the manufactured home.

Defect: a failure to comply with an applicable Federal manufactured home safety and construction standard that renders the manufactured home or any part or component thereof not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended, but does not result in an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected manufactured home.

Design: drawings, specifications, sketches and the related engineering calculations, tests and data in support of the configurations, structures and systems to be incorporated in manufactured homes manufactured in a plant.

Design Approval PIA (DAPIA): an agency that evaluates and approves or disapproves manufactured home designs and quality control procedures.

Failure to conform: an imminent safety hazard related to the standards, a serious defect, defect, or noncompliance and is used as a substitute for all of those terms.

Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard: a reasonable standard for the construction, design, and performance of a manufactured home which meets the needs of the public including the need for quality, durability, and safety. Also referred to as the HUD Code

HUD Display Label: Every mobile/manufactured home must receive a HUD label certifying that it was built in accordance with the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards. The label shall be approximately 2 inches by 4 inches in size and shall be permanently attached to the home by means of 4 blind rivets, drive screws, or other means that render it difficult to remove without defacing it. It shall be etched on 0.32 inches thick aluminum plate. The label number shall be etched or stamped with a 3 letter designation which identifies the Production Inspection and Primary Inspection Agency (IPIA) for the state in which the home is manufactured. Each label shall also be marked with a 6 digit number which the label supplier will furnish. The label shall be located at the tail–light end of each transportable section of the home approximately one foot up from the floor and one foot in from the road side.

Imminent safety hazard: a hazard that presents an imminent and unreasonable risk of death or severe personal injury that may or may not be related to failure to comply with an applicable Federal manufactured home construction or safety standard.

Installations: all arrangements and methods of construction, as well as fire safety, plumbing, heat-producing and electrical systems used in manufactured homes. recognized standards or tests to determine suitable usage in a specified manner.

Label or certification label: the approved form of certification by the manufacturer that is permanently affixed to each transportable section of each manufactured home manufactured for sale to a purchaser in the United States.

Length of a manufactured home: the largest overall length in the traveling mode for a manufactured home, including cabinets and other projections which contain interior space. Length does not include bay windows, roof projections, overhangs, or eaves under which there is no interior space, nor does it include drawbars, couplings or hitches.

Manufactured home: a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode is 8 body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length or which when erected on-site is 320 or more square feet, and which 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, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. The term does not include any self-propelled recreational vehicle. Calculations used to determine the number of square feet in a structure will include the total of square feet for each transportable section comprising the completed structure and will be based on the structure’s exterior dimensions measured at the largest horizontal projections when erected on site. These dimensions will include all expandable rooms, cabinets, and other projections containing interior space, but do not include bay windows.

Noncompliance: a failure of a manufactured home to comply with a Federal manufactured home construction or safety standard that does not constitute a defect, serious defect, or imminent safety hazard.

Production Inspection PIA (IPIA): an agency that evaluates the ability of manufactured home manufacturing plants to follow approved quality control procedures and provides ongoing surveillance of the manufacturing process.

Quality Assurance Manual: a manual, prepared by each manufacturer for its manufacturing plants and approved by a DAPIA which contains: a statement of the manufacturer’s quality assurance program, a chart of the organization showing, by position, all personnel accountable for quality assurance, a list of tests and test equipment required, a station-by-station description of the manufacturing process, a list of inspections required at each station, and a list by title of personnel in the manufacturer’s organization to be held responsible for each inspection. Where necessary, the quality assurance manual used in a particular plant shall contain information specific to that plant.

Red tag: affixing a notice to a manufactured home which has been found to contain an imminent safety hazard or a failure to conform with any applicable standard. A red tag is the notice so affixed to the manufactured home.

Serious defect: any failure to comply with an applicable Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard that renders the manufactured home or any part thereof not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended and which results in an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected manufactured home.

Width of a manufactured home: the largest overall width of a manufactured home in the traveling mode, including cabinets and other projections which contain interior space. Width does not include bay windows, roof projections, overhangs, or eaves under which there is no interior space.