[Federal Register: March 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 46)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 11447-11450]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10mr03-13]
[[Page 11447]]
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Part II
Department of Housing and Urban Development
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24 CFR Part 3285
Manufactured Housing Installation Program: Standards, Training,
Licensing, and Inspection; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
24 CFR Part 3285
[Docket No. FR-4812-A-01]
RIN 2502-AH97
Manufactured Housing Installation Program: Standards, Training,
Licensing, and Inspection; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing
Commissioner, HUD.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This document requests comments on issues related to the
development of a national manufactured housing installation program. By
December 2005, HUD is required to establish and implement an
installation program that includes installation standards; the training
and licensing of manufactured home installers; and inspection of the
installation of manufactured homes. HUD's program will be implemented
in states that do not have their own qualifying installation program.
DATES: Comment Due Date: April 24, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this advance notice of proposed rulemaking to the Rules Docket Clerk,
Office of General Counsel, Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500.
Communications should refer to the above docket number and title.
Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A copy of each
communication submitted will be available for public inspection and
copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William W. Matchneer III,
Administrator, Office of Manufactured Housing Programs, Room 9156,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-6401 (this is not a toll-free
number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this
number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay
Service at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards
Act of 1974 (``the Act'') (42 U.S.C. 5401-5426) is intended to protect
the quality, safety, durability, and affordability of manufactured
homes. The Act was amended in December 2000 (title VI, Pub. L. 106-659,
114 Stat. 2997, approved December 27, 2000), in part to require the
Secretary to establish and implement two new national manufactured
housing programs, one for installation and one for dispute resolution.
This notice requests public input on what HUD should consider as it
develops a proposed rule to establish the installation program. When
the subsequent proposed rule is published, the public will also have an
opportunity to comment on the elements of HUD's specific proposals. An
advance notice of proposed rulemaking soliciting comments on the
dispute resolution program is being published separately in today's
Federal Register. The public is invited to submit comments separately
in response to that notice, and should refer to the docket number and
title of that notice in any such response.
Installation Program
Section 605 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 5404) requires the Secretary to
establish and implement a manufactured housing installation program by
December 27, 2005. The components of the program must include: (1)
Installation standards; (2) the training and licensing of manufactured
home installers; and (3) inspection of the installation of manufactured
homes. HUD's program will be implemented in any state that does not
have its own installation program established by state law that
includes these three components. Further, a state's installation
standards must provide protection that equals or exceeds the protection
provided by the standards adopted by HUD for its national program.
HUD's installation standards will be developed and established
after it receives draft model standards proposed by the Manufactured
Housing Consensus Committee (``the MHCC''). The MHCC is an advisory
committee that was also established by the December 2000 amendments to
the Act. After HUD receives the MHCC draft installation standards, HUD
will publish for public comment proposed model installation standards.
Because the MHCC will first address the content of draft installation
standards, most of the questions in today's advance notice of proposed
rulemaking focus on the other components of HUD's installation program.
Comments received that relate to the development of installation
standards will be shared with the MHCC as it works to develop draft
installation standards for submittal to HUD.
Request for Comments
Commenters are invited to comment on the specific topics suggested
below, or on any other matter or concern relevant to the development of
an installation program as described above. HUD requests that comments
on the following issues reference the number of the issue described,
and that other comments be separately identified in the commenter's
response:
General Questions
1. How should consumers be made aware of the existence of, and
their rights under, the installation, licensing, training, and
inspection program?
2. How will HUD obtain funding for its installation, licensing,
training, and inspection program? Should HUD charge licensing,
training, and inspection fees in order to support its installation
program? If so, how should fees be determined? Who will be required to
pay the fees?
3. In situations where one part of a state's program meets the
Act's required criteria, but is deemed insufficient in another part
(e.g., the state's licensing program meets or exceeds the federal
requirements, but its training program lacks certain required
elements), could there be a partial acceptance of that state's program,
or would HUD's program preempt the entire state program?
4. How should state licensing, training, and inspection programs be
funded? Should adequate funding be a criterion for HUD approval?
5. Should it be mandatory for states with approved installation
programs to permit installations by HUD-licensed installers?
6. Should HUD consider an approach that both certifies installers
and provides for accreditation of trainers?
7. Are there ways in which the licensing and training could be
facilitated through electronic means?
8. What factors should the Secretary consider when determining
whether to apply the new installation requirements to existing, as well
as to new, home installations?
Installation Standards
9. HUD preempts state and local manufactured home construction and
safety standards. How should an installation standard be differentiated
from a construction and safety standard, so that local, state, and
federal enforcement personnel will understand the scope of their
jurisdiction? (i.e., how
[[Page 11449]]
should ``installation'' be defined to distinguish installation from
``construction''?)
10. Should all Alternative Construction (AC) approvals that affect
installations be resubmitted to determine if AC approval is still
necessary after new installation standards become effective? Should HUD
expand the AC process to permit deviations from the new installation
standards?
11. What should be the procedure or mechanism for determining that
a state's installation standards provide protection that equals or
exceeds the protection provided to residents of manufactured homes by
the model installation standards adopted by HUD?
12. Section 605(c)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act (42 U.S.C.
5404(c)(3)(A)(ii)) also permits installation standards that provide
protection that equals or exceeds the protection provided to residents
of manufactured homes by the installation designs and instructions
required to be provided by manufacturers, if HUD determines that such
designs and instructions provide protection at least equivalent to the
model installation standards adopted by HUD. In addition, section
605(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 5404(a)) provides that design approval
primary inspection agencies (DAPIAs) will be required to approve all
manufacturer designs and instructions, but only if they provide equal
or greater protection than the protection provided by the model
standards. What should be the procedure or mechanism for a
determination by HUD that a manufacturer's installation designs and
instructions for any home it produces meets the level of protection
provided by the model standards?
13. What factors should HUD take into consideration when reviewing
proprietary installation systems under the new installation standards?
Licensing Installers
14. As stated earlier, HUD's program will be implemented in each
state that does not have its own qualified installation program. How
should HUD determine whether a state licensing program is a bona fide
program that meets the requirements of the Act?
15. How much experience installing manufactured homes should
installers have before becoming eligible for installation licenses?
Should HUD, as do many states, establish a minimum age for installers?
16. Some state programs allow unlicensed personnel working under
licensed installers to perform installations, as long as the unlicensed
personnel are working under the licensed installers' direct
supervision. Other states require everyone who performs installation
work to obtain a license. Should HUD require all individuals who
perform installations to obtain a license or should HUD allow
unlicensed individuals to perform installation work as long as they
work under the direction of licensed installers?
17. Some states provide different levels of licensing. For example,
Level One would allow licensees to level ground and place piers to
support a manufactured home; Level Two would additionally permit
licensees to make structural repairs, alterations, and modifications;
Level Three holders would be allowed to perform the functions included
in Levels One and Two plus service and repair natural gas piping and
appliances, change and adjust orifices, and service and repair plumbing
and electrical systems. Should HUD adopt a multilevel licensing system?
Or should HUD develop one general license under which licensees may
perform any or all of these functions?
18. For what amount of time should licenses be valid? Should all
licenses expire on a specific day, e.g., the last day of the month, no
matter when they were obtained?
19. Should HUD grant temporary licenses to installers while they
await licensing? If so, for how long should temporary licensing be
valid? What restrictions should be placed on the scope of a temporary
license?
20. How much insurance coverage should HUD require installers to
maintain? What should that insurance cover?
21. Should HUD require licensees to be bonded, as well as insured?
If so, what would be a reasonable amount of security?
22. Should HUD use contractors to perform licensing functions? If
so, what qualifications in terms of background or experience should
outside contractors have?
23. What should be the procedures and the grounds for revoking,
suspending, or denying licenses?
24. Should HUD differentiate in the installation regulations
between independent installers and manufacturers that perform their own
installations?
Training Installers
25. As stated earlier, HUD's program will be implemented in each
state that does not have its own qualified installation program. How
should HUD determine whether a state training program is a bona fide
program that meets the requirements of the Act?
26. In the event that HUD decides that installers may utilize
unlicensed installers working under the licensed installers'
supervision, should HUD require that the unlicensed workers receive
training before being allowed to perform installations? If so, how much
training should HUD require that they take?
27. What procedures should HUD establish for approving
organizations that provide training or continuing education? Under what
circumstances should HUD deny or withdraw approval of courses or their
sponsors?
28. For what length of time should HUD's approval of courses and
trainers be valid? What process should HUD implement for the renewal of
course and trainer approval?
29. How many hours of training should HUD require in order for an
individual or installation company to obtain a license? Should
installers also take an examination as a condition of obtaining
licenses? Should HUD require continuing education in order for
installers to maintain or renew their licenses? If so, how many hours?
30. What would be the recommended content, duration, and
organization of training and continuing education courses that
contribute to the general competence of installers?
31. Should HUD use contractors to perform training functions? If
so, what qualifications in terms of background or experience should
contractors have?
32. Should HUD approve training programs sponsored by manufactured
home manufacturers, retailers, installers, and other firms in the
manufactured housing industry? If so, what process and criteria should
HUD use in order to approve their programs?
Inspection of Installation
33. Should the installation of every new and used manufactured home
be inspected? If not, what process should HUD use in order to determine
which installations should be inspected? What should be the scope of an
inspection?
34. Who would be responsible for arranging for a required
inspection of the installation? When and how would the purchaser be
notified of the requirements for an inspection of the installation?
35. Can a purchaser waive the right to an inspection of the
installation, given that the statute provides that ``rights afforded
manufactured home purchasers * * * may not be waived, and any provision
of a contract or agreement * * * to the contrary shall be void''?
(Section 622; 42 U.S.C. 5421.)
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36. Who would be qualified to perform installation inspections? Are
there any potential conflicts of interest or similar concerns that
should disqualify any person or entity from performing installation
inspections? If so, please explain.
37. What standards and qualifications should HUD require
installation inspectors to meet? How many years of experience should
they have in order to perform inspections?
38. What should be the result of a failure to pass the inspection
of an installation? How should the consumer's interest in purchasing an
acceptable home for timely placement on site be assured? Should
retailers be required to disclose clearly any limits on their
responsibility for proper installation? If so, how?
39. In the event that an installation has been improperly
performed, should HUD require the original installer to perform the
necessary corrective work? If so, within what amount of time should the
corrections need to be completed? Within how many days of the
correction work should the installation be reinspected?
40. How will HUD ensure that a home has been installed in
accordance with the installation standards? Should self-certification
and attachment of a certifying label by an installer be required? If
so, should certification labels indicate whether the installation was
performed in accordance with federal or state requirements?
41. Should there be increased performance reviews of an installer
who has a history of installations that do not meet minimum
requirements of the installation program?
42. Should a homeowner be allowed to install his or her own home?
If so, what requirements should apply?
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d), 5404, and 5424.
Dated: March 3, 2003.
John C. Weicher,
Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 03-5646 Filed 3-5-03; 3:35 pm]
BILLING CODE 4210-27-P