Code of Maine Rules › 02 - DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION › 385 - MANUFACTURED HOUSING BOARD › Chapter 890 - MANUFACTURED HOME INSTALLATION STANDARDS › Subchapter A - GENERAL › Section 385-890-A-V - Definitions

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
The definitions contained in this section apply to the
					 terms used in these installation standards.Where terms are not included, common
					 usage of the terms applies.The definitions are as follows:
A. "Act" means the
National
				  Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974
, 42
				  U.S.C. 5401-5426.
B. "Alteration"
				  means the replacement, addition, and modification, or removal of any equipment
				  or installation after sale by a manufacturer to a dealer but prior to sale by a
				  dealer to a purchaser which may affect the construction, fire safety,
				  occupancy, plumbing, heat-producing or electrical system.It includes any
				  modification made in the manufactured home which may affect the compliance of
				  the home with the standards, but it does not include the repair or replacement
				  of a component or appliance requiring plug-in to an electrical receptacle where
				  the replaced item is of the same configuration and rating as the one being
				  replaced.It also does not include the addition of an appliance requiring
				  plug-in to an electrical receptacle, which appliance was not provided with the
				  manufactured home by the manufacturer, if the rating of the appliance does not
				  exceed the rating of the receptacle to which it is connected.
C. "Anchor assembly" means any device or
				  other means designed to transfer home anchoring loads to the ground.
D. "Anchoring equipment" means ties, straps,
				  cables, turnbuckles, chains, and other approved components, including
				  tensioning devices that are used to secure a manufactured home to anchor
				  assemblies.
E. "Anchoring system"
				  means a combination of anchoring equipment and anchor assemblies that will,
				  when properly designed and installed, resist the uplift, overturning, and
				  lateral forces on the manufactured home and on its support and foundation
				  system.
F. "Approved" means
				  complying with the requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban
				  Development (when used in connection with any material, appliance or
				  construction).
G. "Arid region"
				  means an area subject to 15 inches or less of annual rainfall.
H. "Base flood" means the flood having a one
				  percent chance of being equaled or exceededin any given year.
I. "Base flood elevation (BFE)" means the
				  elevation of the base flood, including wave height, relative to the datum
				  specified on a LAHJ's flood hazard map.
J. "Comfort cooling certificate" means a
				  certificate permanently affixed to an interior surface of the home specifying
				  the factory design and preparations for air conditioning the manufactured
				  home.
K. "Crossovers" means the
				  utility interconnections in multi-section homes that are located where the
				  sections are joined.Crossover connections include heating and coolingducts,
				  electrical circuits, water pipes, drain plumbing, and gas lines.
L. "Design Approval Primary Inspection Agency
				  (DAPIA)" means a state or private organization that has been accepted by the
				  Secretary in accordance with the requirements of Part 3282, Subchapter H, which
				  evaluates and approves or disapproves manufactured home designs and quality
				  control procedures.
M. "Diagonal
				  tie" means a tie intended to resist horizontal or shear forces, but which may
				  resist vertical, uplift, and overturning forces.
N. "Flood hazard area" means the greater of
				  either: The special flood hazard area shown on the flood insurance rate map; or
				  the area subject to flooding during the design flood and shown on a LAHJ's
				  flood hazard map, or otherwise legally designated.
O. "Flood hazard map" means a map delineating
				  the flood hazard area and adopted by a LAHJ.
P. "Footing" means that portion of the
				  support system that transmits loads directly to the soil.
Q. "Foundation" means a site-built or site
				  assembled system of stabilizing devices which are capable of transferring
				  design dead loads and live loads required by Federal Regulations and other
				  design loads unique to local home sites due to wind and water conditions, that
				  are imposed by or upon the structure into the underlying soil bedrock without
				  failure.
R. "Ground anchor" means a
				  specific anchoring assembly device designed to transfer home anchoring loads to
				  the ground.
S. "Installation" means
				  the placing of manufactured housing on a foundation or supports at a building
				  site and the assembly and fastening of structural components of manufactured
				  housing, including the completed roof system, as specified by the
				  manufacturer's installation instructions and in accordance with the rules of
				  the Board. Installation also includes the connection to existing services,
				  including but not limited to electrical, oil, water, sewage and similar systems
				  that are necessary for the use of the manufactured housing for dwelling
				  purposes.
T. "Installation
				  instructions" means DAPIA-approved instructions provided by the home
				  manufacturer that accompany each new manufactured home and detail the home
				  manufacturer requirements for support and anchoring systems, and other work
				  completed at the installation site to comply with these Model Installation
				  Standards and the MHCSS in 24 CFR Part 3280.
U. "Installation standards" means reasonable
				  specifications for the installation of a new manufactured home, at the place of
				  occupancy, to ensure proper siting, the joining of all sections of the home,
				  and the installation of stabilization, support or anchoring systems.
V. "Installer" means any licensed
				  manufacturer or dealer or an employee of a licensed manufacturer or dealer, or
				  a person licensed as a mechanic, who engages in the process of affixing,
				  assembling or setting up of manufactured housing on foundations or supports at
				  a building site.
W. "Labeled" means
				  a label, symbol, or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing
				  laboratory, inspection agency, or other organization concerned with product
				  evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of production of labeled
				  equipment or materials, and by whose labeling is indicated compliance with
				  nationally recognized standards or tests to determine suitable usage in a
				  specified manner.
X. "Listed or
				  certified" means included in a list published by a nationally recognized
				  testing laboratory, inspection agency, or other organization concerned with
				  product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of production of listed
				  equipment or materials, and by whose listing states either that the equipment
				  or material meets nationally recognized standards or has been tested and found
				  suitable for use in a specified manner.
Y. "Local authority having jurisdiction
				  (LAHJ)" means the municipalityt hat has local responsibilities that must be
				  complied with during the installation of a manufactured home and those local
				  responsibilities are outside the jurisdiction of the Maine Manufactured Housing
				  Board.
Z. "Lowest floor" means the
				  floor of the lowest enclosed area of a manufactured home. An unfinished or
				  flood resistant enclosure, used solely for vehicle parking, home access, or
				  limited storage, must not be considered the lowest floor, provided the enclosed
				  area is not constructed so as to render the home in violation of the
				  flood-related provision of this Standard.
AA. "Manufactured home" means 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, 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
				  includes all structures that meet the above requirements, except the size
				  requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a
				  certification pursuant to part 3282.13 and complies with the MHCSS set forth in
				  part 3280.This 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.Nothing
				  in this definition should be interpreted to mean that a manufactured home
				  necessarily meets the requirements of HUD's
Minimum Property Standards
				  (HUD Handbook 4900.1
) or that it is automatically eligible for
				  financing under
				  12 U.S.C.
				  1709(b)
				  certification.
BB. MHCSS or "part
				  3280" means the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards established
				  in part 3280, pursuant to section 604 of the Act,
				  42 U.S.C. §
											5403.
CC. "Manufactured Home Installation Program
				  or "part 3286" means the Manufactured Home Installation Program established in
				  24 CFR part 3286.
DD. MHPER or
				  "part 3282" means the Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations
				  established in 24 CFR part 3282.
EE. "Manufactured home gas supply connector"
				  means a listed connector designed for connecting the manufactured home to the
				  gas supply source.
FF.
				  "Manufactured home site" means a designated parcel of land designed for the
				  installation of one manufactured home for the exclusive use of the occupants of
				  the home.
GG. "Board" means the
				  State of Maine Manufactured Housing Board.
HH. "Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee
				  or MHCC" means the consensus committee established pursuant to section
				  604(a)(3) of the Act,
				  42 U.S.C. §
											5403(a)(3).
II. "Model Installation Standards" means the
				  installation standards established pursuant to section 605 of the Act,
				  42 U.S.C. §
											5404.
JJ. "Pad" means that area which has been
				  established for the placement of a home.
KK. "Penetrometer" means an instrument for
				  determining the consistency or hardness of a substance by measuring the depth
				  or rate of penetration of a rod or needle driven into it by a known
				  force.
LL. "Pier" means that
				  portion of the support system between the footing and the manufactured home,
				  exclusive of caps and shims.
MM.
				  "Ramada" means any freestanding roof or shade structure, installed or erected
				  above a manufactured home or any portion thereof.
NN. "Secretary" means the Secretary of
				  Housing and Urban Development, or an official of HUD delegated the authority of
				  the Secretary with respect to the Act.
OO. "Set-up" means the work performed and
				  operations involved in the placement and securing of a manufactured home or any
				  portion thereof and includes the connection of existing electrical, oil,gas,
				  water, sewage, and similar systems.
PP. "Shall" indicates a mandatory
				  requirement.
QQ. "Should" indicates
				  a recommendation which is advised but not required.
RR. "Skirting" means weather-resistant
				  material used to enclose the perimeter, under the living area of the home, from
				  the bottom of the manufactured home to grade.
SS. "Stabilizing devices" means all
				  components of the anchoring and support systems, such as piers, footings, ties,
				  anchoring equipment, anchoring assemblies, or any other equipment, materials
				  and methods of construction, that support and secure the manufactured home to
				  the ground.
TT. "State" means each
				  of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
				  Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
UU. "Support system" means pilings, columns,
				  footings, piers, foundation walls, shims, and any combination thereof that,
				  when properly installed, support the manufactured home.
VV. "Tie" means straps, cable, or securing
				  devices used to connect the manufactured home to anchoring
				  assemblies.
WW. "Ultimate load"
				  means the absolute maximum magnitude of load that a component or system can
				  sustain, limited only by failure.
XX. "Uncontrolled fill" means fill materials
				  that are placed without control of the content of the fill materials or without
				  adequate compaction to assure a bearing capacity without undue settlement.For
				  purposes of these standards, uncontrolled fill shall mean fill materials
				  containing organic matter or fills which are placed without compaction
				  necessary to provide a uniform bearing capacity of 1000 lbs./ft.
YY. "Utility connection" means the connection
				  of the manufactured home to utilities that include, but are not limited to,
				  electricity, water, sewer, gas, or fuel oil.
ZZ. "Vertical tie" means a tie intended to
				  resist uplifting and overturning forces.
AAA. "Wind zone" means the areas designated
				  on the Basic Wind Zone Map, as further defined in Appendix A to this
				  chapter.
BBB. "Working load" means
				  the maximum recommended load that may be exerted on a component or system
				  determined by dividing the ultimate load of a component or system by an
				  appropriate factor of safety.