A manufactored home is built in a factory where it's protected from inclement weather, with less cost for labor since there's no downtime. They are built individually, one home at a time. Factory built homes are built under the federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD Code regulates manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and general quality. The HUD Code sets standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, and electrical systems.
Almost one third of the homes sold in America today are factory built homes. They offer a wide variety of floorplans and options suitable for your families needs. Each Cavalier home passes a 12-point inspection before it ever leaves the factory. Checking that each home is weathertight, properly trimmed, and outfitted the way you ordered it. Cavalier checks all mechanical and electrical systems, cabinets and doors, chimneys, vents, and flues. The complete start-to-finish approach to the construction of your home is one of the reasons there are thousands of happy Cavalier homeowners enjoying the strength and beauty of the homes Cavalier builds for them!
The HUD Code is Very Important to Buyers
When referencing manufactured homes, the story printed on this page uses the original wording of the source
FL, 02/03 ( The Ledger )- When today's buyers take possession of a newly purchased manufactured home they can be assured that it was built to a stringent set of national regulations that ensure the safety and construction of manufactured homes.
This came about in 1974 when Congress directed the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a set of construction and safety standards for manufactured homes throughout the country. These standards, known as the "HUD CODE," have evolved over the past 32 years. These established standards were required to take into account existing state and local laws related to manufactured homes.
It is worthy of mention here that when a manufactured home meets all the requirements of the HUD Code as well as the requirements of state and local laws the buyer is assured of a home that is as safe and as well built, or better, than a site built home.
The HUD Code consists of two major parts. The first, Part 3280, "Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards," concerns itself with the standards to which the home must perform and conform; in other words, the construction part of the code.
Part 3282, "Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations," explains who is in charge of looking over whose shoulder to make sure the home complies with Part 3280.
Every HUD Code manufactured home is built in a factory, under controlled conditions, and has a special label affixed on the exterior indicating that it has been designed, constructed, tested and inspected to comply with the stringent federal standards set out in the code. No home may be released and shipped until it complies with the code as certified by an independent third party inspector who is certified by HUD.
To the buyer, it means that the factory-built home has been built according to more demanding building requirements, under controlled conditions and more closely inspected than any site built home.
The HUD Code is unique since it is specifically designed for compatibility with the factory production process. Performance standards for heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems are established by the code. There are performance requirements for structural design, construction, fire safety, energy efficiency, and built with the same materials used in site built homes.
The fact that the home is built in a factory, where the materials are always in a controlled environment, never subject to harsh out door conditions, sun, rain, etc., provides a tremendous advantage over site built homes.
Factory-built homes have the advantage of using engineered design applications and the most cost-efficient assembly-line techniques to produce a quality home at a much lower cost per square foot over a site built home. It can be as much as 25 percent to 35 percent less. A HUD Code home can be customized by the buyer, built to the stringent HUD Code and delivered to the site much faster than a site built home can be built. Design and construction are monitored by both HUD and its monitoring contractor.
The certification label attached to the home indicates that it has undergone and passed perhaps the most thorough inspection process in the home building industry.
Let's evaluate the inspection process. First, the inspections take place in the factory, during each phase of construction and following behind the manufacturer's own in-plant inspection and quality control teams. This process allows for far more thoroughness, since all of the inspectors' time is spent inspecting, rather than traveling from one site to another.
Second, consistency is maintained because fewer people inspect more homes. The enforcement procedure is much less susceptible to individual interpretations, as would be the case with on-site inspections in every jurisdiction across the country.
The key to the installation is licensed, trained installers followed by inspectors that know the installation rules and strictly enforce them.
As you can see, when a buyer fully understands the HUD Code and the installation requirements, they will understand that they are buying a very structurally sound home at considerable saving per square foot.
