ANSI Approves 1998 Manufactured Housing Construction and
Safety Standards
On February 23, 1998, the Board of Standards Review (BSR)
of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved
the new CABO/ANSI 2.0, Manufactured Housing Construction and
Safety Standards (MHCSS). The 1998 MHCSS is the first edition
of the new standard, which was developed by CABO using a consensus
committee operating under ANSI's Accredited Organization Method
of standards development.
More than 20 years ago, Congress enacted the National Mobile
Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, which
directed HUD to develop a preemptive code to regulate the
construction of manufactured housing. This resulted in the
promulgation of the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction
and Safety Standards (FMHCSS). Since 1987, under an agreement
with HUD, CABO has processed proposed changes to the FMHCSS
on an annual basis, and forwarded the results to HUD for consideration
as proposed changes to the Federal standards.
Until 1994, a nine-member committee annually considered proposed
changes using procedures similar to those used for the other
building codes. Based on the 1994 Final Report of the National
Commission on Manufactured Housing, the code change committee
was dissolved and replaced with a 27-member consensus committee
to operate under ANSI procedures. CABO intends to submit this
document to HUD for consideration as recommended changes to
the FMHCSS, developed under consensus procedures by the private
sector. The concept of Federal use of private sector standards
is consistent with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995, as reflected in the recently revised OMB Circular
A-119.
The new standard includes language that eliminates obsolete
materials and methods of construction, introduces language
more consistent with model building codes, updates standards
referenced by the MHCSS.
