February 24, 1998
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.
CABO anticipates that the new standard will be available in the spring. For further information, contact Robert Brown.