ANSI Approves New Manufactured Housing Standard
April 1998
On February 23, 1998, the Board of Standards Review (BSR)
of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved
the new CABO/ANSI 2.0-1998, Manufactured Housing Construction
and Safety Standards (MHCSS). The 1998 CABO MHCSS is the first
edition of the new standard, which was developed using a consensus
committee operating under ANSI's Accredited Organization Method
of standards development.
Under the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards
Act of 1974, HUD promulgates the preemptive Federal Manufactured
Housing Construction and Safety Standards (FMHCSS) to regulate
the construction of manufactured housing. 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 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. Congress is currently considering a bill (HR 3634) that
would establish a consensus committee to recommend changes to
the FMHCSS (see related story on Page 3).
The new standard has been updated to eliminate obsolete standards,
materials, and methods of construction. It also introduces language
more consistent with model building codes, and updates the list
of standards currently referenced by the FMHCSS.
In addition to the list of proposed changes that will be submitted
to HUD, CABO will be publishing a reformatted version of the
standard that complies with the format suggested by ANSI.
©1998 Council of American Building
Officials
The CABO Newsletter
Volume 5 Number 1
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