According to the HUD website, “The purpose of an Alternate Construction (AC) letter is to permit manufacturers to build innovative manufactured (mobile) homes with the new technology. … Manufacturers must obtain permission from the Department prior to construction and shipment of homes built under the AC program.”
HUD also defines the office in question issuing new AC letters as follows. “The Office of Manufactured Housing Programs (OMHP) administers the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (the Act) which authorizes HUD to establish federal standards for the design and construction of manufactured homes to assure quality, durability, safety, and affordability.”
As the following explains, these AC letters are directly connected to supply chain issues that could slow production by HUD Code manufactured home producers.
With that backdrop, here is the media release from the Washington, D.C. based Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR).
DECEMBER 17, 2020
TO: MHARR MANUFACTURERS
MHARR STATE AFFILIATES
MHARR TECHNICAL REVIEW GROUP (TRG)
FROM: MHARR
RE: HUD ISSUES TWO INDUSTRY-WIDE AC LETTERS
The HUD Office of Manufactured Housing Programs (OMHP) has issued two-industry wide Alternate Construction (AC) letters (see, copies attached). The AC letters, issued December 16, 2020, extend the applicable time period of a previously-published AC concerning certain windows (20-IW1-AC), and address the use of certain circuit breakers for water heaters (20-IW2-AC).
The window AC extends the duration of HUD’s original action, permitting the use of windows certified in accordance with the AAMA 1701.2-12 and/or AAMA/WDMA/CSA 101/I.S.2/A440-11 standards, until June 30, 2021. Meanwhile, the breaker AC is valid until April 30, 2021. Both ACs arise from supply-chain issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While these actions by HUD will provide HUD Code manufacturers with temporary regulatory flexibilities in coping with discrete supply issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD has still not taken action on dozens of broader and more significant regulatory reform proposals considered and recommended by that statutory Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) pursuant to Trump Administration Executive Orders 13771 and 13777. Specific action on these recommendations would have a far more lasting and significant impact on the program and on the affordability of manufactured housing, and should be HUD’s first and overriding priority.
cc: Other Interested HUD Code Manufacturers
##
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform is a
Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing the views and interests
of independent producers of federally-regulated manufactured housing.
###
The OMHP AC Letters from HUD described above are linked here and here.
For additional manufactured home industry insights, see the reports that follow. First time visitor? To be part of the #1 manufactured housing audience, you can sign up for our industry-leading x2 weekly emailed headline news in seconds via the free signup, below.
There is always more to read and more to come. Stay tuned with the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
