New Hampshire Ramps Up Modular Efforts

The New Hampshire Manufactured Housing Association has broadened its services to serve the modular housing industry. Throughout the summer, members of the modular housing industry in Northern New England met with representatives from the NH Manufactured Housing Association regarding greater modular involvement in the Association. At the NHMHA November Annual Meeting, the members approved a by-law amendment which changes the name of the association to the NH Manufactured and Modular Housing Association. A number of the major modular manufacturers from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have already joined.

In the 2008 NH Legislative session there is legislation seeking to make major changes to the modular housing industry. The NHMMHA will be working with legislators to represent the interests of the industry in this effort.

For more information, contact the association at (603) 629-9369.

New York Sales Tax Reform Close to Success

Earlier this year, after hard work by the industry and the New York Housing Association, the New York Assembly and Senate amended the bills to provide that the sales tax on modular homes would be based on the actual cost of materials used to produce the homes, regardless of whether the home is installed by the manufacturer, a retailer, or anyone else. The industry, led by the NYHA held numerous meetings with legislative staff and members of the Senate and Assembly, to discuss this legislation. The State Senate passed our modular sales tax reform legislation (S. 4048-A) on June 19th. Unfortunately, the Assembly left Albany for its summer recess without taking up this legislation.

Currently, the Coalition for Modular Housing Tax Reform, led on the ground with the efforts of the New York Housing Association, are working diligently to have modular sales tax reform instituted by next year, either with passage of the legislation in the Assembly, or by having the change reflected in the 2008 budget.

For more information contact the New York Housing Association at (800) 721-HOME.


Pennsylvania Codes Bill Includes Factory-built Housing Representatives; Legislature Targeting Construction Industry for Regulation

PMHA has been working on HB 1096 which establishes a a council to gather information from municipal officers, building code officials, licensed design professionals, builder and property owners on issues and concerns related to the Uniform Construction Code. The council has the responsibility to evaluate the information and make recommendations to government officials prior to changes to the code. Most importantly this council would review the triennial revisions to the International Codes and provide guidance to the Department of Labor and Industry regarding the impact changes imposed by the updated code would have to the building environment in the Commonwealth. The council would measure new code revisions against health, safety and welfare to the public as well as the economic reasonableness, financial impact and technical feasibility. At time of passage the composition of the council included a seat for an individual representing modular housing and a seat for an individual representing manufactured housing. PMHA will continue to work on the bill assuring that seats provided for the manufactured and modular housing industry remains intact as it passes through the Senate.

In other news, the Pennsylvania legislature has introduced six licensing and registration bills that will affect the homebuilding industry. These bills provide a range of regulation, one would attempt to register new homebuilders, including modular homebuilders, one would provide for registration of home improvement contractors to include the creation of a guaranty fund, and the four others are professional licensure bills subjecting plumbers, home inspectors, crane operators, and interior designers, to government licensing.

For more information, contact the Pennsylvania MHA at (888) 242-7642.


South Carolina Association Scores Victory

The South Carolina Building Codes Council (BCC) voted unanimously to issue proposed regulations designed to curb fraud in the sale of modular homes.

The vote is a victory for the industry and the association. The state agency’s original proposal would have created a “modular dealer’s license.” Industry leaders opposed the idea of creating a new “dealer” license for modular sales. Sellers must already have a Residential Builder or General Contractor’s license to sell modulars.

The proposed regulations take the approach preferred by the industry--tighter enforcement using the current laws which apply to Residential Builders and General Contractors.

New procedures for granting roof pitch variances were also approved by the BCC at the same meeting. The Council voted to give agency staff the authority to grant variances to the 5/12 roof pitch requirement when they are architecturally desirable. Until now, manufacturers and builders have had to wait weeks for the next Council meeting to get approval.

The South Carolina Modular Housing Institute lobbied in favor of the new faster procedure.

For more information, contact the South Carolina Modular Housing Institute at (803) 551-1311.


Wisconsin Fights Against Unfair Deed Restriction and Additional Licensure

The Wisconsin Housing Alliance has introduced several bills. One bill, Assembly Bill 508, would bar deed restrictions that would require that homes be built on-site. This is in response to an emerging issue of the applicability of some deed restrictions to modular housing. Additionally, the WHA was successful in amending a licensing bill that would require all contractors to be licenses and registered with the Department of Commerce. As the bill was originally introduced, all members of the factory-built housing industry would have been required to get a new contractors license. This would have required some builders to get as many as four commerce licenses. The bill was amended so that if you already had a commerce license, you would not need a new one.

The WHA is also working diligently on the divisible load issue. WHA had a meeting with the Office of the Secretary of DOT about two weeks ago. WHA submitted draft rule language for their review. Currently, the general counsel’s office is reviewing relevant state statutes to determine if divisible loads for modular home sections can be done by rule or must be done statutorily. WHA provided strong arguments to the Department that the current statutes already provide sufficient power to adopt the proposed rule, and will continue to work on this issue on behalf of the industry.

For more information contact the Wisconsin Housing Alliance at (608) 255-3131.