42 USC Chap 70 Sec. 5401

Page 5593

TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

chapter 130 of this title after Apr. 11, 1994, and any
amounts made available to carry out that subchapter
before that date that remain uncommitted on that
date, with Secretary to issue any regulations necessary
to carry out this section not later than end of 45-day
period beginning on that date, see section 209 of Pub. L.
103–233, set out as an Effective Date of 1994 Amendment
note under section 5301 of this title.

CHAPTER 70—MANUFACTURED HOME
CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS
Sec.

5401.
5402.
5403.
5404.
5405.
5406.
5407.
5408.
5409.
5410.
5411.
5412.

5413.
5414.
5415.
5416.
5417.
5418.
5419.
5420.
5421.
5422.
5423.
5424.
5425.
5426.

Findings and purposes.
Definitions.
Construction and safety standards.
Manufactured home installation.
Judicial review of orders establishing standards; petition; additional evidence before
Secretary; certified copy of transcript.
Submission of cost or other information by
manufacturer.
Research, testing, development, and training
by Secretary.
Cooperation by Secretary with public and private agencies.
Prohibited acts; exemptions.
Civil and criminal penalties.
Injunctive relief.
Noncompliance with standards or defective
nature of manufactured home; administrative or judicial determination; repurchase
by manufacturer or repair by distributor or
retailer; reimbursement of expenses, etc.,
by manufacturer; injunctive relief against
manufacturer for failure to comply; jurisdiction and venue; damages; period of limitation.
Inspections and investigations for promulgation or enforcement of standards or execution of other duties.
Notification and correction of defects by
manufacturer.
Certification by manufacturer of conformity
of manufactured home with standards; form
and placement of certification.
Consumer’s manual; contents.
Effect upon antitrust laws.
Use of services, research and testing facilities
of public agencies and independent laboratories.
Authority to collect fee.
Failure to report violations; penalties.
Prohibition on waiver of rights.
State enforcement.
Grants to States.
Rules and regulations.
Repealed.
Authorization of appropriations.

§ 5401. Findings and purposes
(a) Findings
Congress finds that—
(1) manufactured housing plays a vital role
in meeting the housing needs of the Nation;
and
(2) manufactured homes provide a significant resource for affordable homeownership
and rental housing accessible to all Americans.
(b) Purposes
The purposes of this chapter are—
(1) to protect the quality, durability, safety,
and affordability of manufactured homes;
(2) to facilitate the availability of affordable
manufactured homes and to increase homeownership for all Americans;

§ 5401

(3) to provide for the establishment of practical, uniform, and, to the extent possible, performance-based Federal construction standards for manufactured homes;
(4) to encourage innovative and cost-effective construction techniques for manufactured
homes;
(5) to protect residents of manufactured
homes with respect to personal injuries and
the amount of insurance costs and property
damages in manufactured housing, consistent
with the other purposes of this section;
(6) to establish a balanced consensus process
for the development, revision, and interpretation of Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured homes and related regulations for the enforcement of such standards;
(7) to ensure uniform and effective enforcement of Federal construction and safety
standards for manufactured homes; and
(8) to ensure that the public interest in, and
need for, affordable manufactured housing is
duly considered in all determinations relating
to the Federal standards and their enforcement.
(Pub. L. 93–383, title VI, § 602, Aug. 22, 1974, 88
Stat. 700; Pub. L. 96–399, title III, § 308(c)(4), Oct.
8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1641; Pub. L. 97–35, title III,
§ 339B(c), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 417; Pub. L.
106–569, title VI, § 602, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat.
2997.)
AMENDMENTS
2000—Pub. L. 106–569 amended section catchline and
text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘The Congress declares that the purposes of this
chapter are to reduce the number of personal injuries
and deaths and the amount of insurance costs and property damage resulting from manufactured home accidents and to improve the quality and durability of
manufactured homes. Therefore, the Congress determines that it is necessary to establish Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured homes
and to authorize manufactured home safety research
and development.’’
1980—Pub. L. 96–399 substituted ‘‘manufactured
home’’ for ‘‘mobile home’’ wherever appearing.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2000 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 106–569, title VI, § 612, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat.
3012, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this
title [see Short Title of 2000 Amendment note below]
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this
Act [Dec. 27, 2000], except that the amendments shall
have no effect on any order or interpretative bulletin
that is issued under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) and published as a proposed rule
pursuant to section 553 of title 5, United States Code,
on or before that date of the enactment.’’
EFFECTIVE DATE
Pub. L. 93–383, title VI, § 627, formerly § 628, Aug. 22,
1974, 88 Stat. 714, renumbered § 627, Pub. L. 106–569, title
VI, § 611(2), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 3012, provided that:
‘‘The provisions of this title [enacting this chapter and
provisions set out as a note under this section] shall
take effect upon the expiration of 180 days following
the date of enactment of this title [Aug. 22, 1974].’’
SHORT TITLE OF 2000 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 106–569, title VI, § 601(a), Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat.
2997, provided that: ‘‘This title [amending this section
and sections 5402 to 5404, 5406, 5407, 5409, 5412 to 5415,

§ 5402

TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

5419, 5422, and 5426 of this title, repealing section 5425 of
this title, and enacting and amending provisions set
out as notes under this section] may be cited as the
‘Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000’.’’
SHORT TITLE
Section 601 of title VI of Pub. L. 93–383, as amended
by Pub. L. 96–399, title III, § 308(c)(5), Oct. 8, 1980, 94
Stat. 1641, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting this
chapter and provisions set out as a note under this section] may be cited as the ‘National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974’.’’
SAVINGS PROVISIONS
Pub. L. 106–569, title VI, § 613, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat.
3012, provided that:
‘‘(a) STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—The Federal
manufactured home construction and safety standards
(as such term is defined in section 603 of the National
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 [42 U.S.C. 5402]) and all regulations pertaining thereto in effect on the day before the date of
the enactment of this Act [Dec. 27, 2000] shall apply
until the effective date of a standard or regulation
modifying or superseding the existing standard or regulation that is promulgated under subsection (a) or (b) of
section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended
by this title [42 U.S.C. 5403(a), (b)].
‘‘(b) CONTRACTS.—Any contract awarded pursuant to
a Request for Proposal issued before the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 27, 2000] shall remain in effect
until the earlier of—
‘‘(1) the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act; or
‘‘(2) the expiration of the contract term.’’

§ 5402. Definitions
As used in this chapter, the term—
(1) ‘‘manufactured home construction’’
means all activities relating to the assembly
and manufacture of a manufactured home including but not limited to those relating to
durability, quality, and safety;
(2) ‘‘retailer’’ means any person engaged in
the sale, leasing, or distribution of new manufactured homes primarily to persons who in
good faith purchase or lease a manufactured
home for purposes other than resale;
(3) ‘‘defect’’ includes any defect in the performance, construction, components, or material of a manufactured home that renders the
home or any part thereof not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended;
(4) ‘‘distributor’’ means any person engaged
in the sale and distribution of manufactured
homes for resale;
(5) ‘‘manufacturer’’ means any person engaged in manufacturing or assembling manufactured homes, including any person engaged
in importing manufactured homes for resale;
(6) ‘‘manufactured home’’ means a structure,
transportable in one or more sections, which,
in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or
more in width or forty body feet or more in
length, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is
built on a permanent chassis and designed to
be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing,
heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein; except that such term
shall include any structure which meets all

Page 5594

the requirements of this paragraph except the
size requirements and with respect to which
the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary and complies
with the standards established under this
chapter; and except that such term shall not
include any self-propelled recreational vehicle;
(7) ‘‘Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard’’ means a reasonable
standard for the construction, design, and performance of a manufactured home which
meets the needs of the public including the
need for quality, durability, and safety;
(8) ‘‘manufactured home safety’’ means the
performance of a manufactured home in such
a manner that the public is protected against
any unreasonable risk of the occurrence of accidents due to the design or construction of
such manufactured home, or any unreasonable
risk of death or injury to the user or to the
public if such accidents do occur;
(9) ‘‘imminent safety hazard’’ means an imminent and unreasonable risk of death or severe personal injury;
(10) ‘‘purchaser’’ means the first person purchasing a manufactured home in good faith for
purposes other than resale;
(11) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development;
(12) ‘‘State’’ includes each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and American Samoa;
(13) ‘‘United States district courts’’ means
the Federal district courts of the United
States and the United States courts of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the
Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and American
Samoa;
(14) ‘‘administering organization’’ means the
recognized, voluntary, private sector, consensus standards body with specific experience in
developing model residential building codes
and standards involving all disciplines regarding construction and safety that administers
the consensus standards through a development process;
(15) ‘‘consensus committee’’ means the committee established under section 5403(a)(3) of
this title;
(16) ‘‘consensus standards development process’’ means the process by which additions, revisions, and interpretations to the Federal
manufactured home construction and safety
standards and enforcement regulations shall
be developed and recommended to the Secretary by the consensus committee;
(17) ‘‘primary inspection agency’’ means a
State agency or private organization that has
been approved by the Secretary to act as a design approval primary inspection agency or a
production inspection primary inspection
agency, or both;
(18) ‘‘design approval primary inspection
agency’’ means a State agency or private organization that has been approved by the Secretary to evaluate and either approve or disapprove manufactured home designs and quality control procedures;
(19) ‘‘installation standards’’ means reasonable specifications for the installation of a