§ 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 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 manufactured home, at the place of occupancy, to ensure proper siting, the joining of all sections of the home, and the installation of stabilization, support, or anchoring systems;

(20) “monitoring” means the process of periodic review of the primary inspection agencies, by the Secretary or by a State agency under an approved State plan pursuant to section 5422 of this title, in accordance with regulations promulgated under this chapter, giving due consideration to the recommendations of the consensus committee under section 5403 (b) of this title, which process shall be for the purpose of ensuring that the primary inspection agencies are discharging their duties under this chapter; and

(21) “production inspection primary inspection agency” means a State agency or private organization that has been approved by the Secretary to evaluate the ability of manufactured home manufacturing plants to comply with approved quality control procedures and with the Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards promulgated hereunder, including the inspection of homes in the plant.

U.S. Code

§ 5402. Definitions