1. A. In the regulations which follow, unless contract otherwise requires.

   1. Act―the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 01 et seq.).
   2. Add-On―any structure (except a structure designed or produced as an integral part of a manufactured home) which, when attached to the basic home unit, increases the area, either living or storage, of the manufactured home.
   3. Alteration―the replacement, addition, modification or removal of any equipment or installation after sale by a manufacturer to a retailer or distributor but prior to sale by a retailer to a purchaser which may affect the construction, fire safety, occupancy, plumbing, heat producing, or electrical system. It includes any modification made in the home which may affect the compliance of the home with the standards, but it does not include the repair or replacement of a component or appliance requiring connection to an electrical receptacle, where the replacement item is of the same configuration and ratings as the one being replaced. It also does not include an addition of an appliance requiring plug-in to an electrical receptacle, which appliance was not provided with the home by the manufacturer, if the rating of the appliance does not exceed the rating of the receptacle to which it is connected.
   4. Certification Label―see Label.
   5. Certification Report―the report prepared by the IPIA (see §501.A.Primary Inspection Agency.b) for each manufactured home manufacturing plant under 24 CFR Section 3282-362(b)(2) in which the IPIA provides a complete description of the initial comprehensive inspection of the plant; an evaluation of the quality assurance program under the approved quality assurance manual; and the identity of the DAPIA (See §501.A.Primary Inspection Agency.a) which approved the designs and quality assurance manual used in the plant. Where appropriate under 24 CFR Section 3282-362(b)(5), the certification report may be made by a DAPIA.
   6. Component―any part, material or appliance which is built in as an integral part of the manufactured home during the manufacturing process.
   7. Cost Information―information submitted by a manufacturer under Section 607 of the Act with respect to alleged cost increases resulting from action by the secretary, in such form as to permit the public and the secretary to make an informed judgment on the validity of the manufacturer's statements. Such terms include both the manufacturer's cost and the cost to retail purchasers.
   8. Date of Manufacture―the date on which the label required by 24 CFR Section 3282-205(c) is affixed to the home.
   9. Dealer―any person engaged in the sale, leasing, or distribution of new manufactured homes primarily to persons who in good faith purchase or lease home for purposes other than resale.
   10. Defect―a failure to comply with an applicable federal manufactured housing safety and construction standard that renders the home or any part or component thereof not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended, but does not result in an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected manufactured home. See related definitions of imminent safety hazard, noncompliance, and serious defect.
   11. Design―drawings, specifications, sketches and the related engineering calculations, test and data in support of the configurations, structures and systems to be incorporated in homes manufactured in a plant.
   12. Director―the director of the United States Office of Manufactured Housing and Construction Standards.
   13. Distributor―any person engaged in the sale and distribution of manufactured housing for resale.
   14. Failure to Conform―an imminent safety hazard related to the standards, a serious defect, or noncompliance and is used as a substitute for any of those terms.
   15. HUD―the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
   16. Imminent Safety Hazard―a hazard that presents an imminent and unreasonable risk of death or severe personal injury that may or may not be related to failure to comply with an applicable federal manufactured housing construction or safety standard. See related definitions of Defect, Noncompliance, and Serious Defect.
   17. Joint Monitoring Team―a monitoring inspection team composed of personnel provided by the various state administrative agencies, or its contract agent, operating under a contract with HUD for the purpose of monitoring or otherwise aiding in the enforcement of the federal standards.
   18. Label or Certification Label―the approved form of certification by the manufacturer that, under 24 CFR Section 3282-362(c)(2)(i), is permanently affixed to each transportable section of each home manufactured for sale to a purchaser in the United States.
   19. Manufactured Housing―a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is 8 body feet or more in width; or 40 body feet or more in length; or, when erected on site, 320 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, including the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein; except that the term shall include any structure which meets all the requirements of this Chapter 5, except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standard established under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.
   20. Manufactured Housing Construction―all activities relating to the assembly and manufacture of a manufactured home, including, but not limited to, those relating to durability, quality, and safety.
   21. Manufactured Housing Safety―the performance of a manufactured home in such a manner that the public is protected against unreasonable risk of the occurrence of accidents due to the design or construction of such home, or any unreasonable risk of death or injury to the user or to the public if such accidents do occur.
   22. Manufacturer―any person engaged in manufacturing or assembling manufactured housing, including any person engaged in importing homes for resale.
   23. Noncompliance―a failure of a home to comply with a federal manufactured housing construction or safety standard that does not constitute a defect, serious defect, or imminent safety hazard. (See related definition of Defect, Imminent Safety Hazard, and Serious Defect.)
   24. Owner―any person purchasing a home from any other person after the first purchase of the home, in good faith, for purposes other than resale.

   25. Primary Inspection Agency (PIA)―a state/or private organization that has been accepted by the secretary in accordance with the requirements of Subpart H of the Manufactured Homes and Procedural Regulation. There are two types of PIAs.

       1. a. Design Approval PIA (DAPIA), which evaluates and approves or disapproves manufactured home designs and quality control procedures; and
       2. b. Production Inspection PIA (IPIA), which evaluates the ability of manufactured home manufacturing plants to follow approved quality control procedures and provides ongoing surveillance of the manufacturing process. Organizations may act as one or both of these types.
   26. Purchaser―the first person purchasing a manufactured home in good faith for purposes other than resale.
   27. Quality Assurance Manual―a manual, prepared by each manufacturer for its manufacturing plants and approved by a DAPIA which contains: a statement of the manufacturer's quality assurance program; a chart of the organization showing, by position, all personnel accountable for quality assurance; a list of tests and test equipment required; a station-by-station description of the manufacturing process; a list of inspections required at each station; and a list by title of personnel in the manufacturer's organization to be held responsible for each inspection. Where necessary, the quality assurance manual used in a particular plant shall contain information specific to that plant.
   28. Red Tag―to affix a notice to a home which has been found to contain an imminent safety hazard or a failure to conform with any applicable standard. A red tag is the notice so affixed to the manufactured home.
   29. Secretary―the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
   30. Secretary's Agent―a party operating as an independent contractor under a contract with HUD.
   31. Serious Defect―any failure to comply with an applicable federal manufactured housing construction and safety standard that renders the home or any part thereof not fit for the ordinary use for which it was intended and which results in an unreasonable risk of injury or death to occupants of the affected home.
   32. Standards―the federal manufactured housing construction and safety standards promulgated under Section 604 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 5403, Part 3280, of these regulations.
   33. 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.
   34. State Administrative Agency (SAA)―an agency of a state which has been approved or conditionally approved to carry out the state plan for enforcement of the standards pursuant to Section 623 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 5422, and Subpart G of the Federal Manufactured Homes Procedural and Enforcement Regulations.
   35. State Plan Application―the application of a state organization which is submitted to the secretary for approval as a state administrative agency under Subpart G of the Federal Manufactured Homes Procedural and Enforcement Regulation.
   36. System―a set or arrangement of materials or components related or connected as to form an operating entity, e.g., heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems, and evaporative coolers.
   37. Title I―Title I of the National Housing Act,
       12 U.S.C. 1701, which authorizes HUD to insure loans made for the purchase of manufactured homes that are certified as meeting HUD requirements for dwelling quality and safety.
   38. United States District Courts―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.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 40:1651(B).

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of Public Safety, Office of State Fire Marshal, LR 8:17 (January 1982), amended by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of State Fire Marshal, LR 23:1693 (December 1997), LR 38:3235 (December 2012).