16 Tex. Admin. Code § 70.70 – Responsibilities of the Registrants--Manufacturer's Design Package

(a) Review and approval. The manufacturer's design package must be reviewed and approved in accordance with the following.
1. (1) The manufacturer must select a council approved design review agency (DRA) to perform all required review and evaluation of plans, designs, specifications, compliance control, and on-site construction documentation, etc. This selection shall be made in writing to the commissioner and will state the name, address, and registration number of the design review agency selected.
2. (2) An approved DRA shall review all designs, plans, specifications, calculations, compliance control programs, on-site construction documentation or specifications, and other documents as necessary to assure compliance with the mandatory construction codes in accordance with the interpretations, instructions, and determinations of the council. The reviews are to be performed or directly supervised by the DRA's certified plans reviewers for the discipline (electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural, building planning, or fire safety) as listed and approved in the agency's organizational chart. A DRA's plans reviewers must be certified pursuant to the criteria established by the council as set forth in § 70.22 of this title (relating to the Criteria for Approval of Design Review Agencies). The department or DRA will obtain from the manufacturer such information as is necessary to assure that the manufacturer's designs and procedures are in compliance with the mandatory codes and the sections in this chapter.
3. (3) All documents shall have all pages numbered and arranged in accordance with a table of contents. The floor plans shall have no scale smaller than 1/8th inch equals one foot. All documents shall be identified to indicate the manufacturer's name and address.
4. (4) The DRA will signify approval of a drawing, specification, calculation, or any other document in the manufacturer's design package by applying the council's stamp to each page. An alternate council stamp as approved by the council may be used on all designs, plans, specifications, calculations, and other documentation with the exception of the first or cover page and the table of contents or index pages of the design package. The original council stamp with original signature will be required on these pages. The signature on the original council stamp must be the signature of the manager or chief executive officer of the DRA. The manager or chief executive officer of the DRA must be registered in the State of Texas as a professional engineer or architect in accordance with the criteria for approval of DRA's established by the council. The stamp shall not be placed on any designs, plans, or specifications which do not meet the requirements of the applicable mandatory state codes or the requirements of these sections. The manufacturer and the DRA must keep copies of the approved documents. The DRA must keep a copy on file of all approved documents deleted or superseded from a design package for a minimum of five years. The manufacturer must make a copy available to the person performing in-plant inspections. A DRA will forward one approved copy of the design package, including additions and revisions, to the department within five days of approval and will return one approved copy to the manufacturer.
5. (5) Approvals dated before the effective date of the adoption of the codes in §70.100 of this title (relating to Mandatory State Codes) are not valid for industrialized housing, buildings, modules, and modular components constructed after the effective date of adoption unless steps are taken to transition the approval to the new code editions in accordance with paragraphs B and C of this section. Manufacturers will be notified of the change in code editions 180 days before the effective date of the change. Manufacturers who wish to continue building to previously approved documents must resubmit these documents to their DRA for review and approval to the new code editions. Approval of these documents will be evidenced by application of a new approval date and the council's stamp of approval to each document. The manufacturer may make the transition from current code edition to new code edition in any of the following ways.
  1. (A) The approval date on all documents in the manufacturer's design package will be on or after the effective date of adoption of the new edition of the codes in §70.100 of this title (relating to Mandatory State Codes).
  2. (B) The manufacturer may transition approval of documents in his design package any time within the 180 days prior to the effective date of the adoption of the new editions of the codes. The manufacturer must notify the department in writing of the effective date of transition. All documents approved on or after that date shall be to the new editions of the codes. All previously approved supporting documentation, such as compliance control manuals, system calculations, etc., must be resubmitted to the DRA for review and approval to the new code editions and must be approved as of the effective date of transition specified by the manufacturer.
  3. (C) The manufacturer may submit a written description of any other method of transition to the department for approval.
6. (6) A DRA may withdraw the approval of any document whenever the approval is later found to be in violation of code requirements or the rules and regulations in this chapter. Notice of the withdrawal of the approval shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for the withdrawal. Any withdrawal of approval shall have prospective effect only, except for life safety items.
7. (7) The DRA shall reimburse the department an hourly monitoring fee for expenses incurred outside headquarters in monitoring the performance of the DRA.
8. (8) DRAs or the department acting as a DRA may make red ink corrections to documents provided the corrections meet all of the following criteria:
  1. (A) limited to corrections of minor deviations;
  2. (B) the corrected items can be verified by reference to prescriptive code requirements;
  3. (C) the change does not involve any change of design or require design;
  4. (D) the red ink correction is valid for 10 working days and may not be extended; and
  5. (E) the corrections must be numbered and initialed by the DRA and the statement, "As noted with (number) corrections" shall appear near the stamp of the council with the number of corrections entered.
(b) In-plant documentation. The manufacturer shall provide the DRA in-plant documentation that must, at the minimum, contain the following:
1. (1) specifications or detail drawings for all materials, devices, appliances, equipment, and fasteners used in construction;
2. (2) detailed drawings of all assemblies and components (with cross-sections as necessary to identify major building components);
3. (3) floor plans for all models and options;
4. (4) electrical schematics for all models and options;
5. (5) water system and drain-waste-vent system drawings for all models and options;
6. (6) gas piping system drawings for all models and options;
7. (7) mechanical system drawings for all models and options;
8. (8) fire protection, fire safety, and exit details;
9. (9) thermal resistance details;
10. (10) heating, ventilation, and air conditioning details;
11. (11) structural, thermal, and electrical load calculations;
12. (12) weather resistance details;
13. (13) condensation protection details;
14. (14) decay protection details;
15. (15) insect and vermin protection details;
16. (16) fastening schedule;
17. (17) assembly and connection instructions for all components, materials, devices, equipment, and appliances;
18. (18) on the floor plan or on the cover or title sheet for each model or project in a title block format:
  1. (A) name and date of applicable codes;
  2. (B) identification of permissible type of gas for appliances;
  3. (C) maximum snow load (roof)(psf);
  4. (D) maximum wind speed (mph) and exposure;
  5. (E) seismic design criteria;
  6. (F) occupancy/use group type;
  7. (G) construction type;
  8. (H) special conditions and/or limitations;
  9. (I) the location of the data plate on the building or dwelling unit; and
  10. (J) the location of the decal or insignia on each module or modular component;
19. (19) compliance control manual (reference subsection (c) of this section); and
20. (20) on-site construction documentation (reference subsection (d) of this section).
(c) Compliance control program. The utilization of mass production techniques and assembly line methods in the construction of industrialized housing, buildings, modules, and modular components along with the fact that a large part of such construction cannot be inspected at the ultimate building site, requires manufacturers to develop an adequate compliance control program to assure that these structures meet or exceed mandatory code requirements and are in compliance with the rules and regulations of this chapter. The compliance control program shall be documented in the form of a manual that must be approved by the design review agency or the department. The council may waive the compliance control program as set forth in the rules upon written request from the manufacturer. Waiver of the compliance control program shall require that each module or modular component be individually inspected at each and every stage of the manufacturing process. The manufacturer shall provide the design review agency a compliance control manual that must, at the minimum, contain the following:
1. (1) a table of contents;
2. (2) a chart indicating the manufacturer's organizational structure to assure compliance and to assure that the compliance control staff shall maintain independence from the production personnel;
3. (3) a statement that defines the obligation, responsibility, and authority for the manufacturer's compliance control program;
4. (4) identification of compliance control personnel, their accountability by position, responsibility for inspections, method of marking nonconformances observed, and system for assuring corrections are made;
5. (5) materials handling methods, including inspection checklists, for receiving materials and methods for marking and removing rejected materials both upon receipt and from the production line. The area for rejected materials must be clearly indicated to assure that such material is not used;
6. (6) a description of an identification system to mark each individual module, or modular component, at the first stage of production to assure appropriate inspection and rechecking of any deviation corrections;
7. (7) a diagram of the manufacturing sequence with the plant layout, including a description of the activities to be performed along with a listing of those that may be performed at one or more stations;
8. (8) an inspection checklist including:
  1. (A) a list of inspections to be made at each production station; and
  2. (B) accept/reject criteria (each significant dimension and component should be given tolerances);
9. (9) step-by-step test procedures, a description of the station at which each production test is performed, a description of required testing equipment, and procedures for periodic checking, recalibration, and readjustment of test equipment. Procedures shall be included for, but not limited to, electrical tests as specified in the National Electrical Code, Article 550-12, gas supply pressure tests, water supply pressure tests, drain-waste-vent system tests, concrete slump tests, and concrete strength tests;
10. (10) storage procedures for completed structures at the plant and for any other locations prior to installation;
11. (11) a statement indicating the person who is responsible for compliance control at each manufacturing facility and who will assume responsibility for decals and insignia, application of the decals and insignia, and the reporting procedure;
12. (12) a procedure for maintaining reliable, retrievable records of the inspections performed, decal and insignia numbers assigned, the deficiencies and how they were corrected, and the site to which the modules or modular components were transported;
13. (13) procedures and information to demonstrate how the modules and modular components are to be transported to the building site so that damage will not occur or that compliance deviations will not result (actual transportation without damage or deviation is evidence sufficient to justify the method); and
14. (14) procedures that assure that the compliance control procedures are complied with on all regulated structures. As a minimum, regulated structures must be identified prior to commencing construction.
(d) On-site construction specifications or documentation. All work to be performed on the building site shall be specifically identified and distinguished from construction to be performed in the manufacturing facility, e.g., assembly and connection of all modules, modular components, systems, equipment, and appliances and attachment to the foundation system. The work to be performed on-site shall be described in detail in documents (architectural sheets, specifications, instructions, etc.) which shall be made available to the builder for use at the site and provided as required for review and inspection to the agency having local authority. The manufacturer shall provide the design review agency on-site construction documentation which must, at the minimum, contain the following:
1. (1) foundation system designs for all models in accordance with the applicable mandatory state code;
2. (2) details for module to module or modular component assembly and connection;
3. (3) details for connection and attachment of all modules and modular components to the foundation system;
4. (4) firestopping and draftstopping details;
5. (5) details for fire exits, balconies, walkways, and other site-built attachments;
6. (6) exterior weatherproofing details;
7. (7) details for thermal, condensation, decay, corrosion, and insect protection;
8. (8) electrical, mechanical, heating, cooling, and plumbing system completion details;
9. (9) electrical, mechanical, heating, cooling, and plumbing system test procedures;
10. (10) fire safety provisions; and
11. (11) specifications and instructions for cooling equipment, and complete information necessary to calculate sensible heat gain along with information on the sizing of the air distribution system, if applicable, and the R values of insulation in the ceiling, walls, and floors.
(e) Unique on-site details. If the typical foundation drawing in the on-site construction documentation is not suitable for a specific site, or if the structure is only partially constructed of modular components, or if the industrialized builder will add unique on-site details, a registered Texas professional engineer (or architect for one and two family dwellings or buildings having one story and total floor area of 5,000 square feet or less) shall design and stamp the unique foundation drawings or on-site details and review by a DRA is not needed or required.
(f) Non-site specific buildings. Whenever the manufacturer does not know, at the time of construction, where the building is to be placed, in lieu of providing the site specific construction details or typical site construction details as required in subsection (d) of this section, the manufacturer may provide special conditions and/or limitations on the placement of the building. These special conditions and/or limitations will serve to alert the local building official of items, such as handicapped accessibility and placement of the building on the property, which the local building official may need to verify for conformance to the mandatory state codes. Certain site-related details, such as module to module connections, must still be provided by the manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the DRA to verify that such site-related details are included in the manufacturer's approved design package.

Source Note:The provisions of this §70.70 adopted to be effective April 13, 1990, 15 TexReg 1787; amended to be effective July 13, 1990, 15 TexReg 3741; amended to be effective August 8, 1991, 16 TexReg 4074; amended to be effective January 1, 1992, 16 TexReg 7476; amended to be effective November 16, 1993, 18 TexReg 7925; amended to be effective August 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 6619; amended to be effective March 16, 1998, 23 TexReg 1305; amended to be effective December 20, 2000, 25 TexReg 12385; amended to be effective March 28, 2002, 27 TexReg 2223.