bill1952
SAWHORSE
I think the article makes a valid point about the need for a national for modular houses. I'm sure the NAHB will lobby against it.
Years ago I worked in a factory that table framed apartment buildings that were sent to Chicago. Years later I worked for a company that table framed apartment buildings on site in California. Both operations sped up the process but the factory held first place.Or we can keep having crap built in factories by trained monkeys installing violations instead of craftsman in the field with trained inspectors.......
Currently , most modular construction does not have to follow the same inspection processes as out in the field. Some prime examples are dwv testing, nailplate installations and draftstopping. We had a modular home and the plumber did not want to do a dwv test "because it was done in the factory". Explained that he did the connections between the units and installed the lines in the basement. He ended up doing the test which leaked in the kitchen. An elbow in the ceiling was broken because a factory installed nail hit it.
I've never seen a field inspector approve a buried electrical splice....I have found plenty in pre-fab/ modular homes being remodeled....What a lot of nay sayers.
As far as a botched factory inspection, it's not like there aren't botched field inspections. Many threads here on that.
As far as quality and design, I know modular homes built in factory can be of very good quality and with lots of design variability. https://www.alvsbyhus.se/ Maybe not in US though.
I lived in the town where the Alvsby house are built back in 1969-70, actually lived in one, toured factory, knew owners. Very high quality and probably more energy efficient then than most houses in US now. (-40° all of January - they had to be good.) Unique in that modules were crosswise, not length wise, so you could have a longer ranch style house - saw one with 7 modules. Always on grade beams then.
And I've seen plenty construction that was permitted and inspected that clearly didn't comply with code. Luckily there is a lot of redundancy in building and in codes.I've never seen a field inspector approve a buried electrical splice....I have found plenty in pre-fab/ modular homes being remodeled....
Was it being under a state code conditional on it being on wheels, like "mobile homes" (which seem to disintegrate where they were first parked) and so many of the onslaught of tiny homes?I saw plenty of modulars, "double wides" "triple wides" etc. in other jobs in other parts of the country. It was under a state code, and that state had a separate and comprehensive manufactured housing code, with specific training for enforcement.
In Montana the foundation and roof snow loads have to meet the local design minimums. The state regulates and approves modular building manufactures. Do manufactures make mistakes? They sure do just like contractors. About 20 years ago we had two 2 story 12 dwelling unit modular apartment complex come into town. We have no jurisdiction on the building itself just the foundation and access route into the building. about 3 years later we get a call about mold in one of the units. Normally we don't respond to mold issues, but it gave us an opportunity to get inside. The result was the dryer vent in every apartment on both buildings had been covered by the siding when they assembled them onsite. If we could have inspected the assembly we may have found the problem before the units where occupied.Don't modular homes - brought to site on a separate trailer and rolled it framed onto a permanent foundation - have to meet the local residential code?
So many years ago, but if I recall, if it was on a chassis we didn't look at anything unless it was a site built element like a deck, stoop or stair or MEP tie-in. If they wanted to remove the wheels and put it on a foundation I think we looked at that, but I don't recall many of those.Was it being under a state code conditional on it being on wheels, like "mobile homes" (which seem to disintegrate where they were first parked) and so many of the onslaught of tiny homes?
Don't modular homes - brought to site on a separate trailer and rolled it framed onto a permanent foundation - have to meet the local residential code?