Manufactured housing is constructed to HUD requirements which, in turn, are required to meet the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards of the Congress of American Building Officials (CABO).

      Both codes address issues of public health and safety with regard to home construction. The primary difference between the two codes lies in the types of structures they encompass and referenced standards. The CABO code that applies to manufactured housing is limited only to single-family residential homes that are constructed in a factory setting. It includes requirements for building materials and assembly as well as plumbing, heating, and electrical installations.  

     The UBC is a broad range building construction code that includes all anticipated occupancies and, as such, is more voluminous than the CABO code. Plumbing, heating and ventilating are generally regulated under the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) and electrical work is regulated under the National Electric Code (NEC). 

     In local jurisdictions that adopted a building code enforcement program, each home constructed on-site and each modular home assembled on-site are subject to inspection for code compliance by the local Building Official. When a building code enforcement program has not been adopted, local inspection of home construction seldom occurs and is frequently limited to electrical and plumbing inspection. 

     The CABO code requires each manufactured home to be inspected at the factory before it is shipped. Each home must bear a ãcertificationâ label attesting that it was inspected and found to comply with the requirements of the CABO code. This inspection will occur on all manufactured houses whether they are located in an area that has adopted a building code enforcement program or not.