IBHS Makes Available New Checklist to Make Manufactured Homes More Secure

People living in manufactured homes can now access a new tool to make sure those with anchoring systems are as secure as possible.

Manufactured housing refers to homes built off-site and installed or
assembled on site. This includes manufactured homes that are propped on a pier foundation and anchored to the ground with steel straps. Not all states license or certify installers, however, so extra attention should reportedly be paid to these features – especially in areas with high wind.

To help owners check their anchoring systems, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has created a Manufactured Home Inspection Checklist, focusing on where a new or existing manufactured home is placed and how it is secured.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this type of manufactured home is the fastest growing type of housing – up 18 percent between 1990 and 2000, to nearly 9 million, or 7.6 percent of all housing units. While most of these homes are in the South, western states like California, Arizona and New Mexico have more than one-quarter million manufactured homes each.

“Installation techniques and the materials used in that process are just
as important as the construction of the manufactured home itself in terms of disaster protection, especially high wind,” said Jason Smart, an IBHS project engineer who is also on one of the task groups revising the federal installation standard.

The Manufactured Home Inspection Checklist can be found in the
“Publications” section of the IBHS Web site, http://www.disastersafety.org.