GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 145.1. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
ANSI—The American National Standards Institute.
ASHRAE—American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers.
Act—The Industrialized Housing Act (35 P.S. § § 1651.1—1651.12).
Approved—Approved by the Department, or agent of the Department, under this chapter.
Building system—The method of constructing a type of industrialized home, building, or housing or building component described by plans, specifications and other documentation which together establish a set of limits meeting the building standards in § § 145.41 and 145.42 (relating to adoption of standards; and alternate standards), as well as the compliance control program requirements of § 145.58 (relating to basic requirements for a compliance control program), including installation details.
Building system documentation—The plans, specifications, procedures and other documentation, approved by an evaluation agency under § 145.52 (relating to approval of building system documentation), which together describe industrialized home, building, or housing or building components, including any variation, installation detail and instruction consistent with this chapter.
Certification or certified—Conforming to the requirements of this chapter.
Compliance assurance program—The system of policies and procedures implemented by the manufacturer and the inspection agency to assure that industrialized housing, buildings, or housing or building components are manufactured, transported and installed at the site in accordance with the approved building system documentation.
Compliance control program—The system of policies and procedures utilized by the manufacturer to assure that industrialized housing, buildings, or housing or building components, as the case may be, are manufactured, transported and installed at the site in accordance with the approved building system documentation.
Department—The Department of Community and Economic Development of the Commonwealth.
Designated employee—An officer or supervisory employee of a third-party agency who has been so designated by the third-party agency in its application to the Department for approval or in another written communication to the Department.
Dwelling unit or unit—Rooms arranged for the use of an individual for residential occupancy.
Evaluation agency—A private or public agency which is approved by the Department under § 145.73 (relating to criteria for approval of evaluation and inspection agencies) to perform the functions assigned by this chapter to an evaluation agency. If the Department performs the functions of the evaluation agency in accordance with § 145.70 (relating to Departmental evaluation and inspection), the Department will be the evaluation agency for the purpose of this title.
Housing component—A manufactured subsystem or subassembly, designed for use as an integral component part of a structure designed primarily for residential occupancy, which contains concealed parts or processes of manufacture that cannot be inspected at the site without disassembly, damage or destruction and which is identified in § 145.35 (relating to applicability of Fire and Panic Act) as being subject to this chapter.
Housing structure—A structure designed primarily for residential occupancy.
ICC—International Code Council.
Industrialized building or industrialized commercial building—A structure designed for commercial occupancy classified within nonresidential use groups in accordance with the standards in § 145.41. The structure is wholly or in substantial part made, constructed, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly and installation on the building site so that concealed parts or processes of manufacture cannot be inspected at the site without disassembly, damage or destruction.
Industrialized building component or industrialized commercial building component—A closed wall subsystem or subassembly designed for use as a structure or a part of a structure which is classified within the nonresidential use groups in accordance with the standards in § 145.41. The closed wall subsystem or subassembly is fabricated in a manufacturing facility to be separately transported to the building site and cannot be inspected at the site without disassembly. Components may be installed with or without a permanent foundation.
Industrialized building module—(i) A closed wall structure or substantial part of a closed wall structure incorporating or designed to be assembled to form one or more rooms used as habitable, occupiable or mechanical/equipment space which is classified within nonresidential use groups in accordance with the standards in § 145.41. The structure is fabricated in a manufacturing facility to be separately transported to the building site and cannot be inspected at the site without disassembly.
(ii) The term includes industrialized building components that are subsystems or assemblies, or other systems of closed construction designed for use in or as a part of an industrialized building.
Industrialized housing—(i) A structure designed primarily for residential occupancy or classified within Residential Group R in accordance with the standards adopted under § 145.41 and which is wholly or in substantial part made, constructed, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly and installation on the building site so that concealed parts or processes of manufacture cannot be inspected at the site without disassembly, damage or destruction.
(ii) The term does not include a structure or building classified as an institutional building or manufactured home, as defined by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.A. § § 5401—5426).
Industrialized housing module—Each section of an industrialized housing structure which is fabricated in the manufacturing facility to be separately transported to the building site.
Insignia of certification—The label conforming to the requirements of this chapter which, when attached to industrialized housing, housing components, industrialized building or building components under this chapter, evidences that the industrialized housing, buildings, or industrialized housing or building components have been certified.
Inspection agency—An agency, private or public, which is approved by the Department under § 145.73 to perform the functions assigned by this chapter to an inspection agency. If the Department performs the functions of the inspection agency under § 145.70, the Department will be the inspection agency for the purposes of this title.
Installation—The assembly of industrialized housing or buildings onsite and the process of affixing industrialized housing, housing components, industrialized buildings or components to land, a foundation, footings, utilities or an existing building, and may include the process of affixing housing or building components to or within the structure for which they are designed.
Insulation—An approved material which has a relatively high resistance to heat flow and is used principally to retard the flow of heat.
Local enforcement agency—The agency of local government with authority to make inspections and to enforce the laws, ordinances and regulations enacted by the Commonwealth and by local governments that establish standards and requirements applicable to the construction, installation, alteration or repair of buildings.
Local government—A county, city, borough, incorporated town, township or similar general purpose unit of government which may be created by the General Assembly with authority to establish standards and requirements applicable to construction, installation, alteration and repair of buildings.
Manufacture—The process of making, fabricating, constructing, forming or assembling a product from raw, unfinished or semifinished materials.
Manufactured home—(i) 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 onsite, is 320 square feet or more, 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, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein.
(ii) The term includes any structure which meets the requirements of this paragraph except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.
(iii) The term does not include any self-propelled recreational vehicle.
Manufacturing facility—A place, other than the building site, at which machinery, equipment and other capital goods are assembled and operated for the purpose of making, fabricating, constructing, forming or assembling industrialized housing or housing components, industrialized buildings or building components.
Mobile home—A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is 8 body feet or more in width and is 32 body feet in length 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, and including the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical system combined therein manufactured in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.
NCSBCS—National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards.
NFPA—The National Fire Protection Association.
Notice of Approval—A notice issued by the Department to each manufacturer of industrialized housing, housing components, industrialized buildings or building components that indicates the approval of the manufacturer’s building systems documentation, compliance assurance program, and the authority to receive and attach insignias of certification to industrialized housing, housing components, industrialized building or building components as applicable.
Person—An individual or organized group of any character, including partnerships; corporations; other forms of associations; and Federal, State and local instrumentalities, political subdivisions or officers, including the Department when indicated by the context.
Residential occupancy—Occupancy of a structure or building, or part thereof, classified as a one-family or two-family dwelling, townhouse or within Residential Group R in accordance with the standards adopted under § 145.41, by families, households or individuals for purposes of shelter and sleeping, without regard to the availability of cooking or dining facilities.
Residential permanent foundation—The structure or assembly provided at the installation site to support and stabilize industrialized housing as described in § 145.33(c) (relating to manufactured homes excluded).
Site or building site—The entire tract, subdivision or parcel of land on which industrialized housing, housing components, industrialized building or industrialized building components are installed.
Site Installation Inspection Checklist—A part of the manufacturers building system documentation or design package that identifies the various aspects of construction that shall be completed onsite, for inspection by the local code official, that when properly completed will result in a conforming home or building.
Thermal resistance (“R” Value)—The accumulative resistance to heat flow through materials or arrangement of materials expressed in Fahrenheit degrees per BTU/(hours) (square foot). For wood frame construction, the effect of normal framing members may be neglected in the determination of R values.
Third-party agency—An evaluation agency or inspection agency approved by the Department.
Unheated space—A space such as a garage or crawl space which is not provided with a heat source sufficient to maintain a minimum temperature of 50°F (10°C).
Authority The provisions of this § 145.1 amended under section 5 of the Industrialized Housing Act (35 P.S. § 1651.5).
(Editor’s Note: See 53 Pa.B. 830 (February 11, 2023) and 54 Pa.B. 145 (January 13, 2024) for notices regarding implementation of this section.)
Source The provisions of this § 145.1 adopted July 12, 1974, effective July 13, 1974, 4 Pa.B. 1403; amended September 8, 1978, effective March 9, 1979, 8 Pa.B. 2524; corrected September 22, 1978, effective March 9, 1979, 8 Pa.B. 2631; amended September 29, 1978, effective September 30, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 2681; amended April 17, 1981, effective April 18, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 1320; amended July 8, 1988, effective July 9, 1988, 18 Pa.B. 3040; amended September 19, 1997, effective September 20, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 4828; amended November 5, 2004, effective February 4, 2005, 34 Pa.B. 6024; effective date corrected at 34 Pa.B. 6133; amended May 7, 2010, effective July 7, 2010, 40 Pa.B. 2421; amended November 4, 2016, effective November 6, 2017, 46 Pa.B. 6976. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (361189) to (361190) and (349237) to (349239).
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