Definitions

Definitions For purposes of this Regulation, the terms hereinafter set forth are defined as follows: 1. "Approved construction inspection agency" means an approved inspection agency which is responsible for performing the functions described in Rule 3.03.5 herein and has been approved by the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal’s Office of the Department of Insurance. 2. "Approved design review agency" means an approved inspection agency which is responsible for performing the functions described in Rule 3.03.5 herein and has been approved by the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal’s Office of the Department of Insurance. 3. "Building system" means plans, specifications, and documentation for a system or type of modular building unit, or for the foundation, structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, or other system(s) thereof affecting health and safety. 4. “Certificate of Inspection Form”- is a form issued by the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal’s Office that contains the certificates of inspection submitted by any retailer, developer and installer/transporter who is engaged in the sale, transport and/or set-up (installation, blocking, anchoring and tie-down) of a Factory-Built home intended for human habitation, to the Division within 72 hours (3 days) of the completion of the installation of a home at the home site. 5. “Certification” means written confirmation from a modular home manufacturer verifying that a Modular Home Contractor or an Installer/Transporter is qualified to install and/or transport his modular home as defined in Rule 3.01.3(X). 6. "State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal" means the individual appointed by the Commissioner of Insurance, who, along with his employees, is designated by the Commissioner to implement and enforce this Regulation and to maintain, among other duties, the Factory-Built Home Division. 7. "Closed construction" means any modular building unit, component, assembly, or system manufactured in such a manner that all concealed parts’ processes of manufacturing cannot be inspected before installation at the site without disassembly, damage, or destruction. 8. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of Mississippi. 9. "Compliance assurance program" means the system documentation and methods of assuring that modular building units and their components, including the manufacturing, storage, transportation, assembly, handling and installation thereof, conform to the Standards, as defined in Rule 3.01.3(GG). 10. "Component" means any assembly, sub-assembly, or combination of elements for use as a part of a modular building unit, which may include the structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, or other system(s) thereof affecting life safety. 11. "Damage" means any impairment, alteration, or breakage occurring to a modular building unit, or any part thereof, that causes it not to comply with the Standards, as defined in Rule 3.01.3(GG). 12. "Data plate" means the label requested and installed by independent third-party inspection agencies, verifying compliance with construction standards approved by the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal’s Office of the Department of Insurance. 13. Developer” – for the purposes of this Regulation, means any person who buys Factory-Built homes and real estate and then offers to sell or lease to the general public a land-home “package deal” consisting of the Factory-Built home along with the real estate. Upon renewal of a license, a developer must provide documentation to the Department of Insurance that he or she has at least five (5) available Factory-Built home sites. A developer shall be responsible for installation requirements for Factory-Built modular homes as set forth in Rule 3.03.7 of this Regulation. This definition of developer is interpreted to exclude the following: a). Factory-built home parks and park owners having Factory-Built homes, on individual lots in the park, owned by the park or park owners and available for rent or lease; b). An individual selling his personal Factory-Built home residence (one that the individual is currently living in or has previously lived in) and the real estate upon which the home is permanently installed and fixed, or has retained a real estate broker or real estate salesperson to sell the Factory-Built home and the real estate as a “package deal”; c). An individual owning a single plot or multiple plots of real estate having a Factory- Built Home installed on said real estate and offering the same for lease to the general public provided the lease is not a lease-purchase under a “package deal”. 14. "Division" means the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal's Office. 15. “Endorsement” means the stamp affixed to a privilege license indicating manufacturer certification as defined in Rule 3.01.3(D). 16. "Factory-Built home" means a mobile home, a manufactured home, and a modular home as those terms are defined herein. 17. “General Liability Insurance” - is a form of insurance that indemnifies against liability on account of injury to the person or property of another. 18. “Inspection Decal” - is the decal issued by the State Fire Marshal’s Office that is placed inside all new and used modular homes following the installation by the licensed installer hired by the retailer for new modular homes and by installers hired by the homeowner of used modular homes. The label is to be affixed near or on the electrical circuit panel box cover door inside the home or other locations as directed by the homeowner. The installer is required to photograph the installed decal and submit the photograph to the State Fire Marshal’s office dedicated email address mhlicense@mid.ms.gov. 19. “Installer/transporter” - is any person engaged for hire as an independent contractor in the movement of, transportation, or both, or the installation, blocking, anchoring and tie-down of a Factory-Built home. An “installer/transporter” shall not include persons who do not hold themselves out for hire to the general public for the purposes described in this definition. An installer/transporter shall be responsible for installation requirements for manufactured, mobile or modular homes as set forth in Title 19, Part 7,Chapter 5, Rule 5.04 -5.06.11-4 of the rules and regulations for the Uniform Standards Code for Factory-Built Home Law. 20. "International Residential Code for One and Two-Family Dwellings (IRC)" means the International Residential Code, 2006 edition, published by the International Code Council (ICC), 900 Montclair Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35213, as referenced in Article II. Standards herein. 21. “Licensee” means any manufacturer, retailer, developer, modular home contractor or installer/transporter who obtains a privilege license from the Factory-Built Home Division of the State Fire Marshal’s Office of the Department of Insurance. The licensee shall comply with all laws of the State of Mississippi regarding factory-built homes. 22. “Manufactured Building” - a closed structure, building assembly or systems of subassemblies which may include structural, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, utility service lines, footings, foundations, porches or other service systems manufactured in manufacturing facilities, for installation or erection, with or without other specified components, as a finished building or as part of a finished building, which are not intended for human habitation but may be used as commercial, institutional, storage and industrial structures. Factory-Built homes are excluded. Manufactured building may also mean at the option of the manufacturer, any building of open construction made or assembled in manufacturing facilities away from the building site, for installation, or assembly and installation on the building site. For purposes of these regulations, the licensing and other requirements imposed shall only apply to Manufactured Buildings intended for human habitation. 23. “Manufactured home” means a structure defined by and constructed in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended, (42 U.S.C.S. 5401 et seq.), and manufactured after June 14, 1976. 24. “Manufacturer" means any person engaged in the production (construction) of modular or manufactured homes. 25. “Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT)” means the regulatory agency for transportation in the State of Mississippi. All licensees (manufacturers, retailers, developers, modular home contractors and installer/transporters) shall comply with the requirements regarding transportation of factory-built homes under the jurisdiction of MDOT in the State of Mississippi. 26. “Mobile Home” - is a structure Factory-Built before June 15, 1976, that is not constructed in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended, (42 U.S.C. Section 5401 et seq.). It is a structure that is transportable in one or more sections, that, in traveling mode, is eight (8) feet or more in width and thirty-two (32) feet or more in length or when erected on site, is two hundred fifty six (256) or more square feet and that is built on a chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes any plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained therein. A "mobile home" also includes any structure which meets all the requirements and complies with the standards established under this chapter. 27. “Model" means a specific design of modular building unit which is based upon size, room arrangement, method of construction, location, arrangement or size of plumbing, mechanical, or electrical equipment and systems therein in accordance with plans and specifications submitted to an approved design review agency. 28. Modular home” is a structure which is: (i) transportable in one or more sections; (ii) designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities, and includes plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems with the home. A modular home must be certified by its manufacturers as being constructed in accordance with the most current version of the residential building code adopted by the Mississippi Building Codes Council; and when designed to be permanently installed at its final destination, shall be installed on an approved foundation constructed in compliance with the manufacturer’s installation guidelines. The term “modular home” does not include manufactured housing as defined by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. Structures used for hunting and fishing camps are exempted from the building code requirements pursuant to the provisions of Mississippi Code Section 17-2-9. 29. "Modular home contractor" means a licensed residential building contractor or a licensed retailer who buys factory-built modular homes for resale to the general public, whether to be located on the consumer's home site or a land-home package on property owned by the modular home contractor. A Mississippi licensed modular home contractor is authorized to sell new modular homes for installation on a consumer's home site or as part of a land-home package without the necessity of maintaining a separate sales center. A modular home contractor shall be responsible for the installation requirements for modular housing as set forth in Rule 3.03.8 of the rules and regulations for Uniform Standards Code for the Factory- Built Homes As Related To Modular Homes. 30. "Non-coded area" means any local jurisdiction (county or municipality) that has not adopted the latest edition and Appendices of the International Building Code, published by the International Code Council, or the Southern Building Code, published by the Southern Building Code Congress International, or any county in which the board of supervisors has not adopted Mississippi Code Ann., Section 75-49-21, entitled “permit Fees for Manufactured or Mobile Homes,” or other recognized building codes or portion thereof. 31. “Open construction" means any modular building unit, component, assembly, or system manufactured in such a manner that all portions can be readily inspected at the site without disassembly, damage, or destruction. 32. "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association or other type of business entity. 33. “Portable Building Unit” – is a closed structure, building assembly or system that is not designed or constructed to a nationally recognized building code and therefore not intended for residential use, having no interior finishes, no electrical wiring, no plumbing pipes and/or facilities and no heating/ventilation/cooling systems (see “manufactured building”). 34. "Residential Building Contractor” means any person who is licensed by the State of Mississippi to construct a residential building or structure, or to construct the foundation and perform the installation and site work for a modular home, or to offer for sale or for use by another a residential building or structure, or who, for a fixed price, commission, fee, wage, or other compensation, undertakes or offers to undertake the construction, or superintending of the construction, of a residential building or structure. 35. “ Residential Dwelling” - Any building or structure that contains one or more dwelling units used, intended, or designed to be built, used, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied as residential living space or that are occupied for living purposes and as a single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation. 36. "Retailer” means any person engaged in the retail sale of new or used manufactured mobile or modular homes to the general public. Upon renewal of a license, a retailer must provide documentation to the Department of Insurance that he or she has at least three (3) available manufactured mobile or modular homes on a sales lot. A retailer shall be responsible for installation requirements for Factory-Built mobile or modular housing set forth in Rule 3.03.8 of this Regulation. 37. Site" means the location on which a modular building unit is installed or is to be installed. 38. “Southern Building Code Congress International (hereinafter referred to as “SBCCI”) means the former Southern Building Code Congress International of Birmingham, Alabama, which changed on January 2000 to the new International Code Council. 38. "Standards" means the standards for the construction and installation of Factory-Built modular homes established in Rule 3.02 of this Regulation. 39. "Standard design" means any modular building unit, component, model or series intended for duplication or repetitive manufacture. 40. “Surety Bond” - is a type of bond which protects against loss due to the inability or refusal of an obligor to perform his or her contract. 41. "System prototype" means a specific design of modular homes designated by the manufacturer to be the standard for imitation reproduction. A system prototype may include options that do not affect the performance function of any system. 42. “Tiny House or Home”: Any closed structure, building assembly or systems of assemblies designed for use as a residential dwelling and ranging from 80 to less than 400 square feet in size, which may or may not be constructed on a chassis (with or without axels or wheels). If intended to be used as residential dwellings, tiny homes/houses will be treated as a “modular home” (see Rule 3.01.3 (27)) with regard to the design and construction requirements in compliance with the most current version of the residential building code adopted by the Mississippi Building Codes Council; and when designed to be permanently installed at its final destination, shall be installed on an approved foundation constructed in compliance with the manufacturer’s installation guidelines pertaining to licensure of the manufacturing facility, retail entity and enforcement of installation standards for occupant safety.