STATE OF WISCONSIN
Department of Saftey and Professional Services
IN THE MATTER OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE
DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
PROPOSED ORDER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
ADOPTING RULES
(CLEARINGHOUSE RULE 15-034)
ORDER
An order of the Department of Safety and Professional Services to amend SPS 321.40 (1) (a) relating to ground anchors for manufactured homes.
Analysis prepared by the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
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ANALYSIS
Statutes interpreted:
Statutory authority:
Explanation of agency authority:
Section 227.11 (2) (a) of the Statutes authorizes the Department to promulgate rules interpreting any statute that is enforced or administered by the Department, if the rule is considered necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute. Sections 101.92 (intro.) and (3) require the department to review annually the rules adopted under this subchapter. No set of rules may be adopted that has not taken into account the costs of specific code provisions to home buyers in relationship to the benefits derived from the provisions. Related statute or rule:
Various other rules promulgated by the Department address the installation of manufactured homes and their anchorage to the ground.
Plain language analysis:
The Department’s installation standards for manufactured homes currently incorporates the federal installation standards in Title 24, Part 3285 of the Code of Federal Regulations as in effect on April 1, 2013. The federal regulations were recently revised to clarify and improve ground anchorage provisions. This rule updates the reference to the federal regulations so as to include these revised ground anchorage provisions.
Summary of, and comparison with, existing or proposed federal regulation:
The proposed rule would update the Wisconsin regulations to make them equivalent to the federal standards. No proposed federal regulations were found relating to manufactured homes.
Comparison with rules in adjacent states:
Illinois: Manufactured homes must be installed under the on-site supervision of a licensed manufactured home installer, in compliance with either the manufacturer’s instructions, or, where no such instructions are available, in compliance with prescribed standards relating to such items as site location, structural support systems, perimeter enclosures, and anchorage of the home.
Iowa: The federal installation standards are applied without any state-level modifications. The only statewide regulations that were found relating to manufactured home communities essentially address only the rental agreements.
Michigan: The federal installation standards are applied statewide as is a requirement to follow the manufacturer’s installation specifications.
