HD13 - Manufactured Home Parks: Uniform Statewide Building Code and Virginia Maintenance Code Notice of Violations (HB2203, 2017)


Executive Summary:
The 2017 General Assembly approved and the Governor signed into law HB 2203 patroned by Delegate Luke Torian. The legislation was the result of a long running water and sewerage problem at a manufactured home park (MHP). The occupants were unaware of notice of violations being issued to the MHP owner. HB 2203 would also require, where notice of violations of the Virginia Maintenance Code (VMC) impacts one or more of the tenants, each tenant of the manufactured home park be notified by the local Maintenance Code Official.

HB2203 contains an emergency enactment clause for the Board of Housing and Community Development (BHCD) to promulgate regulations in the VMC to implement the legislation for the 2015 Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) VMC. The BHCD is entering the final regulatory phase for the 2015 USBC VMC.

The following is the regulatory status for HB2203:

• Attached is a summary of a DHCD workgroup meeting with the impacted stakeholders held on March 21, 2017. A unanimous consensus code change was approved by the stakeholders.

• The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) held a workgroup meeting on April 11, 2017, where the MHP code change was approved without any opposition.

• The BHCD will hear the MHP code change in September of 2017; approve the final regulations in October of 2017; and, the anticipated effective date is April of 2018. The entire administrative process for the 2015 USBC regulatory cycle is attached.

Finally, DHCD has notified all the building and maintenance code officials statewide regarding the HB2203 intent on their responsibility to provide notice to the tenants in manufactured home parks that a notice of violation has been issued to the MHP owner where one or more tenants are impacted by the violation.