Manufactured Home Foundation Certification
Are you looking to purchase a manufactured home using a mortgage lender? If you have started talking with your lender, I am sure you have noticed that there are some additional criteria requirements. While mortgages are available for the purchase of new or existing manufactured homes, the loans generally require a foundation certification or design certification. The reason behind this requirement is that most mortgages written by a lender are insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) which is a division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As a condition of providing this mortgage insurance, the HUD requires that the foundation for manufactured homes meet certain design requirements and be designed by a Licensed Professional Engineer. When you are purchasing an existing manufactured home, most lenders will require a Professional Engineer certify that the foundation meets these HUD requirements, so the loan can be insured.
What is required for Foundation Certification or Design Certification
HUD requires that the manufactured home is on a permanent foundation before they insure the loan. A permanent foundation is one that is “constructed of durable materials (concrete, mortared masonry, treated wood) and be site-built”. While the manufactured home is not built on-site, the foundation will be built on-site and must be certified. HUD also states that the foundation of a manufactured home must “have attachment points to anchor and stabilize the manufactured home to transfer all loads to underlying soil or rock. The permanent foundations shall be structurally developed in accordance with this document or be structurally designed by a Licensed Professional Engineer.” If you are interested in reading up on these requirements, a link to the HUD Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing, is at the bottom of this page.
Who can provide a Foundation Certification or Design Certification
As we mentioned above, the Foundation Certification or Design Certification must be signed or stamped by a Professional Engineer. So how does Bent Nail provide the foundation certification to our Knoxville area clients? Bent Nail has partnered with a leading engineering firm that specializes in providing these certifications. This partnership included some specialized training on how to inspect the components of the manufactured home. The training also included how and what information we needed to gather so the Professional Engineer can verify HUD compliance and provide the required certifications.
What Does A Foundation Certification Or Design Certification Inspection Require
The Bent Nail team will perform a field assessment that will take around 30-60 minutes. We will view the perimeter of the home. We will also look at the underside of the structure and the foundation the manufactured home is resting upon. We will also need to take a quick walk through the interior. Throughout the inspection process, we will be taking pictures to document the information we are gathering. Once we have completed our part of the inspection, we will contact the Professional Engineer and provide them with the information they need to provide the Foundation Certification or Design Certification.
How Long Does It Take To Get Your Foundation Certification Or Design Certification
Once we complete our inspection, we submit the information to the Professional Engineer, who will review the information issue a certification letter to verify the home meets HUD standards. The whole process generally takes 1 – 2 business days from the time we complete our inspection. Once we receive the documentation back from the Professional Engineer, we will forward it to the necessary parties.
How Much Does It Cost To Get A Foundation Certification Or Design Certification
IThe cost of providing the certification documentation varies depending on the square footage of the manufactured home. The larger the home is the more complex the foundation will be. The more complex the foundation is the more time it will require to document. The general cost to provide them certification is between $300 and $500.
Please visit the following websites for more information about manufactured homes Foundation Certification or Design Certification.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)