Thread: Structural enginner inspect of manufactured???

I had a realtor ask me today if a manufactured home that has had a permitted addition installed is required, to be approved for any financing, to have an inspection by a structural engineer. The addition involved removing of a sliding glass door to create a walkway into a sunroom and the addition supposedly has its own foundation.
I have never heard of such a requirement, but I know know all of you good people have more experience than i do.

In my area, the addition built with a permit has approval so there are no requirements for an engineer.

Built without a permit in my area, the addition will need an electrical inspection by a licenced electrician. Never heard of getting an engineer involved.

But you are in Oregon so you need specifics from the authority where you are doing the inspection. Call the authority and get it from the horse's mouth.

Originally Posted by cory nystul

I had a realtor ask me today if a manufactured home that has had a permitted addition installed is required, to be approved for any financing, to have an inspection by a structural engineer. The addition involved removing of a sliding glass door to create a walkway into a sunroom and the addition supposedly has its own foundation.
I have never heard of such a requirement, but I know know all of you good people have more experience than i do.

If anyone buys it with an FHA or VA loan it will need to have a foundation certification provided by a PE. They are looking at the tie downs, anchors, skirting, footings, piers, additions, etc. Harrison Engineering and Haywood Engineering are two national companies that uses local home inspectors to take photos and provide information to them so they can evaluate it. They both pay the inspector around $100 plus mileage, it takes about 20-30 min on site. I have done many of them over the years for both firms.

Each state is likely different to some degree - in Florida the addition would need to be permitted and is not actually an "addition" as the new adjacent structure is a stand alone structure which is only permitted to be attached to the manufactured home by flashing. I.e., when the manufactured home is removed from the adjacent structure, the adjacent structure has a 4th wall and is not attached to the manufactured home.

The manufactured home may be removed for a number of reasons: it is old and is being replaced; it fell in on itself; it burned down; or a high wind event (hurricane) blew it away - regardless of the reason, the new adjacent structure needs to be self-supporting.

And wiring them together is a no-no (the new structure needs its own disconnect and service equipment so this is run from the service equipment which now supplies both), the duct work and plumbing of the new structure also needs to be independent of manufactured home - the key thing to remember is that the two are independent of each other, one is the manufactured home and is intended to be able to be moved, the other is a permanent in place structure.

Cory,

If the mobile home was financed with a FHA/HUD loan that required a foundation certification, any new addition or deck must be self-supporting. The mobile home should not carry any additional loads from additions or decks.