H. B. 4394
(By Delegates Tucker, Martin, Perry, Stemple,
Perdue, Shook, Hamilton and Sobonya)
[Introduced February 4, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and
Small Business then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §21-9-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the restoration of the licensure
exemption for certain contractors of manufactured housing
installation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §21-9-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS.
§21-9-2. Definitions.
(a) "Board" means the West Virginia Manufactured Housing
Construction and Safety Board created in this article.
(b) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the West Virginia
State Division of Labor.
(c) "Contractor" means any person who performs operations in
this state at the occupancy site which render a manufactured home fit for habitation. The operations include, without limitation,
installation or construction of the foundation, positioning,
blocking, leveling, supporting, tying down, connecting utility
systems, making minor adjustments or assembling multiple or
expandable units. The operations also include transporting the
unit to the occupancy site by other than a motor carrier regulated
by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
Contractor does not include:
(1) A person who personally does work on a manufactured home
which the person owns or leases;
or
(2) A person who is licensed under article eleven of this
chapter and is performing work on a manufactured home pursuant to
a contract with a person licensed under section nine of this
article.
(d) "Dealer" means any person engaged in this state in the
sale, leasing or distributing of new or used manufactured homes,
primarily to persons who in good faith purchase or lease a
manufactured home for purposes other than resale.
(e) "Defect" includes any defect in the performance,
construction, components or material of a manufactured home that
renders the home or any part of the home not fit for the ordinary
use for which it was intended.
(f) "Distributor" means any person engaged in this state in
the sale and distribution of manufactured homes for resale.
(g) "Federal standards" means the National Manufactured
Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, and federal
manufactured home construction and safety standards and regulations
promulgated by the Secretary of HUD to implement that act.
(h) "HUD" means the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
(i) "Manufacturer" means any person engaged in manufacturing
or assembling manufactured homes, including any person engaged in
importing manufactured homes for resale.
(j) "Manufactured home" means a structure, transportable in
one or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight body
feet or more in width or forty or more feet in length or, when
erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and
which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a
dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to
the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating,
air-conditioning and electrical systems contained therein; except
that such term shall include any structure which meets all the
requirements of this definition except the size requirements and
with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a
certificate which complies with the applicable federal standards.
Calculations used to determine the number of square feet in a
structure will be based on the structure's exterior dimensions
measured at the largest horizontal projections when erected on site.
(k) "Purchaser" means the first person purchasing a
manufactured home in good faith for purposes other than resale.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to restore the West Virginia
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards the power to
allow subcontractors to work on manufactured housing installation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.