16 Tex. Admin. Code § 70.70 - Responsibilities of the Registrants - Manufacturer's Design Package and REF Builder's Construction Documents
(a)
Review and approval. The manufacturer's design package and the REF builder's
construction documents must be reviewed and approved in accordance with the
following.
(1) The manufacturer or REF
builder shall select a council-approved design review agency (DRA) to perform
all required review and evaluation of plans, designs, specifications,
compliance control, and on-site construction documentation, etc. This selection
shall be made in writing to the executive director and will state the name,
address, and registration number of the design review agency
selected.
(2) An approved DRA shall
review all designs, plans, specifications, calculations, compliance control
programs, on-site construction documentation or specifications, and other
documents as necessary to assure compliance with the mandatory building codes
in accordance with the interpretations, instructions, and determinations of the
council.
(A) The reviews are to be performed
or directly supervised by the DRA's certified plans reviewers for the
discipline (electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural, building planning, or
fire safety) as listed and approved in the agency's organizational chart. A
DRA's plans reviewers must be certified pursuant to the criteria established by
the council as set forth in §70.22.
(B) The DRA will obtain from the manufacturer
or REF builder all information necessary to assure that the manufacturer's
designs and procedures are in compliance with the mandatory building codes and
the sections in this chapter.
(3) All documents shall have pages numbered
and arranged in accordance with a table of contents. The floor plans shall have
no scale smaller than 1/8th inch equals one foot. All documents shall be
identified to indicate the manufacturer's or REF builder's name and registered
physical address.
(4) The DRA will
signify approval of a drawing, specification, calculation, or any other
document, including revisions and additions, in the manufacturer's design
package and in the REF builder's construction documents by applying the
council's stamp to each page.
(A) An
alternate council stamp as approved by the council may be used on all designs,
plans, specifications, calculations, and other documentation with the exception
of the first or cover page and the table of contents or index pages of the
design package.
(B) The original
council stamp with original signature will be required on the first or cover
page and the table of contents or index pages of the design package.
(C) The signature on the original council
stamp must be the signature of the manager or chief executive officer of the
DRA. The manager or chief executive officer of the DRA must be licensed in the
State of Texas as a professional engineer or architect in accordance with the
criteria for approval of DRA's established by the council.
(D) The stamp shall not be placed on any
designs, plans, or specifications that do not meet the requirements of the
applicable mandatory building codes or the requirements of these
sections.
(E) The DRA shall forward
a copy of all approved documents to the department within 5 days of approval
and shall forward one approved copy to the manufacturer or the REF
builder.
(F) The DRA shall keep
copies of all approved documents for a minimum of 5 years from the date that
these documents are superseded by adoption of later editions of the mandatory
building codes and make a copy of these documents available to the department
upon request.
(G) The manufacturer
shall keep a copy of all approved documents for a minimum of ten years from the
date the last unit constructed from the documents is shipped and make a copy of
these documents available to the department upon request.
(H) The REF builder shall keep a copy of all
approved construction documents for a minimum of 10 years from the date of
completion of the units covered by the documents and make a copy of these
documents available to the department upon request.
(I) The manufacturer or the REF builder shall
make a copy of all approved documents available to the person performing
inspections.
(5)
Manufacturers and REF builders will be notified of the change in code editions
180 days before the effective date of the change. Manufacturers or REF builders
who wish to continue building to previously approved documents must resubmit
these documents to their DRA for review and approval to the new code editions.
Only documents that meet the new code editions may be approved. Approval of
these documents will be evidenced by application of a new approval date and the
council's stamp of approval to each document.
(A) All construction begun on or after
effective date of adoption of the new code editions must comply with the new
code editions and be constructed in accordance with design packages approved to
the new code editions.
(B)
Construction to plans approved to the old code editions begun prior to
effective date of adoption of the new code editions, or prior to the
manufacturer's effective transition date, must be completed, inspected by a
Texas approved inspector, and labeled (TX decal must be attached to the unit)
within 180 days of the adoption of the new code editions, or the unit shall not
be eligible for a Texas decal.
(C)
A manufacturer may transition from the current code edition to the new code
edition as follows.
(i) The approval date on
all documents in the manufacturer's design package will be on or after the
effective date of adoption of the new edition of the codes in §70.100.
Approvals dated before the effective date of adoption of the codes in
§70.100 will no longer be valid for new construction by the
manufacturer.
(ii) The manufacturer
may transition approval of documents in his design package any time within the
180 days prior to the effective date of the adoption of the new editions of the
codes. The manufacturer must notify the department in writing of the effective
date of transition. All documents approved on or after that date shall be to
the new editions of the codes. All previously approved supporting
documentation, such as compliance control manuals, system calculations, etc.,
must be resubmitted to the DRA for review and approval to the new code editions
and must be approved as of the effective date of transition specified by the
manufacturer. Approvals dated before the transition date of adoption of the
codes in §70.100 will no longer be valid for new construction by the
manufacturer.
(6) A DRA may withdraw the approval of any
document whenever the approval is later found to be in violation of code
requirements or the rules and regulations in this chapter. Notice of the
withdrawal of the approval shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons
for the withdrawal. Any withdrawal of approval shall have prospective effect
only, except for life safety items.
(7) A DRA may not revise or correct documents
submitted for review and approval by the manufacturer or REF builder except as
provided in this subsection. DRAs may make red ink corrections to documents
provided the corrections meet all of the following criteria:
(A) limited to corrections of minor
deviations;
(B) the corrected items
can be verified by reference to prescriptive code requirements;
(C) the change does not involve any change of
design or require design;
(D) the
red ink correction is valid for 10 working days and may not be extended;
and
(E) the corrections must be
numbered and initialed by the DRA and the statement, "As noted with (number)
corrections" shall appear near the stamp of the council with the number of
corrections entered.
(b) In-plant documentation for manufacturers
and construction documents for REF builders. The manufacturer and REF builder
shall provide the DRA the documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance
with the mandatory building codes in §70.100 and §70.101. At a
minimum the documentation shall include the following:
(1) specifications or detail drawings for all
materials, devices, appliances, equipment, and fasteners used in construction,
including listings and evaluation reports for materials or methods of
construction where required by the mandatory building code or to demonstrate
compliance of an approved alternate material or method of construction in
accordance with §70.103;
(2)
detailed drawings of all assemblies and components (with cross-sections as
necessary to identify major building components);
(3) floor plans for all models and
options;
(4) electrical schematics
for all models and options;
(5)
water system and drain-waste-vent system drawings for all models and
options;
(6) gas piping system
drawings for all models and options;
(7) mechanical system drawings for all models
and options;
(8) fire protection,
fire safety, and exit details;
(9)
energy compliance details, including any local amendments or alternative
compliance paths to which the structure will be constructed under Occupations
Code, Section
RSA
1202.1536;
(10) heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning details;
(11)
structural, thermal, and electrical load calculations;
(12) weather resistance details;
(13) condensation protection
details;
(14) decay protection
details;
(15) insect and vermin
protection details;
(16) fastening
schedule;
(17) assembly and
connection instructions for all components, materials, devices, equipment, and
appliances;
(18) together on either
the floor plan or the cover or title sheet for each model or project in a title
block format:
(A) name and date of applicable
codes;
(B) identification of
permissible type of gas for appliances;
(C) maximum snow load (roof)(psf);
(D) maximum wind speed (mph) and
exposure;
(E) seismic design
criteria;
(F) occupancy/use group
type;
(G) construction
type;
(H) special conditions and/or
limitations;
(I) the location of
the data plate on the building or dwelling unit; and
(J) the location of the decal or insignia on
each module or modular component, or for REF builders, the location of the
decal on the building;
(19) compliance control manual (reference
subsection (c)); and
(20) on-site
construction documentation (reference subsection (d)).
(c) Compliance control program for
manufacturers. The utilization of mass production techniques and assembly line
methods in the construction of industrialized housing, buildings, modules, and
modular components along with the fact that a large part of such construction
cannot be inspected at the ultimate building site, requires manufacturers to
develop an adequate compliance control program to assure that these structures
meet or exceed mandatory code requirements and are in compliance with the rules
and regulations of this chapter. The compliance control program shall be
documented in the form of a manual that must be approved by the design review
agency. A 100% inspection of the construction of industrialized housing or
buildings may be authorized in lieu of a compliance control program and
certification of the manufacturer in accordance with §70.60. The
manufacturer shall provide the design review agency a compliance control manual
that must, at the minimum, contain the following:
(1) a table of contents;
(2) a chart indicating the manufacturer's
organizational structure to assure compliance and to assure that the compliance
control staff shall maintain independence from the production
personnel;
(3) a statement that
defines the obligation, responsibility, and authority for the manufacturer's
compliance control program;
(4)
identification of compliance control personnel, their accountability by
position, responsibility for inspections, method of marking nonconformances
observed, and system for assuring corrections are made;
(5) materials handling methods, including
inspection checklists, for receiving materials and methods for marking and
removing rejected materials both upon receipt and from the production line. The
area for rejected materials must be clearly indicated to assure that such
material is not used;
(6) a
description of an identification system to mark each individual module, or
modular component, at the first stage of production to assure appropriate
inspection and rechecking of any deviation corrections;
(7) a diagram of the manufacturing sequence
with the plant layout, including a description of the activities to be
performed along with a listing of those that may be performed at one or more
stations;
(8) an inspection
checklist including:
(A) a list of inspections
to be made at each production station; and
(B) accept/reject criteria (each significant
dimension and component should be given tolerances);
(C) an energy compliance checklist that
enumerates the energy code-compliance features of the module or modules and
includes a signature space for the compliance control inspector or manager. A
copy of this checklist shall be shipped with the module or modules.
(9) step-by-step test procedures,
a description of the station at which each production test is performed, a
description of required testing equipment, and procedures for periodic
checking, recalibration, and readjustment of test equipment. Procedures shall
be included for, but not limited to, electrical tests as specified in the
National Electrical Code, Article 545.14 (as added by §70.101(j)(2)), gas
supply pressure tests, water supply pressure tests, drain-waste-vent system
tests, concrete slump tests, and concrete strength tests;
(10) storage procedures for completed
structures at the plant and for any other locations prior to
installation;
(11) a statement
indicating the person who is responsible for compliance control at each
manufacturing facility and who will assume responsibility for decals and
insignia, application of the decals and insignia, and the reporting
procedure;
(12) a procedure for
maintaining reliable, retrievable records of the inspections performed, decal
and insignia numbers assigned, the deficiencies and how they were corrected,
and the site to which the modules or modular components were
transported;
(13) procedures and
information to demonstrate how the modules and modular components are to be
transported to the building site so that damage will not occur or that
compliance deviations will not result (actual transportation without damage or
deviation is evidence sufficient to justify the method); and
(14) procedures that assure that the
compliance control procedures are complied with on all regulated structures. As
a minimum, regulated structures must be identified prior to commencing
construction.
(d)
On-site construction specifications or documentation for manufacturers. All
work to be performed on the building site shall be specifically identified and
distinguished from construction to be performed in the manufacturing facility,
e.g., assembly and connection of all modules, modular components, systems,
equipment, and appliances and attachment to the foundation system. The work to
be performed on-site shall be described in detail in documents (architectural
sheets, specifications, instructions, etc.) which shall be made available to
the builder for use at the site and provided as required for review and
inspection to the agency having local authority. The manufacturer shall provide
the design review agency on-site construction documentation which must, at the
minimum, contain the following:
(1) critical
load points for attachment of the house or building or component to the
foundation;
(2) details for module
to module or modular component assembly and connection;
(3) minimum requirements for connection and
attachment of all modules and modular components to the foundation
system;
(4) firestopping and
draftstopping details;
(5) details
for fire exits, balconies, walkways, and other site-built
attachments;
(6) exterior
weatherproofing details;
(7)
details for thermal, condensation, decay, corrosion, and insect
protection;
(8) electrical,
mechanical, heating, cooling, and plumbing system completion details;
(9) electrical, mechanical, heating, cooling,
and plumbing system test procedures;
(10) fire safety provisions; and
(11) specifications and instructions for
cooling equipment, and complete information necessary to calculate sensible
heat gain along with information on the sizing of the air distribution system,
if applicable, and the R values of insulation in the ceiling, walls, and
floors.
(e) Other
construction documentation for REF builders. Construction documentation for the
foundation and site specific elements, such as ramps and stairs, of the
site-built REFs shall be reviewed and approved by the DRA, the local building
official, or, in areas where the building site is outside a municipality or
within a municipality with no building department or agency, by the school
district. At a minimum the documentation shall include all construction
documentation necessary to complete the building at the first commercial site
including a foundation system design meeting the requirements of
§70.73(h). The use of ground anchors shall comply with
§70.73(i).
(f) Non-site
specific buildings. Whenever the manufacturer does not know, at the time of
construction, where the building is to be placed, in lieu of providing the site
specific construction details or typical site construction details as required
in subsection (d), the manufacturer may provide special conditions and/or
limitations on the placement of the building. These special conditions and/or
limitations will serve to alert the local building official of items, such as
handicapped accessibility and placement of the building on the property, which
the local building official may need to verify for conformance to the mandatory
building codes. Certain site-related details, such as module to module
connections, must still be provided by the manufacturer. It is the
responsibility of the DRA to verify that such site-related details are included
in the manufacturer's approved design package.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.