How to Tell if a Home is a Manufactured Home?

A factory-built home that meets federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety standards classifies as a manufactured home. Built on a transportable permanent chassis, the structure consists of one or more sections. The design of the home allows for installation with or without a permanent foundation. Generally built for residential use, a manufactured home meets or surpasses the building codes for conventional homes.

Check the exterior end wall of the home. Locate the red HUD label affixed to the siding. The label shows the name of the manufacturer and the year of construction.

Examine the area to the bottom right exterior of the front door. The manufacturer of the structure may have affixed a small metallic medallion plate within that area. The medallion contains the trade name of the home. Also, check each exterior end wall, bottom right corner, for the trademark medallion.

Loosen a skirting panel and physically crawl under the home. Take a flashlight with you to illuminate your surroundings and wear work gloves to protect your hands. Locate metal beams welded together in the shape of a triangle called a tow bar. The company that transported the home normally leaves the tow bar at the end of the home nearest the street. The cross member of the tow bar should have the manufactured home’s identification number stamped into the metal.

Locate the home’s data-plate certificate. The data plate has a drawing of the U.S. on it as well as descriptive information concerning the home. You can find the data plate in the laundry room, on the back of a kitchen cabinet door, or on an inside wall closet.

Check the inside of the toilet tank for the home‘s date of construction. Remove the lid from the tank and look for markings or a date stamp.