(a) General.

(1) The DAPIA selected by a manufacturer under §3282.203 shall be responsible for evaluating all manufactured home designs submitted to it by the manufacturer and for assuring that they conform to the standards. It shall also be responsible for evaluating all quality control programs submitted to it by the manufacturer by reviewing the quality assurance manuals in which the programs are set out to assure that the manuals reflect programs which are compatible with the designs to be followed and which commit the manufacturer to make adequate inspections and tests of every part of every manufactured home produced.

(2) A design or quality assurance manual approved by a DAPIA shall be accepted by all IPIAs acting under §3282.362 who deal with the design, quality assurance manual, or manufactured homes built to them, and by all other parties, as, respectively, being in conformance with the Federal standards or as providing for adequate quality control to assure conformance. However, each design and quality assurance manual is subject to review and verification by the Secretary or the Secretary's agent at any time.

(b) Designs.

(1) In evaluating designs for compliance with the standards, the DAPIA will not allow any deviations from accepted engineering practice standards for design calculations or any deviations from accepted test standards, except that the DAPIA, for good cause, may request the Secretary to accept innovations which are not yet accepted practices. Acceptances by the Secretary shall be published in the form of interpretative bulletins, where appropriate.

(2) The DAPIA shall require the manufacturer to submit floor plans and specific information for each manufactured home design or variation which the DAPIA is to evaluate. It shall also require the submission of drawings, specifications, calculations, and test records of the structural, electrical and mechanical systems of each such manufactured home design or variation. The manufacturer need not supply duplicate information where systems are common to several floor plans. Each DAPIA shall develop and carry out procedures for evaluating original manufactured home designs by requiring manufacturers to submit necessary drawings and calculations and carry out such verifications and calculations as it deems necessary. Where compliance with the standards cannot be determined on the basis of drawings and calculations, the DAPIA shall require any necessary tests to be carried out at its own facility, at separate testing facilities or at the manufacturer's plant.

(3) Design deviation report. After evaluating the manufacturer's design, the DAPIA shall furnish the manufacturer with a design deviation report which specifies in detail, item by item with appropriate citations to the standards, the specific deviations in the manufacturer's design which must be rectified in order to produce manufactured homes which comply with the standards. The design deviation report may acknowledge the possibility of alternative designs, tests, listings, and certifications and state the conditions under which they will be acceptable. The design deviation report shall, to the extent practicable, be complete for each design evaluated in order to avoid repeated rejections and additional costs to the manufacturer.

(4) Design approval. The DAPIA shall signify approval of a design by placing its stamp of approval or authorized signature on each drawing and each sheet of test results. The DAPIA shall clearly cross-reference the calculations and test results to applicable drawings. The DAPIA may require the manufacturer to do the cross-referencing if it wishes. It shall indicate on each sheet how any deviations from the standards have been or shall be resolved. Within 5 days after approving a design, the DAPIA shall forward a copy of the design to the manufacturer and the Secretary or the Secretary's agent (prior to the effective date of the standards the latter copy shall go to the Secretary.)

The DAPIA shall maintain a complete up-to-date set of approved designs and design changes approved under paragraph (b)(5) of this section which it can duplicate and copies of which it can furnish to interested parties as needed when disputes arise.

(5) Design change approval. The DAPIA shall also be responsible for approving all changes which a manufacturer wishes to make in a design approved by the DAPIA. In reviewing design changes, the DAPIA shall respond as quickly as possible to avoid disruption of the manufacturing process. Within 5 days after approving a design change, the DAPIA shall forward a copy of this change to the manufacturer and the Secretary or the Secretary's agent as set out in paragraph (b)(4) of this section to be included in the design to which the change was made.

(c) Quality assurance manuals.

(1) In evaluating a quality assurance manual, the DAPIA shall identify any aspects of designs to be manufactured under the manual which require special quality control procedures. The DAPIA shall determine whether the manual under which a particular design is to be manufactured reflects those special procedures, and shall also determine whether the manuals which it evaluates provide for such inspections and testing of each manufactured home so that the manufacturer, by following the manual, can assure that each manufactured home it manufactures will conform to the standards. The manual shall, at a minimum, include the information set out in §3282.203(c).

(2) Manual deviation report. After evaluating a manufacturer's quality assurance manual, the DAPIA shall furnish the manufacturer with a manual deviation report which specifies in detail any changes which a manufacturer must make in order for the quality assurance manual to be acceptable. The manual deviation report shall, to the extent practicable, be complete for each design in order to avoid repeated rejections and additional costs to the manufacturer.

(3) Manual approval. The DAPIA shall signify approval of the manufacturer's quality assurance manual by placing its stamp of approval or authorized signature on the cover page of the manual. Within 5 days of approving a quality assurance manual, the DAPIA shall forward a copy of the quality assurance manual to the manufacturer and the Secretary or the Secretary's agent (prior to the effective date of the standards, the latter copy shall go to the Secretary). The DAPIA shall maintain a complete up-to-date set of approved manuals and manual changes approved under paragraph (c)(4) of this section which it can duplicate and copies of which it can furnish to interested parties as needed when disputes arise.

(4) Manual change approval. Each change the manufacturer wishes to make in its quality assurance manual must be approved by the DAPIA, and, when subject to §3282.604, concurred in by the IPIA. Within 5 days after approving a manual change, the DAPIA shall forward a copy of the change to the manufacturer and the Secretary or the Secretary's agent as set out in paragraph (c)(3) of this section to be included in the manual to which the change was made.

(d) Requirements for full acceptance—DAPIA.

(1) Before granting full acceptance to a DAPIA, the Secretary or the Secretary's agent shall review and evaluate at least one complete design and one quality assurance manual which has been approved by the DAPIA. These shall be designs and manuals approved to the Federal standards, and they shall be chosen at random from those approved by the DAPIA during the period of provisional acceptance.

(2) If the Secretary determines that a design or quality assurance manual shows an inadequate level of performance, the Secretary or the Secretary's agent shall carry out further evaluations. If the Secretary finds the level of performance to be unacceptable, the Secretary shall not grant full acceptance. If full acceptance has not been granted by the end of the provisional acceptance period, provisional acceptance shall lapse unless the Secretary determines that the failure to obtain full acceptance resulted from the fact that the Secretary or her agent has not had adequate time in which to complete an evaluation.

[41 FR 19852, May 13, 1976, as amended at 61 FR 10861, Mar. 15, 1996; 80 FR 53727, Sept. 8, 2015]