SECTION 70.65. Responsibilities of the Commission--Reciprocity

(a) Industrialized housing and buildings designed and constructed by a manufacturer in this state for delivery and placement on a building site in another state are not subject to this chapter unless the units are constructed under the terms of a reciprocity agreement with the other state.

(b) The commission may enter a reciprocal agreement with another state to authorize building inspections of industrialized housing or buildings constructed in that state to be performed by an inspector of the equivalent regulatory agency of that state provided that:

(1) the commission finds that the standards prescribed by the statute or rules of the other state meet the objectives of Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1202;

(2) the commission finds that the standards are satisfactorily enforced by the other state or its agents; and

(3) the standards of the other state shall not be deemed to be adequately enforced unless the other state provides for immediate written notification to the executive director of suspensions or revocations of approvals of manufacturers by the other state.

(c) If the commission enters a reciprocity agreement with another state, then the commission will accept industrialized housing and buildings which have been inspected by the reciprocal state and which have the appropriate decal, label, or insignia of the reciprocal state. Manufacturers in the reciprocal state who construct industrialized housing and buildings for Texas will be subject to the following.

(1) Manufacturers must be registered in Texas in accordance with §70.20. The manufacturer must submit evidence that its building system and compliance control program have been approved by the reciprocal state. The executive director shall verify the approval and maintain a list of manufacturers approved under the terms of the reciprocity agreement.

(2) Industrialized housing, buildings, modules, and modular components will be constructed in accordance with the codes referenced in §70.100 and any amendments to those codes in accordance with §70.101. The code used will be determined in accordance with §70.102.

(3) Review and approval of the manufacturer's design package will be in accordance with §70.70 except that the reciprocity agreement with the reciprocal state will accept the compliance control program approved by the reciprocal state for that manufacturer. All inspections performed by the reciprocal state must be in accordance with documents reviewed and approved by a council-approved design review agency or the department when acting as a design review agency.

(4) The manufacturer will assign a Texas decal or insignia to each module or modular component for Texas in accordance with §70.77. The Texas decal or insignia will be placed in the vicinity of the decal, label, or insignia of the reciprocal state.

(5) The manufacturer will permanently attach a data plate to each industrialized house or building in accordance with §70.71.

(6) The manufacturer will submit a monthly report to the executive director in accordance with §70.50.

(d) If the commission determines that the standards for the manufacture and inspection of industrialized housing and buildings in a reciprocal state, with which the commission has entered a reciprocal agreement, do not meet the objectives of Chapter 1202 or are not being enforced by the reciprocal state, then the commission shall suspend or revoke the reciprocal agreement. The reciprocal state and affected manufacturers will receive written notification of the reasons for the suspension or revocation of the agreement.

Source Note: The provisions of this §70.65 adopted to be effective November 16, 1993, 18 TexReg 7925; amended to be effective December 1, 2003, 28 TexReg 10458; amended to be effective January 1, 2010, 34 TexReg 9409