bad blocks under new house

[Jessica]

A person I know bought a new manufactured home. They really love it but it has several ceiling cracks in it. One of the cracks goes from one side of the house all the way to the other side. It doesn't stop at the marriage line. This made them curious. They went under their house and looked at the piers. The house sits on a five block crawl. Several of the single block piers have cracked blocks, one of the piers blocks is cracked from top to bottom. Other sets have miss shaped blocks that sit cock eyed. Other sets are broken and the axle shackle sits with pieces of the block on either side of it. Several other piers blocks are totally crooked. Yet another of the piers has the top block offset about 3 inches because of another shackle. Again there are at least six piers that are loose and also none of them have the piece of wood (a cap) on top of them as is required. It is amazing that this passed inspection. She didn't want the ceiling fixed until the blocking gets fixed since obviously the blocking will have to be fixed. She sent the pictures to the factory that manufactured her home and was told by the service manager that she couldn't see any reason not to go ahead and fix the ceiling cracks and that she saw nothing wrong with the blocks except for one set of blocks that was cracked. (she saw 6 obvious, clear pictures of broken, cracked, crooked etc...peirs) I find this appalling and wonder if the service manager of this company is even licensed to do service. If she had taken the course to get her license surely she would know that these blocks are full of violations. Are service managers of our manufactured housing industry required to be licensed to do service?

[Richard]

Hopefully the state where the MH is set up has a SAA. These blocks must meet certain criteria. If the state does not have SAA, then contact HUD and let them direct you.

[rmurray]

Service managers are not licensed.....but set up crews are in most states..

The home must be set to the requirements of her set up manual...If it is not...and it sounds like it is not...then the dealer must correct the problems..

There should be NO crooked blocks, they should be on footing designed for the soil compression...almost always blocks that are 5 blocks high require double blocks...There should be 1 piece of wood and 2 wedges on each pier...All this will be in the set up manual...

Call the SSA...if you go here http://www.hud.gov/complaints/manhousing.cfm

You will find the process to file a complaint in your state...This should be done soon...

[Jon]

Jessica:
The industry is trying to standardize proper manufactured home installations. But it is taking a while for the message to filter down to all involved parties. Many jurisdictions rely on building inspectors to determine an appropriate set; unfortunately too many of them have their own interpretation of what needs to be done.
Richard made a good point, though. But first you should advise your friend to bring this matter to the attention of the retailer who installed the home. Give them an opportunity to correct it. If they cannot or will not then a complaint should be filed with HUD.
From your description, the support pier columns seem woefully inadequate and inappropriately constructed---an inexcusable circumstance. Your friend should not delay in seeking an immediate resolution to this situation.
Jon