If you are selling or buying a manufactured home, then most likely a foundation certification will be required. For all FHA and VA loans, an engineer's foundation certification is required that states that the home is placed on a permanent foundation that complies with the "HUD Permanent Foundation Guide for Manufactured Homes," dated 1996 by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
It has been my experience that this important requirement gets overlooked at times. The buyer, seller, real estate agent, and home inspector have already put in a great deal of time and money on the normal processes of buying a home, only to discover the manufactured home does not have a permanent foundation certification by a licensed engineer—before you pay a home inspection fee, termite inspection fee, or even get emotionally attached to the home. Inquire about this mandatory step to purchase a home with an FHA/VA loan with your agent.
We have partnered with the engineers at ADP Engineering to provide a foundation certification service for you. We work as field inspectors to gather the necessary home information like measurements, type of skirting, type of crawlspace access, number and spacing of piers, anchoring, and footers, and we take the required photographs for the engineer. The engineer will review the data and inform you if corrections are required, if any, then provide a foundation certification if compliant or after-adjustments are performed.
