Virginia Code 36-85.26: Dealer alterations.
A. No alteration or modification shall be made to a manufactured home by a dealer after shipment from the manufacturer‘s plant, unless such alteration or modification is authorized by this chapter or the manufacturer. The dealer shall ensure that all authorized alterations and modifications are performed, if so required, by qualified persons as defined in subsection D. An unauthorized alteration or modification performed by a dealer or his agent or employee shall place primary warranty responsibility for the altered or modified item upon the dealer. If the manufacturer fulfills or is required to fulfill the warranty on the altered or modified item, he shall be entitled to recover damages in the amount of his cost and attorney’s fee from the dealer.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 36-85.26
- Board: means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Board. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- Code: means the appropriate standards of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code and the Industrialized Building and Manufactured Home Safety Regulations adopted by the Board of Housing and Community Development and administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 for manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- dealer: means any person, resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of buying, selling or dealing in manufactured homes or offering or displaying manufactured homes for sale in Virginia. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- Manufactured home: means a structure constructed to federal standards, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 8 feet or more in width and is 40 feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- manufacturer: means any persons, resident or nonresident, who manufacture or assemble manufactured homes for sale in Virginia. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- Person: means any individual, natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, or other recognized legal entity. See Virginia Code 36-85.16
- Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. An unauthorized alteration or modification of a manufactured home by the owner or his agent shall relieve the manufacturer of responsibility to remedy defects caused by such alterations or modifications. A statement to this effect, together with a warning specifying those alterations or modifications which should be performed only by qualified personnel in order to preserve warranty protection, shall be displayed clearly and conspicuously on the face of the warranty. Failure to display such statement shall result in the manufacturer being responsible for the warranty.
C. The Board is authorized to promulgate regulations in accordance with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) which define the alterations or modifications which must be made by qualified personnel in accordance with the applicable standards of the Code. The Board may require qualified personnel for those alterations and modifications which could impair the structural integrity or safety of the manufactured home.
D. In order to be designated as a person qualified to alter or modify a manufactured home, a person shall comply with state licensing or competency requirements in skills relevant to performing alterations or modifications on manufactured homes.
1991, c. 555; 1992, c. 223.