Codes & approvals

Anyone who tells you it is "code compliant" before asking where you live is selling you a problem.

There is no single American approval for a house. Approval depends on your state or province, your building type and your site. Here is how it actually works, and exactly what we will and will not put in writing.

The four routes

Which path applies to your project.

A shipped steel-framed building is usually treated in one of these four ways. Which one applies changes what you need from us — and what it costs to get through review.

Route	When it applies	What is required
Local plan review under the IRC or IBC	Most single-family homes and ADUs on private land. The building is reviewed by your county or city as a site-built structure, even though the components were factory-made.	Sealed structural drawings and calculations from an engineer licensed in your state, plus the documents we supply. The permit is issued to you, on your land.
State modular programme	Some states run a modular building programme with their own inspection regime and insignia, where the factory must be approved in that state.	State-specific factory approval, third-party inspection to the state's adopted code, and state insignia on the completed modules. Not every facility holds these approvals.
Site-built permit with local inspection	Where a shipped panel kit is treated as materials delivered to site and inspected as the building is erected.	Full local permitting, inspection at frame, insulation, electrical and final stages. Your local inspector sees the same sealed drawings.
HUD Code	Only for manufactured homes built on a permanent chassis, which carry a HUD certification label. This is a different product category from ours.	Not applicable to our panel systems. If a supplier is using HUD Code language to sell you a modular home, ask them which state approved the design.

Tell us your state or province and we will tell you which route applies to your project — in writing, before you order. We cannot guarantee that an authority having jurisdiction will approve your project; no supplier can.

Loads, energy and services

Every value is set by your address, not by a brochure.

Snow load, wind speed and seismic design category are all location-specific. We cannot engineer a building until we know where it is going — which is why the quote form asks for a ZIP or postal code.

Structural loads — ground snow load, basic wind speed, exposure category and seismic design category determined for your site, to ASCE 7 as adopted by your jurisdiction.
Structural documentation — panel drawings, anchorage and hold-down schedule, and calculations, sealed by an engineer licensed in your state or province where required.
Electrical — rough-in to NEC practice with UL or ETL listed components. Final connections and inspection by your licensed local electrician.
Energy code — insulation and glazing specified to the IECC climate zone for your location; California projects specified to Title 24.
Coastal and high-wind areas — enhanced wind and corrosion specifications, and Florida Product Approval where a product approval is required.
Foundation — anchor bolt layout and hold-down schedule for the foundation type your local engineer designs.

The sentence we will not write. We will not describe a building as "code compliant", "IRC certified", "HUD approved" or "US approved" for a jurisdiction whose review it has not been through. Those phrases are used freely in this trade and they are the fastest way to lose a deposit in a market you cannot inspect from.

Where we sit. We are the supplier and the document holder. The engineer of record for your permit is a licensed professional in your state or province — either one you appoint, or one we engage with your approval. We do not practise engineering in your jurisdiction and we do not represent that we do.

Questions to ask any supplier, including us

Which state approvals does the facility hold, and can I see the certificate?
Who seals the structural drawings, and in which state are they licensed?
What is the ground snow load the frame was designed for, and what did you use for my address?
Which UL or ETL listed components are used, and can I see the listing numbers?
Which climate zone did you specify the insulation package to?
If my inspector rejects a detail, what is your process and what does it cost me?

If a supplier cannot answer the first three without asking a colleague, you are talking to a sales office rather than an engineering partner.