The Exploratory ASTM Tiny House Standards Initiative
Ethan Waldman interviewed Janet Thome on the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast that is airing on Sept. 24th, 2021 at 7 am EST time. Janet Thome is the founder and President of Tiny House Alliance USA and is also leading an exploratory initiate to develop Global Standards for tiny houses.
Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast # 181
From Ethan
Janet and I have been talking for a while and we’ve decided that it’s finally time to pull back the curtain on the efforts that she has been working on for the last several months and do an interview on the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast. Janet is the Founder, President, and Treasurer of Tiny House Alliance USA and is currently leading an exploratory initiative to develop new global building standards with ASTM. Before your eyes glaze over, I encourage you to stick with this show because Janet does a great job of explaining what ASTM International is, what standards are, how they would impact the tiny house building industry, dwellers, DIYers, not just in the United States or North America, but in the entire world. It’s a really exciting effort. I think there’s a lot of potential here and we need more people to get involved.
In The Episode
In This Episode:
- What is ASTM and what do they do?
- Codes vs Standards and their effects on everything
- How ASTM works and who is involved
- The stakeholders that are involved in the global building standards effort
- Making sure that codes and standards don’t conflict
- The ICC and their relationship with tiny homes
- Could tiny houses and cannabis have some things in common?
- About Janet’s tiny home village
Links and Resources:
- Appendix Q Tiny House
- ASTM 101, ASTM Reading Room, and ASTM Technical Committees
- Tiny Home Terms Deleted from ICC Standards
- ICC Off-Site and Modular Construction Standards Committee
- Pins Notification: How Standard Developers Determine If There Is A Duplication In Standards Development
- ANSI Essential Requirements for Due Process
Join Us And Become A Stakeholder
Everyone Is Invited!
Contact Janet Thome to be added to the stakeholder’s list.
janet@tinyhouseallianceusa.org 509 345 2013
Related First President Of THIA Endorses ASTM Tiny House Standards
Thom Stanton President Emeritus, Tiny Home Industry Association
I wish to offer my support of ASTM International guiding the collaborative development of standards suitable for smaller sized permanent homes, relocatable residences, and tiny home related housing products. Here’s a quick summary of my thoughts and reasoning.
Why standards for small and tiny homes?
We are in the midst of a housing crisis and yet special allowances must be made for the manufacture and use of smaller sized homes. There’s nothing innovative about small homes, and nothing different in their construction.
So, in this context, I think the difficulty in finding a ways-and-means for the allowance of a smaller home illustrates the need to shift our perspectives, to better understand changes in housing needs, and to support a broader range of low-cost home ownership options.
Further, and maybe more importantly, I believe the means to create a simple yet compliant shelter, to lower costs by reducing housing size, and to ingrain a solid sense of personal security and privacy are basic rights and privileges granted to all in an advanced society.
That smaller homes break the price-per-square profit model or have fallen out of fashion doesn’t make them inherently wrong, maybe just less popular. And so we fight for the right to “go tiny!”
Photo Courtesy: Timbercraft Tiny Homes
Related Tiny Houses On Wheels Barriers To Living Legally
A Global Dilemma: Is It A Building Or Is It A Vehicle?
Tiny Houses On Wheels-How many municipalities across the globe are asking the question ”Is A Tiny House On Wheels A Building Or A Vehicle?
There are numerous associations that have formed across the globe representing the stakeholders to implement change in legislation and zoning to legalize tiny houses to become a viable solution to housing. There are think tanks, affordable housing summits, festivals and meeting after meeting occurring, all with the goal to create more legal places to live.
At this time, there is not one unified industry standard that is recognized for tiny houses on wheels and each jurisdiction, bank, insurance agency, etc… could have a different definition and criteria to deny or allow them.
Tiny houses on wheels are most commonly built with RV and Park Model standards.