Tools For Tiny House Advocates

Organizations That Help And Hinder Tiny Houses

There are tiny house advocates all over the country and the world putting in their time, energy and funds for the legal placement of tiny houses, especially for tiny homes on wheels. There are organizations that are both helping and hindering the progress for tiny houses and it is important to know where their authority ends and begins.
There are special interest groups that do not want tiny houses to have their own lane, they are pushed into boxes that do not fit for affordability such as modular construction.
I am not against that path if a manufacturer can afford it, but most of the time, it is associated with 100% in plant inspection, which is also included in the requirement to build to the HUD code.

There has been secret war on tiny houses that most do not know about and has crushed the progress for tiny houses on wheels. Learn More
I am going to go over some very helpful tools if you are advocating for tiny houses and their relationship to Appendix Q Tiny Houses, ICC, HUD, RVIA, the Institute For Justice and ASTM.

Appendix Q Tiny Houses

Pivotal For The Advancement Of The Tiny House Industry

I have been documenting the progress of Appendix Q Tiny Houses for almost two years. I started tracking the adoption process of the states and local jurisdictions and submitting supportive comments during the public comment phases and I will continue to follow this process.

The approval of Appendix Q Tiny Houses to the inclusion of the 2018 IRC was a crowning achievement for the tiny house industry and has been pivotal to the acceptance of tiny houses as a viable solution to housing and is broadening homeownership.

It has been an exciting process to see that more than half of the country has adopted Appendix Q Tiny Houses.

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ICC And A 10 Year History Of Tiny Houses

Yesterday, proponents for an I-Code change to Appendix BB Tiny Houses presented comments that would have added chassis provisions to the tiny house code at the International Code Council PCH in Connecticut yesterday. The new code change was earmarked for the 2027 IRC, but once again, it was turned down. Proponents have tried unsuccessfully for 3 code cycles ( 10 years) to add provisions for movable tiny homes, otherwise known as tiny houses on wheels, or relocatable tiny houses. In two weeks, I will post the video of the hearing.
I also received a reply from ICC to a second preemption inquiry yesterday as well that is ignoring my complaints in regards to the ICC 1215 standard.
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Excluded Structures- Modular Homes

I have written extensively about ICC/THIA 1215 -Design, Construction and Regulation of Small Residential Units and Tiny Houses for Permanent Occupancy standard and the hijack of the standard by the Small Residential Unit ( SRU) an arbitrary, unconstitutional term that ICC has cooked up to rebrand the tiny house industry for the regulatory capture of the tiny house industry for their control. The SRU is not needed for the structural integrity, fire safety of tiny houses or any reason at all, it is a whim of ICC.

To understand the objections regarding the Small Residential Unit, please read and sign my petition.
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HUD And The Final Rule 2018

The U.S. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) redefined and clarified the RV exemption from manufactured housing standards in 2018. The final rule went into effect on January 15, 2019. A lot of manufacturers build tiny homes to recreational vehicle standards and that is why this HUD final rule is important for clarity.
Below are a lot of supporting documents directly from HUD.
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RVIA And Tiny Houses

The “Tiny Home” movement is often marketed as the ultimate architectural rebellion—a minimalist escape from the high costs and static nature of traditional homeownership. On platforms like Instagram or HGTV, these structures appear as sleek, efficient sanctuaries on wheels, promising a life of nomadic freedom. However, as a matter of federal law, that dream is currently colliding with a cold, regulatory reality.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a Final Rule revising the exemption for the manufacture of recreational vehicles. The purpose of that rulemaking was straightforward: to clarify which recreational vehicles qualify for exemption from HUD’s Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards and its Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement regulations.
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Institute For Justice

CALHOUN, Georgia—Today, Tiny House Hand Up (THHU) won an important legal victory in their challenge to the city of Calhoun’s ban on building homes smaller than 1,150 square feet. THHU is a Calhoun nonprofit that wants to use donated land to fill a niche for smaller, less costly homes After the Institute for Justice (IJ) argued on their behalf, the judge ruled from the bench, granting a motion in THHU’s favor. A written order will be coming in the next few weeks.

“This is not just a win for our clients, it’s a win for the people of Calhoun,” said IJ Attorney Joe Gay. “The city spent years telling Tiny House Hand Up that they can’t build modest cottages on their property. We are thrilled to finally have their constitutional rights vindicated in court.”

“Small homes offer flexibility for people who might not be able to afford larger homes or who just prefer to downsize,” said IJ Senior Attorney Dan Alban. “Imposing arbitrary limits on home size makes no sense and violates the Georgia Constitution.”

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ASTM Approves Subcommittee For Tiny Houses

ASTM International’s committee on performance of buildings (E06) has approved a new subcommittee on tiny houses.

This new subcommittee (E06.26) intends to develop standards for several proposed subject areas for tiny houses, including but not limited to:

Best building practices
Test methods
Certification
A global quality assurance program
Requirements and auditing of third parties that provide plan review and inspect tiny houses
Tiny house community developments
Micro-grid utilities
Minimum construction requirements.

The subcommittee intends to address a lack of express, unified standards for tiny houses, as throughout the world they have been variously designated as impermanent residences or grouped together with recreational vehicles and caravans. An initial primary focus of the subcommittee will be to develop a uniform construction standard for a tiny house on wheels that will result in a new classification of housing.
ASTM Press Release

Tiny Houses Finally Found A Home With ASTM

We Are The 'Tiny House Architects' Of Our Own Future

On several occasions, I have been asked to explain in common language what exactly is the opportunity with ASTM to create tiny house standards and why does the tiny house industry need them? An ASTM standard is a document that is developed within the consensus process utilizing the ANSI Essential Process For Due Process.

First of all, if you look around you, you will recognize the pattern of standardization. Systems and procedures that work in harmony, have an agreed upon way of how things are produced or implemented.

Look at the simplest of things, like mailing a letter, to the standard size paper that goes into a printer, sending an email, making a phone call, or cooking a meal, how an I-Phone is the same in every country, and you will start recognizing the patterns of harmonization and creating uniformity in standardization.

Typically tiny houses on wheels are built to recreational vehicle standards which are built for short-term use. This has prevented the advancement of the industry to obtain good financing and to be allowed as housing in municipalities across the world.

Tiny Houses Fall Into A Gray Area

‘’Tiny houses fall into a gray area between manufactured/modular homes and RVs, creating an uncertain regulatory landscape where it is almost impossible to legally reside in a tiny house year-round,” says Eric Fried, Chief Building Official of Larimer County, Colorado.

So far, this has held back the potential of tiny homes to address the larger demand for housing. With the right regulations in place, these structures could be used to help senior citizens age in place, transition the less fortunate to more permanent housing, and more.

“The common link globally for tiny houses is that we don’t have standards that are unique to our own industry,” says Janet Thome, ASTM member and founder and president of Tiny House Alliance USA. She was involved in the effort to establish the new subcommittee. “Is a tiny home on wheels a building or a vehicle? Well, it’s actually both. We’re excited to be able to help make those determinations as part of ASTM now.”

The subcommittee is in the process of assembling its membership, but once the group is established, it plans to begin developing its own standards, starting with tiny-house terminology and creating a uniform construction standard for tiny houses on wheels that will result in a new classification of housing. As Thome explains, that standard is particularly needed by the industry because these structures today fall through the cracks of existing regulations. “We’re not an RV, we’re not a modular home, we’re not a manufactured home. We’re trying to introduce something brand new; something that doesn’t exist.”

ASTM Press Release

Join The Subcommittee

The Tiny Houses subcommittee is open to all and every voice matters. Please Join Us!
First You Join ASTM
Join E06 Performance Of Buildings Committee
Join E06.26 Tiny Houses Subcommitee
Learn More About ASTM Membership
Students Are Free!