Mobile home with a 650 sq/ft addition

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sw_ross

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Customer want bid on a 4 room, 650 sq/ft addition that is going to be built "attached" to his mobile home.

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming existing service is code compliant and is adjacent to the mobile home with a sub-panel (4-wire) in the mobile home.

Would this "addition" be considered a separate structure? . My first thought after only a phone conversation is that a feeder will have to be run from the service equipment for the mobile home (adjacent to the mobile home. It'll have to be treated as a separate structure and have its own sub-panel? It'll have baseboard heat (maybe 2 circuits)? I'd have to do a load Calc for it as if it was a separate structure.

Any thoughts or input?
Thanks!
 
IMO what you have is a gray area in the code.
Most people that I know would just treat it as a couple extra rooms. It's not like they're going to move one with the other still standing. It's pretty much the same structure.
 
Yeah, maybe I'm turning it into more of a project than I should be...

Not having seen it yet maybe I could either pull hr's under trailer to the main panel or pull a feeder and put a small sub in the new addition.

I'm just not totally sure about whether it's a separate structure beside the mobile home or all part of the same structure... Looked at 550 and nothing specific popped out at me.
 
About 10 years ago, a friend of mine did nearly the same thing as what you were describing... Built basically a pole barn on to the side of his trailer. Ran the new circuits directly to the main panel.

If this is going to be permitted inspected, I would be more concerned about the possibility that it turns the trailer into a permanent dwelling and then article 550 goes out the window.

If it is attached to the trailer, and there are interior passageways from the trailer to the new section, I don't rightly see how it could be considered a separate structure in any sense of the word, save for the incredibly off chance that it was basically being built like a duplex, with its own kitchen, bathroom, living spaces, and exits.

Will the addition on its own meet the definition of a dwelling?

Personally, I would go ahead and run a sub panel to the new section to avoid having to get the ahjs interpretation, and to minimize the time spent under the trailer.
 
My first residence when I moved out of my parents home was exactly this. Obviously codes were very different back then (1981).
I put a new panel in the pole barn addition and fed the mobile home out of it.
 
retirede said:
My first residence when I moved out of my parents home was exactly this. Obviously codes were very different back then (1981).
I put a new panel in the pole barn addition and fed the mobile home out of it.
Click to expand...

I was told to do the same thing in Virginia in the early eighties... by the electrician that did the work for me... Inspector that came later was very happy with that and so was the insurance company... actually saved me on the insurance.
However, dont know what the code references would be on that.
 
from an nec prospective i would think the attached addition would be considered the same structure.
i think the only NEC compliant way would be to ensure the structure is supplied by a single feeder. that may mean up- grading the original distribution panel.

each state has its own regulations when it comes to manufactured housing. Manufactured homes built under the fare housing act are built to a standard that is different to your states building codes. for example roof loads and you may see 2x3 studding where your building code might require 2x4

for that reason in PA you are not permitted to alter a manufactured home you are in a very gray area when it comes to pole barn additions to manufactured housing.

All of that is really not an electricians issue if the wiring needs inspected because a permit is required have the owner pull the electrical permit along with any other permits for the addition. You do not want involved in the mess of dealing with existing manufactured housing in your state.
 
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