Code of Maine Rules
02 - DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL REGULATION
385 - MANUFACTURED HOUSING BOARD
Chapter 110 - STATE CERTIFICATION OF MODULAR HOMES
Subchapter 1 - PROVISIONS OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY
Section 385-110-1-9 - Definitions

1. Act ."Act" means the Manufactured Housing Act, 10 M.R.S., Chapter 951.

2. AFUE ."AFUE" means Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.

3. Air barrier ."Air barrier" means the material in a building system designed and constructed to control airflow between a conditioned space and an unconditioned space. The "air barrier" is the primary air enclosure boundary that separates indoor (conditioned) air and outdoor (unconditioned) air.

4. Authority having jurisdiction .For purposes of this chapter, the Board is the "authority having jurisdiction" over the envelope of a State-certified modular home.

5. Board ."Board" means the Manufactured Housing Board.

6. BTU ."BTU" means British Thermal Unit which is the amount of thermal energy required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.

7. Building system ."Building system" means the method of constructing a type of manufactured home described by plans, specifications, and other documentation which together establish a means to meet the building codes, standards, and other requirements of these rules for that type of manufactured housing, which may include structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection systems and other systems affecting health and safety.

8. Building thermal envelope ."Building thermal envelope" means the basement walls, exterior walls, floor, roof and any other building elements that enclose conditioned spaces.

9. Certification ."Certification" means the process by which this Board and local building inspection agencies are assured that elements of closed construction, are not practical to inspect at the building site, have been properly reviewed and inspected and conform to applicable building codes.

10. Closed construction ."Closed construction" means any building, building component, assembly, or system manufactured in such a manner that concealed parts or processes of manufacture cannot be inspected at the building site without disassembly, damage, or destruction.

11. Compliance assurance program ."Compliance assurance program" means the policies and procedures which assure that manufactured housing, including their manufacture, storage, delivery, assembly, handling, and installation, conform with the Act and these rules.

12. Conditioned space. "Conditioned space" means an area, room or space that is enclosed within the building thermal envelope and that is directly heated or cooled or that is indirectly heated or cooled. Spaces are indirectly heated or cooled where they communicate thru openings with conditioned spaces, where they are separated from conditioned spaces by uninsulated walls, floors or ceilings or where they contain uninsulated ducts, piping or other sources of heating or cooling.

13. Draft stop ."Draft stop" means a material, device or construction installed to restrict the movement of air within open spaces of concealed areas of building components such as crawl spaces, floor-ceiling assemblies, roof-ceiling assemblies and attics.

14. Dwelling unit ."Dwelling unit" means a single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

15. Exterior door ."Exterior door" means any swinging or sliding door of any size that functions as part of the building thermal envelope.

16. Fenestration ."Fenestration" means penetrations through the building envelope, including but not limited to skylights, roof windows, vents, ducts, vertical windows (whether fixed or moveable); opaque doors; glazed doors; glass block; and combination of opaque/glazed doors.

17. Heat loss ."Heat loss" means the amount of heat transferred per unit of time from the conditioned space to the outside or to an unconditioned space by means of conduction and infiltration.

18. Independence of judgment ."Independence of judgment" means not being affiliated with, or influenced by, or controlled by building manufacturers or by producers, suppliers, or vendors of products or equipment used in manufactured housing, in any manner which is likely to affect the capacity to render reports and findings objectively and without bias.

19. Infiltration ."Infiltration" means the uncontrolled movement of air into and out of the conditioned space through cracks and interstices in the building envelope.

20. Installation ."Installation" means the placing of manufactured housing on a foundation or supports at a building site; and the assembly and fastening of structural components of manufactured housing, including the completed roof system, as specified by the manufacturer's installation instructions and in accordance with the rules of the Board.

21. Journeyman quality workmanship ."Journeyman quality workmanship" means workmanship that equates to the second or intermediate level of development of proficiency in a particular trade or skill, and reflects the work of a skilled worker but without the perfection of a master craftsman.

22. Label ."Label" means an approved insignia or seal evidencing certification in accordance with the Act and these rules.

23. Local enforcement agency . "Local enforcement agency" means the agency or agencies of local government with authority to inspect buildings and enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code or other laws, ordinances, and regulations which establish standards and requirements applicable to the construction, installation, alteration, repair, or relocation of buildings.

24. Mechanical ventilation ."Mechanical ventilation" means the controlled, purposeful introduction or removal of air to or from a conditioned space.

25. REScheck ."REScheck" is computer software published by the U.S. Department of Energy that allows builders to determine a residential structure's overall compliance with a selected energy conservation code by "trading off" insulation levels in the ceiling, wall, floor, basement wall, slab-edge and crawl space; glazing and door areas; glazing and door U-factors; and certain equipment efficiency.

26. Roof-Ceiling ."Roof-Ceiling" means a roof member that serves also as a ceiling member.

27. R-value ."R-value," also known as thermal resistance," means the inverse of the time-rate of heat flow through a building envelope element from one of its boundary surfaces to the other for a unit temperature difference between the two surfaces, under steady state conditions, per unit area. R-value is calculated according to the formula (h · ft² · ºF/Btu). R-value is the reciprocal of the U-factor.

28. Townhouse ."Townhouse" means a single family dwelling unit constructed in a group of three or more attached units in which each unit extends from foundation to roof and with a yard or public way on at least two sides.

29. U-factor ."U-factor, "also known as thermal transmittance, means the coefficient of heat transmission (air to air) through a building envelope component or assembly, equal to the time rate of heat flow per unit area and unit temperature difference between the warm side and the cold side air films. u-factor is calculated according to the formula (Btu/h · ft² · ºF). U-factor is the reciprocal of the R-value.

30. Yard ."Yard" means an open space, other than a court, unobstructed from the ground to the sky on the lot which a building is situated.