What is a Modular Home?

Modular homes—are designed, built, permitted and inspected to the Florida Building Code (FBC), and must be installed on permanent foundations (e.g., poured footers, stem walls & poured piers or engineered slabs, just like site built homes) that are designed and built specifically for that home by a contractor licensed by the Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR). It is a violation of Florida Statutes for a mobile home installer to install a modular home. To be acceptable in Florida, a modular home must bear the insignia of the Florida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) on the inside of the cover of the home's electrical panel. They are considered real property when


installed on a permanent foundation, and insured as such.

NOTE: A few modular manufacturers continue to produce their homes on a mobile home type chassis (called "on-frame" construction, which is allowed in the FBC) and transport them on wheels and axles just like mobile homes; as opposed to most who construct [without the chassis] on typical floor joist type construction and transport the modules on a flat bed trailer, lifting them into place onsite with a crane. No matter the method of construction, the modular home must be installed by a licensed contractor on a permanent foundation, as specified in chapter 428.4 FBC.