House passes bill updating modular-home definition, tying factory-built dwellings to current residential code

The Mississippi House of Representatives on final passage approved House Bill 999, which updates the statutory definition of modular or factory-built dwellings to reference current residential building-code standards.

A member recognized on the floor said the bill was requested by the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association and is intended ‘‘to ensure that factory built structures used as dwellings are built to a safe residential building code.’’ The Department of Insurance and several industry groups were reported on the floor as having no objections.

During brief floor discussion, Representative Arnold of Prentice asked whether the measure includes tiny homes. The floor explainer stated the bill exempts hunting and fishing camps and that, if tiny homes are included, they would have to be built to the referenced code, but the speaker also said they did not know whether tiny homes are covered under the bill as drafted. No amendment clarifying tiny-home coverage was recorded on the floor.

The clerk recorded the final vote as 113 yays and 1 nay; the presiding officer announced the bill passed. The House had previously moved to suspend rules to consider the bill engrossed, read the third time and place it on final passage. No further amendments or referrals were recorded during the floor action.

Supporters on the floor cited alignment with current code standards and reported no objections from home builders, realtors and bankers; opponents were limited to a single recorded nay on the final tally. The bill now advances according to standard legislative processing; the transcript does not record additional procedural steps such as transmittal dates to the Senate.