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Housing agency opens 30-day comment period on Weatherization Deferral Repair manual changes
Summary
Aaron Shoemaker outlined proposed revisions to the Weatherization Deferral Repair (WDR) program manual — including new application fields, a funding-plan requirement, changes to duct testing, clearer change-order rules and a single partial-payment option up to 50% — and opened a 30‑day comment period ending Feb. 14.
Aaron Shoemaker, housing program administrator for the Weatherization Deferral Repair program at the Department of Housing and Community Development, presented proposed revisions to the WDR program manual and opened a 30‑day public comment period that begins with the meeting and ends Friday, Feb. 14.
Shoemaker said the draft manual and two updated forms were emailed to the network and that the Department intends to post the final manual and forms the week of Feb. 21, with the changes becoming active the following Monday. “The comment period begins today,” he said, and staff plan to include submitted comments and feedback in an appendix to the final manual.
Key proposed changes summarized by Shoemaker include:
- Application and income certification: the WDR application form and homeowner agreement will add a client income certification date to link WDR eligibility to the date of WAP certification. Shoemaker said this recognizes that staff who handle WDR work are not always the same staff who certify income in Hancock or WAP systems.
- Funding plan requirement: the Department added a draft page 2 to the application where subgrantees must document a funding plan for the WDR work (materials and labor). Shoemaker said the funding plan should list braided funding streams used for the WDR portion of a job so the finite WDR funds are optimized and treated as a last‑resort or complementary source when possible.
- Certificate of completion and client education: the certificate of completion form will include a checkbox confirming that the subgrantee delivered required client education (including combustion safety, lead, asbestos and mold information and equipment warranty registration). The Department said the checkbox is intended to simplify documentation while assuring compliance with client-education requirements.
- Duct work differentiation: the draft manual distinguishes requirements for full duct replacement versus duct repair. For full-duct systems, Shoemaker said pressure pan testing and duct-blaster testing in accordance with code are required; for partial-duct repairs the draft says pressure pan readings or duct-blaster testing are not required at the initial stage, although photographic documentation remains required.
- Change orders: the draft clarifies that change orders above $2,000, or those that add a new subcontractor or a new repair measure, should be submitted by email and will generally require a new WDR initial setup report; change orders under $2,000 within the approved scope can be documented by email and addressed in the remittance.
- Partial payments: the agency proposed consolidating prior advanced/partial payment options into a single partial-payment remittance of up to 50% of the approved initial setup report cost. Supporting documentation must include the signed application/homeowner agreement with a specified plan completion date, materials/equipment delivery proof (invoices, shipping manifests or photos of materials on-site) and the project cover sheet. Shoemaker said the final remittance for the project must be submitted within six months of the initial-setup approval if a partial payment was used.
Shoemaker also said the Department will issue one final grant-extension package (barring unforeseen circumstances) extending several earlier one‑year agreements to June 30, 2025 so subgrantees can continue to spend existing allocations.
Why it matters: the proposed manual revisions change documentation and testing requirements that subgrantees must follow for WDR projects, and the funding-plan and change-order clarifications affect how agencies sequence and document work when multiple funding streams are braided.
Shoemaker encouraged network members to read the draft carefully and provide detailed feedback during the 30‑day comment period; he said the Department typically incorporates network suggestions when publishing the final manual. The stated tentative schedule calls for the Department to send the final manual and updated forms Feb. 21 and to make the new rules active the following Monday.
Ending: The comment period closes Feb. 14 and staff will publish the final manual and forms in late February. Shoemaker said he will send grant-extension documents to partners for signature in the near term and invited email questions and written comments during the comment period.
