As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning or construction is clearly required by the context:

"Administrator" means the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development or his designee.

"Any person" shall, in addition to referring to a natural person, include any partnership, corporation, joint stock company or any association whether incorporated or unincorporated.

"Board" means the Board of Housing and Community Development.

"Dealer" means any person engaged in the sale, leasing, or distribution of new manufactured homes primarily to persons who in good faith purchase or lease a manufactured home for purposes other than resale.

"Defect" means a failure to comply with an applicable federal manufactured home construction and safety standard that renders the manufactured home or any part of the home unfit for the ordinary use for which it was intended, but does not result in an imminent risk of death or severe personal injury to occupants of the affected home.

"Department" means the Department of Housing and Community Development.

"Distributor" means any person engaged in the sale and distribution of manufactured homes for resale.

"Federal Act" means the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 as amended (42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq.).

"Federal Regulations" means the Federal Manufactured Home Procedural and Enforcement Regulations.

"Federal Standards" means the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards.

"HUD" means the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Imminent safety hazard" means a hazard that presents an imminent risk of death or severe personal injury.

"Manufactured home" means a structure subject to federal regulation, which is transportable in one or more sections; is eight body feet or more in width and forty body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is 320 or more square feet when erected on site; is built on a permanent chassis; is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure.

"Manufactured home construction" means all activities relating to the assembly and manufacture of a manufactured home including but not limited to those relating to durability, quality, and safety.

"Manufactured home safety" means the performance of a manufactured home in such a manner that the public is protected against unreasonable risk of the occurrence of accidents due to the design or construction of the home, or any unreasonable risk of death or injury to the user if such accidents do occur.

"Manufacturer" means any person engaged in manufacturing or assembling manufactured homes, including any person engaged in importing manufactured homes.

"Purchaser" means the first person purchasing a manufactured home in good faith for purposes other than resale.

"Secretary" means the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Skirting" means a weather-resistant material used to enclose the space from the bottom of the manufactured home to grade.

"State Administrative Agency" or "SAA" means the Department of Housing and Community Development which is responsible for the administration and enforcement of this law throughout Virginia and of the plan authorized by § 36-85.5.

"The law" or "this law" means the Virginia Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Law as embraced in this chapter.

1986, c. 37; 1990, c. 593.