Affordable Housing Efforts Threaten RV Industry

In an effort to increase affordable housing, some policymakers across the country have begun to look to tiny homes as a solution. Unfortunately, these efforts have led some legislators, officials and other interest groups to attempt to co-opt RV and PMRV standards and definitions to use them for permanent-use tiny home standards. Washington state was the most active in this effort this year.

Although both NFPA 1192 and ANSI A119.5 specifically state that these standards are for temporary-use vehicles, bills in Washington would have incorrectly defined all types of RVs and used the RV and PMRV standards to define permanent structures.

Defending these standards and definitions to protect our members and keep RVs, including PMRVs, defined as vehicles is a priority issue for the state affairs team. Working directly with Washington state legislators and stakeholders we were able to preserve already existing code and remove incorrect RV and PMRV definitions, while, at the same time, preventing incorrect uses of the RV and PMRV standards.

This push to co-opt RV standards and definitions and apply them to permanent use tiny homes will likely continue to grow in the future. Washington was the most active in this issue area during the 2019 legislative session, but it was not the only state with this type of legislation. It is expected that this push by affordable housing advocates to find some type of permanent use tiny home definition will continue. The state team will continue to defend against these kinds of bills to ensure RVs are not confused with any type of permanent housing.

For questions on this issue, contact Nick Rudowich at nrudowich@rvia.org.