Washington State HB 1514 Moves To The Senate

On Tuesday, March 14th at 10:30 AM, Government Affairs Senior Manager Nick Rudowich will be testifying in the Washington Senate Labor and Commerce Committee in support of an amendment that would improve the RV plan approval process.

The Background

Washington is a unique state because it is currently one of only two states that regulate the manufacturing of RVs. RV manufacturers submit model plans to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, pay a fee for each plan submittal, and Labor and Industries approves or denies the RV plans. After the model plan is approved, RV manufacturers purchase a Washington RV insignia which is then attached to the vehicle. This is a necessary step in Washington for a RV manufacturer to sell their vehicle to a Washington RV dealer, and for a Washington RV dealer to sell that vehicle to a consumer.

The Issue

From 2021 and throughout 2022, the RV industry experienced significant delays in RV plan reviews because of staffing issues at the Department of Labor and Industries, Factory Assembled Structures Division. These issues created a massive backlog of RV plans and caused a disruption to RV commerce.

RV plan approval by the Department Labor and Industries is required for RV manufacturers to purchase Washington State RV insignias. These Washington State RV insignias are required by Washington statute to sell an RV in the state of Washington. Because the state could not perform its responsibility and approve plans, RV manufacturers were unable to purchase and subsequently ship RVs to Washington RV dealers in a timely manner. Washington RV dealers ultimately lost business, as consumers went out of state for the products their in-state dealers did not have.

The Resolution

To resolve this issue, the RV Industry Association has been working with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries’ plan review division to implement an all-electronic plan submission process for RVs and Park Model RVs. The RV industry did not use digital plan submission in the past because the digital plan submission process was more costly to RV manufacturers than physical submission. Due to recent fee changes digital submission has become the cheaper option.

Rudowich previously testified at the February 1st public hearing in support of an amendment (Revised Code of Washington 43.22.350) to the Washington RV plan approval process (House Bill 1514) that would make improvements to the process that are already in place permanent. During his testimony, Rudowich announced that RV manufacturers can purchase insignias on submission of plans to the state. RV manufacturers must have a state approved quality control program and pay the required fees of plan submission to the Department of Labor and Industries.

To assist the RV industry in moving from a physical plan submission to electronic, the RV Industry Association will be hosting quarterly webinars in conjunction with the Department of Labor and Industries.

For those interested in learning more about the bill can visit the Washington Legislature’s website here. For questions on this issue, please contact Nick Rudowich at nrudowich@rvia.org.