ASTM Tiny Houses Subcommittee Initial Standards Activity
First ASTM Tiny Houses E06.26 Call Dec. 19th, 2022
On Dec. 19th, 2022, the newly approved ASTM Tiny Houses subcommittee E06.26 held the very first inaugural meeting.
Background
ASTM International’s committee on performance of buildings (E06) has approved a new subcommittee on tiny houses.
The subcommittee intends to address a lack of express, unified standards for tiny houses, as throughout the world they have been variously designated as impermanent residences or grouped together with recreational vehicles and caravans. An initial primary focus of the subcommittee will be to develop a uniform construction standard for a tiny house on wheels that will result in a new classification of housing.
ASTM Tiny Houses Subcommittee 06.26 Call Dec 19th, 2022 At 9AM EST
There is still time to join the new ASTM Tiny Houses subcommittee which is holding the first call on Dec. 19th, 2022 at 9 am EST.
The Approved COTCO Scope
The focus of this committee is the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards for tiny houses, with attention to safety, quality, uniformity, reliability, consumer confidence, and ethical business practices, including, but not limited to, best building practices, test methods, certification, a global quality assurance program, requirements and auditing of 3rd parties that provide plan review and inspect tiny houses, tiny house community developments, micro-grid utilities, and minimum construction requirements. The work of this committee will be coordinated with other ASTM technical committees and other national and international organizations having mutual or related interests.
ASTM Approves New Tiny House Subcommittee Within E06
Welcome All Tiny House Stakeholders
Announcement from Frank Connell, ASTM Staff Manager Of E06-Performance of Buildings.
Current Status Of The Tiny House Subcommittee
Following up on our discussion yesterday, and a few of your points raised below, please see the current status of Subcommittee E06.26 on Tiny Houses:
- Subcommittee E06.26 on Tiny Houses has been approved, and is currently active on the ASTM Website. The Subcommittee is now open for any interested parties to join the Subcommittee. Attached below is information on how to join ASTM as a Member, and how to join the Subcommittee if you are currently a member.
- ASTM Staff is currently working on developing (with your assistance – thank you) a Press Release on E06.26. This Press Release will be distributed over ASTM’s Social Channels.
- Along with the Press Release, ASTM Staff will also initiate a Membership Drive to inform both existing ASTM Technical Committees, as well as relevant stakeholder groups outside of ASTM, of the formation of this new Subcommittee. This should assist in generating participation from all interested parties, from a wide variety of Industry Sectors.
- Upon the Subcommittee gaining a critical mass of members, it is my intention to provide several New Member Orientation Sessions to the Members of E06.26. These Sessions will be an overview of the ASTM Process and allow for new members to ask questions regarding Balloting, Negative Votes, Committee Operations, etc.
Official ASTM International Press Release Tiny Houses
ASTM International’s committee on performance of buildings (E06) has approved a new subcommittee on tiny houses.
This new subcommittee (E06.26) intends to develop standards for several proposed subject areas for tiny houses, including but not limited to:
- Best building practices
- Test methods
- Certification
- A global quality assurance program
- Requirements and auditing of third parties that provide plan review and inspect tiny houses
- Tiny house community developments
- Micro-grid utilities
- Minimum construction requirements.
Breaking Tiny House News!
I just got the word that the ballot closed and a new ASTM Tiny House subcommittee was approved within E06! This has been almost a 2-year effort!
Stay tuned. Will write more details soon!
We Overcame The ICC Objection!
On Sept. 15th, 2022, there was a hearing with COTCO, the governing board of ASTM International that grants new committees, representatives from the International Code Council ( ICC ), and proponents in support of new tiny house standards with ASTM.
Supporting Proponents
Janet Thome, President Of Tiny House Alliance USA, Leading The ASTM Tiny House Initiative
Bob Gorleski, Vice President Of Manufactured Structures With PFS TECO
Jay Peters With Codes And Standards International
Elizabeth Singleton With Build USHope
Mike Schmidt With Ensemble Ventures LLC.
We Overcame The ICC Objection!
Today was the COTCO hearing to address the ICC objection and we received great news after hearing.
Thank you for your participation today at the COTCO meeting. After lengthy discussion, COTCO approved the following motion. We will also follow-up with a formal letter to communicate this action in the coming weeks.
Motion: COTCO supports a new activity for Tiny Houses in ASTM International and instructs ASTM staff to approach Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings for the purpose of forming a new subcommittee on Tiny Houses.
Code, Commentary, And Standards For Design, Construction And Compliance
On Sept. 9th, 2022, the International Code Council published a press release announcing the publication of the 2021 International Tiny House Provisions.
Washington, D.C. – The International Code Council collaborated with the Tiny Home Industry Association (THIA), Modular Building Institute (MBI) and the Modular Home Builders Association (MHBA) to release the 2021 International Tiny House Provisions (ITHP). This innovative resource was created to provide a one-stop source for information on applicable codes and standards pertaining to tiny houses and how and when they may apply.
The Provisions Include:
- Model Legislation to Enable the Use of Affordable, Safe, Sustainable and Efficient Tiny Houses
- 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) with provisions from Appendix AQ (including commentary) incorporated and nonapplicable provisions removed
- ICC/MBI Standard 1200–2021, Standard for Off-Site Construction: Planning, Design, Fabrication and Assembly
- ICC/MBI Standard 1205–2021, Standard for Off-Site Construction: Inspection and Regulatory Compliance
- HUD Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards
The Publication Was Back-Dated To 2021
Note: It is important to note that the publication was back-dated to 2021 and the standards that are being promoted, ICCMB1 1200 and 1205 are American standards. They have removed all tiny house terminology after the disapproval at the 2024 hearing with the notion that tiny houses are ”inclusive”. The publication came out 6 days before the ICC/ASTM COTCO hearing addressing the duplication claim of ICC that objected to the COTCO approval of a new ASTM tiny house committee to develop and maintain standards specific to tiny houses. The main basis of the duplication claim was based on the two ICC/MBI standards 1200 ad 1205 that have removed all tiny house terms from the scope of the committee, the scope of the standards, and the body of the standards.
ICC Model Legislation For Tiny Houses
Jay Peters Consultant For ASTM Tiny House Proponents
The Battle For Tiny Houses
ASTM COTCO hearing on Sept. 15th, 2022
There has been a secret standards war raging in the undercurrents of the tiny house industry that I will not be silent about anymore. For almost two years I have written with diplomacy and tried to take the high road no matter what was going on. There is too much at stake to be silent now. We have been fought by both corporate and special interest groups.
This is going to be a long read-so I will try and summarize the points ahead of time as much as I can, and you can decide if you want to dig deeper and read the entire article.
A tiny house on wheels do not have its own standard. Most often they are built to RV standards, then RVIA must lobby against the industry if tiny houses on wheels are associated with housing. Learn more.
We have been working with ASTM International for over a year and a half with the goal of being granted a committee to develop and maintain standards specific to tiny houses. We received unanimous approval from COTCO, the ASTM board that grants new technical committees. Learn More.
At the same time, we received COTCO approval, we also received the news that the International Code Council (ICC) had sent an objection letter to ASTM regarding the committee. We have been stalled now for almost 5 months. During this time, ICC has written Model Legislation for tiny houses. Learn More.
The future of the tiny house industry just got a lot brighter and we are very excited to announce that Jay Peters, the principal advisor and expert witness at Codes And Standards International is joining the ASTM Tiny House Proponents as an expert consultant at the ASTM COTCO hearing on Sept. 15th, 2022. Jay will contribute his 40-plus years of experience in the development of codes and standards and as an expert at hearings and appeals.
The hearing will be a closed session with the board of COTCO, the International Code Council ( ICC), and proponents in favor of the potential tiny house committee. COTCO is the governing board of ASTM International that grants new technical committees.
After more than a year of negotiation with stakeholders of the tiny house industry following the ANSI Essential Requirements for due process, COTCO granted a new committee for tiny houses to develop and maintain standards specific to tiny houses. The committee will go on indefinitely.
The COTCO hearing will give both the ICC and the ASTM Tiny House Proponents the floor in front of the entire board of COTCO to discuss the ICC objection and a rebuttal to the objection. The hearing will determine if the ICC objection bears any weight on the COTCO approval of the new ASTM Tiny House Technical Committee.
ICC Objects To ASTM Tiny Houses On Wheels Standard
A Miestone For The Tiny House Industry
At the end of February 2022, we received the amazing news that COTCO, ( Committees On Technical Committees Operations) unanimously granted the tiny house industry a brand new ASTM International technical committee to develop and maintain standards specific to tiny houses. A primary goal is to develop a global uniform construction standard for tiny houses on wheels, certification, micro-grid utilities, tiny house communities and develop standards to complement and supplement IRC AQ Tiny House.
The COTCO Approval Milestone
Receiving COTCO approval was a milestone that we worked hard for that entailed gathering stakeholders from the tiny house industry that negotiated with ASTM for over a year, but our joy was short lived because we received an objection to the new committee from the International Code Council ( ICC ) on the same day. The objection was quite a surprise because we had been in very close contact with ICC to make sure they knew about our potential new standards, our intentions, and how we could collaborate.
ICC states that they feel they have covered everything for tiny houses, including tiny houses on wheels because of Appendix Q Tiny House, the IRC AQ Tiny House ( 2021 ) and the 2 ICC/MHI standards 1200 and 1205. ICC also states that they have covered plan review, inspection, quality assurance, certification, and labeling as well. One of ICC’s subsidiary feels that another standard for a residence is not needed. We are hoping to have a conclusion to their objection and find a collaborative path to work together.
After months of debate, we have decided to re-submit our tiny house proposal to COTCO, to address the objection at the advice of the ASTM executive team.
We received word from Lissy Velez, the program manager with the new business development team with ASTM International that COTCO has approved a new ASTM Tiny House Standards Committee.
We will have one more final approval from the ASTM International board.
Janet Thome, the President of Tiny House Alliance USA has been leading this initiative.
Achieving this moment for the tiny house industry to receive this approval. We have one last step to be approved by the ASTM International board.
About COTCO And COS
The Committee on Technical Committee Operations and the Committee on Standards, standing committees of the ASTM International board of directors, have been likened to the legislative and judicial branches, respectively, of the U.S. government. Briefly and generally speaking, COTCO makes the rules; COS verifies that the rules have been followed.
The groups are critical to the strength of ASTM International standards because of their different but interconnected focus on the development process. Both are standing committees of ASTM International’s board, and each includes eight members plus a chairman; members serve a three-year term and the chairman serves a three-year term.
Tiny Home Terms Eliminated From ICC Standards
Ethan Waldman Interviews Janet Thome On Podcast
The Off-Site and Modular Construction Committee (IS-OSMC) held its first in-person, public meeting on Nov. 19–20, 2019, in the Chicago, Ill., area to begin the development of two new standards to address the challenges currently faced by the industry and to offer a path for compliance on the regulatory side. The meeting organized workgroups and developed initial drafts of the standards for eventual posting for initial public input. The committee is made up of representatives from several different interest categories to develop consensus documents for eventual submittal to the American National Standards Institute as American National Standards.
Ethan Waldman interviewed Janet Thome on the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast that is airing on Sept. 24th, 2021 at 7 am EST time. Janet Thome is the founder and President of Tiny House Alliance USA and is also leading an exploratory initiate to develop Global Standards for tiny houses.
Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast # 181
From Ethan
Janet and I have been talking for a while and we’ve decided that it’s finally time to pull back the curtain on the efforts that she has been working on for the last several months and do an interview on the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast. Janet is the Founder, President, and Treasurer of Tiny House Alliance USA and is currently leading an exploratory initiative to develop new global building standards with ASTM. Before your eyes glaze over, I encourage you to stick with this show because Janet does a great job of explaining what ASTM International is, what standards are, how they would impact the tiny house building industry, dwellers, DIYers, not just in the United States or North America, but in the entire world. It’s a really exciting effort. I think there’s a lot of potential here and we need more people to get involved.