The Florida Senate

320.8285  Onsite inspection.--

(1)  Each county or municipality in this state shall prepare and adopt a plan providing for an onsite inspection of each mobile home located within such entity. The onsite inspection shall ensure compliance with state and local building codes, ordinances, and regulations regarding such functions as blocking and leveling, tie-downs, utility connections, conversions of appliances, and external improvements on the mobile home. If a mobile home is manufactured in conformity with the code, as established in s. 320.823, a county may not require modification of the mobile home in order to comply with local tie-down regulations.

(2)  When a county or municipality has not prepared and adopted a plan providing for onsite inspection, the department shall prepare a minimum onsite inspection plan for such county. The department may promulgate reasonable rules and regulations pursuant to chapter 120 in preparing and enforcing such a minimum onsite inspection plan.

(3)  Each county or municipality may designate the persons who are to perform the onsite inspection. If a county or municipality does not so designate, the department shall designate the persons who are to perform the onsite inspection. No person shall be designated to perform onsite inspections unless such person is competent in the areas of mobile home blocking and leveling, tie-downs, utility connections, conversions of appliances, and external improvements. Pursuant to the onsite inspection, each mobile home shall be issued a certificate of occupancy if the mobile home complies with state and local building codes, ordinances, and regulations regarding such functions as blocking and leveling, tie-downs, utility connections, conversion of appliances, and external improvements to the mobile home.

(4)  Fees for onsite inspections and certificates of occupancy of mobile homes shall be reasonable for the services performed. A guideline for fee schedules shall be issued by the department.

(5)  The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles shall enforce every provision of this section and the regulations adopted pursuant hereto, except that local land use and zoning requirements, fire zones, building setback and side and rear yard requirements, site development and property line requirements, subdivision control, and onsite installation requirements, as well as review and regulation of architectural and aesthetic requirements, are hereby specifically and entirely reserved to local jurisdictions. However, any architectural or aesthetic requirement imposed on the mobile home structure itself may pertain only to roofing and siding materials. Such local requirements and regulations and others for manufactured homes must be reasonable, uniformly applied, and enforced without distinctions as to whether such housing is manufactured, located in a mobile home park or a mobile home subdivision, or built in a conventional manner. No local jurisdiction shall prohibit siting or resiting of used mobile homes based solely on the date the unit was manufactured.

(6)  Park trailers are subject to inspection in the same manner as are mobile homes pursuant to this section.

History.--s. 6, ch. 74-169; s. 10, ch. 75-203; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 2, ch. 81-318; s. 12, ch. 82-66; s. 4, ch. 84-182; ss. 19, 20, ch. 88-147; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 6, ch. 92-148; s. 68, ch. 94-306; s. 49, ch. 97-300.