How does HUD label and tag mobile and manufactured homes?

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is responsible for regulating the construction and safety of manufactured homes. As part of this process, HUD requires that all manufactured homes have a label or tag affixed to the exterior of the home. This label, known as the HUD Certification Label or HUD Tag, verifies that the home was built to meet the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD Code).

Beginning in 1976, manufactured homes (formerly called “mobile” homes) built in the United States were held to important regulations enacted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

These changes enacted construction and safety standards, as well as regulated the way in which information would be documented and available to prospective homebuyers: either for new or used manufactured homes. 

To make sure as much information as possible was documented with the structure, HUD requires each home be complete with a data plate, as well as a certification label.

The data plate is a sheet of information affixed somewhere accessible in the interior of the manufactured home. It includes information about the home’s manufacture, as well important safety and environmental information about where the home should be situated. Click here for a more complete rundown of the data plate’s contents. 

The certification label is a red metal plate affixed to the exterior of each transportable section of the manufactured home. Since manufactured homes are built in factories, and transported in one or more sections on their permanent chassis, you might find one or more certification labels (commonly called “red tags”) on a given manufactured home. 

Essentially, the red tag simply states that the building has been built according to HUD specifications. On the red tag you will importantly find the “certification label number”, which is three letters, followed by a dash, then six numbers. This number will be unique for each individual home. 

In addition to the HUD Certification Label, manufactured homes may also have other labels or tags that provide information about specific components of the home, such as the electrical system or plumbing fixtures. These labels are typically located near the relevant components, and they may be provided by the manufacturer or a third-party testing agency.