HUD Engineering Report for a Manufactured Home: How to Order One
In this guide
A HUD engineering report is a licensed engineer's signed report on a manufactured home's foundation, written against HUD's Permanent Foundations Guide for Manufactured Housing. FHA lenders ask for one before they lend on a manufactured home. The engineer must be licensed in the state where the home sits.
To order one, send the property address and the lender's condition word for word. The wording tells the engineer which question the report has to answer. "HUD engineering report" is a common name for the request, not the name of an official form.
What do lenders call it?
The same request reaches us under many names, depending on the lender, the underwriter and the loan program. Most of them mean a foundation certification against HUD's guide, but a few ask for more, and one is not an engineering report at all.
| What the condition says | What it usually asks for |
|---|---|
| HUD engineering report, HUD foundation certification | A foundation certification against HUD's guide |
| Permanent foundation certification, PFGMH certification | The same, named after the guide |
| Engineer's certification, engineer letter | Often a foundation certification. Ask what the letter must say. |
| FHA structural report, structural inspection | Sometimes the foundation only. On a moved home it may cover the structure as well. |
| Affidavit of affixation | A title document, not an engineering report |
If the condition names two documents, treat them as two requests. Our guide on foundation certification versus affixation explains why they get mixed up.
What should you send the engineer?
- The property address, including the county.
- The lender's condition, copied exactly as it appears in the file.
- The loan type and the date the report is due.
- Any earlier foundation report on the home.
- Anything changed since the home was set: an addition, a porch tied to the home, a move, foundation repairs.
- Who can let the engineer in, and who should receive the report.
Photographs of the HUD tag and the data plate help, too. If either one is missing, read what to do about a missing HUD tag or data plate. That is a separate records question, and a foundation report does not replace them.
What happens at the inspection?
The engineer looks at how the home is supported and anchored, at the conditions that can be reached, and at what is known about the home and its installation. HUD's Permanent Foundations Guide is the technical reference. It does not certify any address by itself, so the report applies it to the home in front of the engineer.
Someone needs to give access to the crawl space or the area under the home. If an opening is blocked or skirting has to come off, say so when you book, so the visit is not wasted.
What comes back?
A report signed and sealed by the engineer, addressed to the question in the condition. Where the findings support it, the report certifies the foundation. Where they do not, it says what was found and what would need to change. A fee pays for the engineering, not for a passing result.
The report answers the engineering question only. The lender still decides whether it clears the condition, and appraisal, title and insurance stay separate parts of the file.
Can an earlier report be used again?
Sometimes. Whether an earlier report can be used is the lender's decision, so send it to the loan officer before you order new work. Changes since that report make a new one more likely: a move, an addition, foundation work, or damage. Do not assume an old report is automatically good or automatically worthless.
What if the home does not pass?
The report describes the findings. The next step might be more information, a repair scope, completed repairs and a return visit, or a different documentation path the lender accepts. Ask before ordering what the first visit includes and what a return visit after repairs would involve.
For the lender's side of the question, read FHA manufactured home foundation requirements. For the guide behind the report, see what PFGMH certification means.
Ready to order?
Request an FHA foundation inspection with the address, the condition and the due date. We issue HUD engineering reports in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana.
Have an FHA foundation requirement?
Share your lender’s condition and requested report date. We can discuss the inspection and quote.