By: Ghanem Zureikat, Senior Product Manager – Building Quality and Compliance, Built Environment
With demand for new commercial, industrial and residential buildings projected to grow steadily over the next decade, jurisdictions across the U.S. are under increasing pressure to help ensure that building construction keeps pace while maintaining the highest levels of safety and code compliance. To support this need, many builders are turning to modern methods of construction (MMC), including modular construction, to help accelerate development without compromising adherence to state and local building requirements.
Relevant code authorities include design professionals responsible for building design and code officials responsible for code compliance. These stakeholders are observing how growth in the building market is building several new challenges:
- Confirming that modular buildings meet all applicable model building, fire and life safety codes
- Assessing the integrity of factory built components
- Maintaining consistent oversight across distributed manufacturing locations
UL Solutions’ Modular Building Services program is designed specifically to support code authorities and provide trusted third party evaluation, plan review and inspection services to support public safety while easing the regulatory burden on local officials in each state.
What modular construction means for code authorities
Modular construction involves fabricating repeated sections, components or “modules” in a controlled, off site manufacturing environment before transporting them to the building site for assembly. This approach enhances consistency, repeatability and traceability attributes that directly support more efficient code compliance verification.
As modular construction has expanded from early residential applications to large commercial and industrial projects, code authorities must evaluate increasingly complex systems constructed far from the jurisdiction where they will ultimately be installed. UL Solutions provides oversight to bridge this gap by evaluating that modules are produced in accordance with approved plans and applicable building codes before they arrive in your jurisdiction.
Supporting code authorities through the State Modular Program
UL Solutions provides standardized oversight to help ensure that modules are constructed in accordance with the approved plans, adopted state building, fire and life-safety codes and relevant standards.
Our services include:
- Comprehensive plan review –
Our technical staff evaluates construction documents, design details and specifications against the applicable state building codes. This helps ensure that every module is approved prior to production and may reduce the need for extensive plan reviews by code authorities for prefabricated elements. - In factory inspections and quality oversight –
Our team of inspectors visit the manufacturing facility to confirm ongoing compliance with approved plans and building standards. This gives code authorities confidence that modules arriving at the job site have already undergone third party review. - Labeling and traceability –
Each compliant module receives a UL label indicating it has been manufactured and inspected under an approved program compliant with the state’s requirements. This label helps code authorities quickly verify compliance on site without duplicating factory level inspections. - Streamlined approvals for code authorities –
Documentation and oversight from UL Solutions helps code authorities feel confident that the modular components themselves have been built to code so they can focus on foundation, accessibility, utility connection and site specific inspections. - Code-ready modular components –
The UL Mark demonstrates that modular construction materials have been independently evaluated to applicable consensus standards, giving code authorities a substantiated, third party basis to determine code compliance and streamline approvals while focusing on site-specific elements.
Advantages of modular construction through the lens of code authority
While the benefits of modular construction are often framed for developers and contractors, code authorities also benefit significantly from the controlled manufacturing and standardized oversight:
- Increased safety support –
Factory controlled production minimizes on site construction variability, supporting consistent compliance with fire, life safety and structural requirements. - More predictable code compliance –
Plan review and inspections by UL Solutions supports uniform quality and can help reduce the likelihood of nonconforming assemblies arriving at the job site. - Reduced on-site inspection burden –
Documentation from UL Solutions is trusted by code authorities and helps them direct resources to final assembly and site-specific elements, freeing up valuable time and resources. - Smoother project approvals –
When modules arrive preapproved by UL Solutions, code authorities can streamline review cycles, which can contribute to a smoother path to occupancy. - Support for innovation –
The UL Solutions program helps code authorities stay informed and confident as new modular technologies, materials and designs enter the market.
Advancing opportunity and safeguarding occupants
As modular construction grows rapidly worldwide, code authorities play a crucial role in helping support safer, more resilient and code compliant buildings. The UL Solutions state program offers code authorities a trusted partner that brings technical expertise, rigorous oversight and thorough documentation to every modular project.
By accepting modular construction products and components that have earned the UL Mark, code authorities can build confidence that modular systems have demonstrated compliance to relevant standards before arriving on site. This helps jurisdictions uphold public safety while also supporting the need for more efficient construction products and processes.