Most of the time I comment when I publish a letter or announcement but not this time. The letter speaks for every modular home builder and modular factory in the US, not just the ones in MA.
June 16, 2014
The Honorable Deval Patrick, Governor
Western Massachusetts Office of the Governor
State Office Building
436 Dwight Street Suite 300
Springfield, MA 01103
Re: Opposing Reappointment of Kevin
Gallagher to B.B.R.S.
Governor Patrick,
After what can only be described as years of frustration,
our industry would like to express our opposition to the possible reappointment
of Kevin Gallagher for a second five-year term on the Board of Building
Regulations and Standards (BBRS). Mr.
Gallagher’s term is set to expire on July 1 of this year.
As the director of the only national trade association
serving the modular home industry, I work with state administrative agencies
and boards in about thirty-five states.
I can say unequivocally that Massachusetts ranks among the most
problematic states for this industry to conduct business.
While our working relationship with the state Manufactured
Building Program and its Director Steve Kennealy are positive and productive,
there is a toxic relationship with the actual BBRS. This is primarily due to one person, Mr.
Gallagher, and his efforts to undermine and misinform the public about our
industry at every opportunity. For the
past several years, Mr. Gallagher has literally gone on a public campaign
against the modular home industry, writing guest articles for magazines and
accepting speaking opportunities at out of state conference. His entire anti-industry campaign is based
solely on his observations while watching a modular home burn in Acushnet in
2008.
He has since had the building codes amended once at a cost
of about $500 per home and has recently tried to implement another change
specifically targeting our industry, which would add about another $500 per
home. He has demanded that our industry
“prove our innocence” by demonstrating that our homes are safe and code
compliant, despite the fact that our homes have more rigorous testing and
oversight than conventional homes and very few customer complaints have been
made against the industry. Modular homes
are built to the same local codes
as conventional homes, just constructed off site in
components or modules before arriving to the final site.
To date, we estimate that Mr. Gallagher has directly cost
this industry over $100,000 in testing and unnecessary code changes and
undeterminable amounts in lost revenue as a result of his campaign. We have considered filing ethics charges
against Mr. Gallagher but felt that it might be more prudent and less public if
he simply were not reappointed.
I am including the text of one potential customer to
demonstrate how this state representative’s actions are costing our industry
revenue opportunities based on nothing more than his observations. This is an email excerpt from a potential
customer to a modular home builder in Massachusetts:
…. I feel that I’ve
done enough research to feel comfortable, and thank you for taking the time to
explain things to me. However, my wife’s family are not the easiest to
convince. As we are discussing moving out, they are finding all sorts
of scare tactics, and I am feeling that I am fighting this uphill battle at
home of why going modular is the better way. I need hard evidence to be
able to defend my decision. Anyhow, I know you can help me find concrete
data proving that all the above issues can be addressed. 1) for fire
safety, I read somewhere that after the Acusnet fire, state of MA end up
changing the codes for modular built, where the boxes and the roof are all
screwed, nailed together, instead of using the foam adhesive. Is that
true?
To be clear, our industry is proud of its track record and
working relationship with most in the state and have no problem being held to
the SAME standards as conventional site built homes. But we are not being held
to the same standards as no such onerous demands are being made of contractors
who build using more conventional methods.
The sad and ironic part of this whole situation is that the
state of Massachusetts is truly a hotbed of innovation and research for modular
and offsite construction with numerous leading architects, academics, and
contractors. The modular construction
industry is on the front end of leading the change towards greater innovation,
less waste, more worker productivity, and greater worker safety. And your State is well-positioned to be a
national leader in this regard. But Massachusetts
will never be at the forefront of leading this movement towards a more
efficient construction process while this stifling anti-industry sentiment
exists within the board.
We cannot grow in such a hostile regulatory system as exists
now and we urge you not to reappoint Kevin Gallagher to the BBRS as a first
step towards greater collaboration and growth.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding this
request. I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at
717-469-5493. Thank you so much for
considering this request.
Sincerely,
Tom Hardiman,
Executive Director
Cc: Thomas Gatzunis,
Secretary of Public Safety
Robert Anderson, Chief of Inspections
