Why didn't we DIY our Tiny House like Planned?

11:05 AM Jackie Be 0 Comments

I really wanted to build our tiny house ourselves- that was half the attraction. Unfortunately there were several reasons that we chose to use a contractor to build our tiny home on wheels.

RVIA Certification

Unfortunately the biggest barrier to tiny living is bureaucracy. First, tiny homes do not meet building codes and can not be considered permanent dwellings. Due to this, it is difficult if not impossible to insure a tiny home and incredibly difficult to park it anywhere. Insurance companies, zoning commissions and HOAs don't recognize tiny homes but will recognize it as a recreational vehicle if it is RVIA certified. So we determined that until the laws catch up, our lives would really be a pain without the certification. But there's a catch to getting it.

RVIA certifications apply to manufacturers and only RVs manufactured by RVIA certified manufacturers are certified themselves. In order for our tiny house to be certified, it had to be built by an RV certified manufacturer.

We did a lot of searching and found a builder that was great to work with so far and will certify our final home. We can rest assured that the house is built sound, will hold up on the freeway and is safe. When there is less red tape around the movement, we'll build our second tiny house :)