Project Team Roles and Responsibility Matrix

Permanent-home context: This guide uses “modular home” for a code-compliant building made as three-dimensional modules, transported to a permanent site and assembled on an approved foundation. It does not use the term as a synonym for a trailer, mobile home or HUD-code manufactured home.

Identify every controlling party

Common participants include the owner, factory, dealer, architect or designer, engineers, approval agency, local building official, general contractor, foundation contractor, carrier, crane company and local trades.

The name on the sales contract may not control site work. Ask who holds each permit, carries insurance and has authority to direct the set.

Map the interfaces

Plans must coordinate foundation dimensions, service locations, structural connections, exterior finishes and inspections. Create a responsibility matrix for design, supply, installation, testing and correction.

Pay special attention to items that cross the module boundary or the factory/site boundary, such as stairs, garages, decks, roofing, utility connections and fire-rated assemblies.

Establish communication

Use one current drawing register and a documented change process. Decisions made by email or on site should be incorporated into approved records where required.

Schedule coordination meetings before permits, before production and before delivery. Unresolved issues become more expensive once modules are on the line.

Apply this guide to a real project

For project team roles and responsibility matrix, create a dated project note tied to the destination address and current drawing revision. Identify the authority, designer, factory or contractor responsible for each unresolved item. Attach the written evidence for ‘Who is the overall project coordinator?’ and ‘Who holds design responsibility for factory-to-site interfaces?’ rather than recording a verbal assurance.

Before a deposit, production release, shipment or final payment, convert every open question into a named action with an owner and deadline. Keep superseded drawings and decisions in the record so later inspectors, lenders, insurers and future owners can understand why the completed house differs from an early sales plan.

Questions to resolve before proceeding

Who is the overall project coordinator?
Who holds design responsibility for factory-to-site interfaces?
Who obtains each permit and inspection?
Who pays when one party’s work prevents another from proceeding?

Stop point: Do not assume the factory is the general contractor unless the contract explicitly says so.

Primary references to check

Destination building department, approved plans and project contracts