Wind River COO Appointed to ICC Committee on Moveable Tiny Homes

There are exciting things happening at the national level to increase the viability of moveable tiny homes as full-time residences across the country.

In April 2023, the International Code Council (ICC) announced a collaboration with the Tiny Home Industry Association (THIA) to update the current provisions on tiny houses currently outlined in Appendix AQ of the International Residential Code (IRC).

“This new standard will codify existing requirements for the design, construction, inspection, and certification of tiny houses into a single standard while also helping to address identified gaps in available requirements.”

Ryan Colker, ICC Vice President of Innovation.

The standards development process will be spearheaded by a committee consisting of key industry stakeholders including tiny home builders. Wind River’s own Caleb Knowles, COO, will serve on this committee.

Caleb began his career doing development work in Africa and East Asia where simplicity, efficiency, and creativity are a must. As a founding member and co-owner of Wind River, Caleb’s decades of construction experience make him an indispensable leader, uniquely skilled to guide our team of craftsmen. Whether its minimalistic shelter or affordable luxury, he brings integrity to every home we build. He’s also passionate about our team and the positive environment we’ve fostered at Wind River, and works hard to create jobs that our community can be invested in and proud of.

Advocating for broader acceptance of alternative housing is part of our mission, as we believe our society benefits in multiple ways from the availability of housing choice and affordability. The ultimate goal of this new standard is to provide a unified, national code for Moveable Tiny Homes to be officially recognized as “dwellings.” Currently, the tiny home industry is using Park Model Recreational Vehicle code (ANSI 119.5) because there is no other national code available for our build category. This causes two very large issues for would-be tiny home owners:

• Restrictions on living full time in an “RV” exist in almost every urban area in the country.
• There are few lending options available for those who want to finance their tiny home.

The new Moveable Tiny Home standards have the potential to greatly alleviate both of these barriers.

“This joint effort with the Code Council will go a long way in helping to clear the confusion within the regulatory and tiny home builder community.”

Brad Wiseman, Chair and CEO of THIA

We congratulate Caleb on his appointment to the standards committee!