T h e     I n s t i t u t e     f o r     B u i l d i n g     T e c h n o l o g y      A n d     S a f e t y

E-DAPIA

To facilitate the requirement of DAPIA submissions of manufactured housing design documents to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), IBTS has instituted an Electronic Plan Submittal System (eDAPIA).

IBTS accepts e-mail submissions of design drawings from DAPIAs. The Imaging System accepts these electronic submittals, provided e-mail submissions are in the format shown in the following policy. Electronic plans are easy to submit, require less time to perform, and bear no postage expense. If you seek any further information, please call: 703-481-2000, or email our .

IBTS eDAPIA Submission Policy

Transmittal forms shall use the MS Excel 97 Spreadsheet (click here to download). Row or column alterations to this form shall not be made. The required fields are denoted by "yellow" highlighting. The Page Designation field must include only the drawing number (avoid additional information such as "floor plan," "plumbing," etc.) If multiple pages exist in one document, the page designation should be repeated. We recommend scanning the documents at 366 dpi horizontal and vertical resolution. Image files shall be provided in an Adobe PDF file format. Multiple pages can be in each PDF file, subject to the maximum size specified below.

  • Electronic submittals shall be forwarded in the form of an e-mail.
  • There shall be only one .xls file and one .zip file attached to each e-mail.
  • The image files shall be zipped into one file, in order as they appear on the .xls file, and uniquely named "transmittal number".zip (example: TX2-022601-04.zip).
  • The Excel transmittal form file shall be uniquely named "transmittal number".xls (example: TX2-022601-04.xls) and attached to the e-mail. This file is not to be zipped.
  • All entries in a particular transmittal form must contain the same approval date.
  • Subject line of the email should include "DAPIA assigned unique subject" (example: C28-1814 Approved).
  • Each e-mail should be no larger than 10 MBs.
  • E-mails are to be sent a specific e-mail address (please contact IBTS to obtain the address).

Imaging and Retrieval System

This software program is used by IBTS to provide the capacity to electronically scan and store all manufactured housing designs submitted to HUD, creating a "Design Library" for reference, without the bulk of storing and retaining hard copies. The system allows searching the "Design Library" for specific drawings, by specific elements, designs, and features (i.e. dates), more quickly and efficiently than the hard copy documents can be searched.