Interpretation ID: aiam2597
Independent Coach Corporation
Box 73
Lawrence
NY 11559;
Dear Mr. Levett: This is in further reply to your phone call of May 12, 1977, to Davi Soule regarding the new school buses you ordered last November. You asked whether the buses that will be delivered to you will meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards which became effective April 1, 1977.; The applicability of Federal standards is determined by the date o manufacture of the vehicle. For vehicles that are completed by mounting a body on a chassis, the manufacturer can treat as the date of manufacture, the date of manufacture of the incomplete vehicle (as defined in 49 CFR Part 568, *Vehicles Manufactured in Two or More Stages*), the date of final completion of the vehicle, or a date between those two dates. Since the chassis of the vehicles you ordered were manufactured prior to April 1, the completed vehicle need not meet the requirements of the new school bus safety standards.; Any arrangements for having your buses meet the new Federa requirements in this instance would have to be made by contract with the Wayne Corporation, builders of your bus bodies.; Sincerely, Joseph J. Levin, Jr., Chief Counsel