Interpretation ID: aiam3097
Manager
Engineering Services
Blue Bird Body Company
P.O. Box 937
Fort Valley
GA 31030;
Dear Mr. Milby: This responds to your August 30, 1979, letter asking how to comply wit Part 568, *Vehicles Manufactured in Two or More Stages*. That regulation states, in part, that a manufacturer may choose as the date of manufacture of a vehicle, the date of manufacture of the incomplete vehicle, the date of manufacture of the final vehicle, or any date between those two dates. You ask whether this choice is available to manufacturers that manufacture both the incomplete vehicle and the final-stage vehicle. The answer to your question is no.; As you noted in your letter, the National Highway Traffic Safet Administration issued an interpretation in 1974 stating that manufacturers of both incomplete and final-stage vehicles could not choose the date of manufacture of their completed vehicles. Those manufacturers must use only the date of manufacture of the completed vehicle.; The 1974 interpretation stated that manufacturers of both incomplet and final-stage vehicles do not need a choice of manufacture dates. That choice is only appropriate when a manufacturer of a completed vehicle does not have control over the manufacture of the incomplete vehicle. In such cases, a final-stage manufacturer might order an incomplete vehicle which would be constructed prior to the effective date of new safety standards but received after the effective date of such standards. If the incomplete vehicle were not in compliance with the new standards, it might be impossible for the final-stage manufacturer to use it in the construction of a completed vehicle. When a manufacturer is in complete control of both units, however, it can ensure that the incomplete vehicle will comply with the appropriate safety standards that will be in effect on the date of manufacture of the completed vehicle.; Our 1974 interpretation stated that the certification requirement would change as a result of the *Rex Chainbelt* decision. As you are aware, the agency significantly modified its regulations in accordance with that decision. However, the sections relating to the date of manufacture of a vehicle were not changed. Accordingly, our 1974 interpretation of those sections limiting the choice of dates of manufacture for a manufacturer that produce (sic) all stages of a vehicle remains in effect.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel