CLA-2-94:RR:NC:2:230 A88769
Mr. Leigh A. Schmid
KPMG - Chartered Accountants
Box 10426 777 Dunsmuir St.
Vancouver, BC V7Y 1K3
RE: The tariff classification of customized house packages ("house
construction kits") from Canada; not prefabricated buildings of heading 9406
Dear Mr. Schmid:
In your letter dated October 22, 1996, on behalf of your client, Lindal
Cedar Homes, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The ruling was requested on complete house packages customized to suit the
individual buyers. A house package can be described as "a house construction
kit" as it includes everything required to build the house. The buyer or a
private contractor hired by the buyer builds the house according to the plans
provided by Lindal Cedar Homes.
A list of materials for a typical house package was submitted. The list
includes materials for flooring, decking, loft, roofing, perimeter walls, gables
and interiors. The materials consist primarily of lumber, beams, plywood and
molding in general sizes and without further processing. There are no prehung
doors, preassembled wall sections or any other prefabricated parts.
You suggested classification in subheading 9406.00.4000,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which
provides for prefabricated buildings; of wood. However, a shipment of all
the materials needed to make a house does not necessarily comprise a
prefabricated building at the time of importation. Prefabricated buildings
consist essentially of parts that are preassembled and cut to size or notched,
drilled or otherwise made to fit together before importation. Only some parts
in the shipment may consist of indeterminate or random lengths for cutting at
the site. A prefabricated building requires mainly to be assembled at the site.
It does not require to be built at the site. The house packages or
construction kits being imported by your client consist essentially of materials
that will be used to manufacture a building at the site. They would not be
classifiable in subheading 9406.00.4000, HTSUSA.
The materials in the house packages would be classified separately under
their applicable subheadings. If a ruling is desired for the separate
materials, please submit detailed descriptions including the construction, the
species of wood of all layers and any other further processing. An individual
ruling request should be limited to five items of the same class or kind.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs
Regulations (19 CFR 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be
provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is
imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National
Import Specialist Paul Garretto at 212-466-5779.
Sincerely,
Roger J. Silvestri
Director
National Commodity
Specialist Division