How to fill out California REG 5036

Documents how a specially constructed or assembled vehicle came to exist - a kit car, a hot rod, a home-built trailer - so that it can be titled and sold. It is the form that turns a box of receipts into an ownership record.

Top of the blank California REG 5036, Statement of Construction, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank REG 5036 — Statement of Construction PDF at dmv.ca.gov · new tab View the blank REG 5036

Part of page 1 of our filled-in example of California REG 5036, Statement of Construction, showing the filled-in entries

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in REG 5036 guide PDF · 5 pages · 790 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank REG 5036 from the dmv.ca.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our REG 5036 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against REG 5036 (Rev 3/2007), issued under California Vehicle Code 4750 and 5500. Assembled-vehicle titling is slow in California even when the paperwork is perfect. Start it well before you plan to sell, not after a buyer appears.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual REG 5036, rendered from the PDF the California Department of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.

Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below

Both sides of the California REG 5036 completed for a specially constructed vehicle: the identification number and engine year model in section 1, assembled by me ticked in section 2, all four component boxes ticked in section 3, a written explanation of the parts with no bill of sale in section 4, the cost lines and a total in section 5, and on the reverse the suppliers of the engine, transmission, frame and body with Priya Raman's certification and signature at the foot. — Page 1 of 2. The description, who built it, what is documented and what it cost. Section 4 is the free-text box that explains the components no invoice covers, and section 5 turns the whole project into a single figure at the bottom.

Page 2 of the filled-in REG 5036: Where every major component came from, name and address by name and address, then the owner's certification. Section 7 is grey here because nobody delivered this vehicle - it was assembled by the person signing, so there was no complete car to take possession of. — Page 2 of 2. Where every major component came from, name and address by name and address, then the owner's certification. Section 7 is grey here because nobody delivered this vehicle - it was assembled by the person signing, so there was no complete car to take possession of.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Section 1, vehicle description
Identification number, engine year model, and a motorcycle engine number where that is what was built.
Watch out: The line above the section decides how much of this form you complete: sections 1 through 5 and 8 for an assembled trailer under 6,000 pounds, both sides of the form for everything else.
2
You fill this in
Section 2, construction of vehicle
Assembled by me, or assembled for me by - with the name, address and telephone number of whoever did the work.
Watch out: Ticking by me leaves the name and address block beneath it empty, which is correct. Ticking for me by and leaving it empty is not.
3
You fill this in
Section 3, component parts information
Tick engine, transmission, frame and body according to which of them you can produce a bill of sale for.
Watch out: The heading is precise about what a tick means: accompanying the application are bills of sale for these parts. It is a statement about the paperwork you are attaching, not about the parts on the car.
4
You fill this in
Section 4, statement of facts
The explanation of how you came into possession of any major component you cannot produce evidence of purchase for.
Watch out: This is the section a clerk reads properly. Write it as an account of where the part came from and when, not as an apology for not having the receipt.
5
You fill this in
Section 5, cost information
Separate lines for an unassembled kit, a partially assembled body and frame, a completely assembled vehicle, and new or used component parts.
Watch out: Only the lines that describe what actually happened get a figure. A project built from a body and frame has nothing to put on the unassembled kit line.
6
You fill this in
Value of parts not supported by bills of sale
A figure for the components section 4 has just described in words.
Watch out: This line and section 4 are a pair. Explaining a part in words and then leaving its value blank asks the department to guess, and it will not guess in your favour.
7
You fill this in
Total value of the vehicle including labor
The bottom line, and the form is explicit that labour counts whether or not somebody was paid for it.
Watch out: It is a signed valuation, not an estimate for insurance. Understating it is a false statement on a form that carries a perjury declaration on the reverse.
8
You fill this in
Section 6, the engine
Name of the person, company or agent it came from, then a residence or business address, city, state, zip and telephone number.
Watch out: The detail asked for is a supplier who could be contacted, which is why the telephone number is there. A first name and a swap meet does not satisfy it - that belongs in section 4.
9
You fill this in
The transmission
The same block again, for the gearbox.
Watch out: Where the engine and transmission came from the same supplier, both blocks still get filled in. An empty block reads as a component nobody has accounted for.
10
You fill this in
The frame
Who supplied the chassis the vehicle is built on.
Watch out: The frame is the component a verification looks hardest at, because it is where an identification number is assigned and where a stolen part would show up.
11
You fill this in
The body
Who supplied the bodywork, whether it came as a reproduction shell or off another vehicle.
Watch out: A body bought together with a frame still needs its own block completed. The form asks four times because it wants four answers.
12
You fill this in
Section 7, delivery of complete vehicle
The date you took possession of the completely assembled vehicle, from whom, and at what address.
Watch out: It is greyed out here because there was nobody to take delivery from - the owner built it. Fill it in only where a finished vehicle changed hands.
13
You fill this in
Section 8, printed name and address
Last name, first name and middle name in three boxes, then address, city and county, state and zip code.
Watch out: The instruction above the block is COMPLETE IN FULL BELOW, in capitals and italics. The city and county box wants both, not whichever is shorter.
14
You fill this in
Signature and daytime telephone number
Sign under the certification and give a number that reaches you during office hours.
Watch out: Read what you are signing: it certifies the equipment used conforms to applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, and it agrees to indemnify the Director of Motor Vehicles for any loss arising from registering the vehicle.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Which sections apply to you	The instruction at the top: sections 1 through 5 and 8 for assembled trailers weighing under 6,000 pounds, both sides of the form for every other vehicle type.
Section 1, vehicle description	Identification number, engine year model, motorcycle engine number.
Section 2, construction of vehicle	Assembled by me, or for me by - with the name, address and telephone number of the person, company or agent who built it.
Section 3, component parts	Tick boxes for engine, transmission, frame and body, matching the bills of sale you are attaching.
Section 4, statement of facts	Free text explaining how you came into possession of any major component you cannot produce a bill of sale or invoice for. Write this carefully - it is the section a clerk actually reads.
Section 5, cost information and vehicle value	Separate lines for the unassembled kit, the partially assembled body and frame, the completely assembled vehicle, and new or used component parts. The total drives the use tax.

What gets this one rejected

•Attaching no bills of sale and writing nothing in section 4. One or the other has to account for every major component.
•Completing only one side on anything other than a light assembled trailer.
•Understating the component costs. Section 5 is a valuation the DMV taxes on, and it is signed.
•Expecting to skip the inspection. A specially constructed vehicle needs a verification, and often a CHP one.

Every line here was read off REG 5036 (Rev 3/2007) itself — the PDF is here — and off the California Department of Motor Vehicles pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Forms that go with this one

Assembling a kit car or hot rod at home? Sacramento's City Code limits on engine and body work outside an enclosed building are laid out on our city page.

Back to all California seller paperwork, or what selling a car in California involves.

How to fill out California REG 5036

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Section 1, vehicle description

Section 2, construction of vehicle

Section 3, component parts information

Section 4, statement of facts

Section 5, cost information

Value of parts not supported by bills of sale

Total value of the vehicle including labor

Section 6, the engine

The transmission

The frame

The body

Section 7, delivery of complete vehicle

Section 8, printed name and address

Signature and daytime telephone number

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Forms that go with this one

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