Duluth Steel Fabricators, Inc. (Dúluth Steel), by writ of certiorari, challenges the judgment of the Tax Court that it is liable for sales taxes on materials sold by it to general contractors. We affirm.
Duluth Steel is in the business of fabricating structural steel to be installed by others on a variety of construction projects. Its services may be summarized as follows:
(1) Duluth Steel makеs decisions regarding settings, including their placement, number, and size, and instructs the general сontractor accordingly.
(2) Duluth Steel designs and furnishes detailed drawings concerning all clips, plates, and connections, and the location, number, and size of all bolts.
(3) Duluth Stеel provides the general contractor with erection drawings which designate the name of each piece of steel, where it is to go, the method of cоnnection, and the sequence of erection.
(4) Both before delivery of the stеel and during its erection, Duluth Steel confers with the general contractor as to the manner in which the steel is to be erected. Although Duluth Steel does not have an employee on the job at all times, it does send someone to the job site whenever *568 requested to do so by the general contractor, and, in addition, Duluth Steel’s president or one of his employees will occasionally stop by the construction sitе, talk with the superintendent of the job, and check the fit and erection of the steel. In this capacity, one of its employees may at times spend a day or two on the job. This installation advice is included in the original price bid.
(5) Whenever there is a рroblem with the steel or its fit, Duluth Steel will make the necessary corrections.
Upon еxecution of the contract, Duluth Steel generally purchases the steel requirеd for the project from a steel supplier since it does not carry an inventory large enough to meet the requirements of a substantial structural steel contraсt. Duluth Steel infrequently makes over-the-counter sales of structural steel.
Duluth Steel usually does not provide equipment or labor for the assembly of the structural steel piеces at the job site, although labor at the job site is occasionally providеd if adjustments or corrections in the fabricated steel are necessary.
Duluth Steel paid sales tax on the raw steel purchased for the jobs it performed during the аudit period in question, but did not charge sales tax to the general contractors bеcause it believed it was a subcontractor under the appropriate statute. The decision of the Tax Court affirmed the ruling of the commissioner that Duluth Steel did not qualify for an exemption as a subcontractor under the statute. Relator also challenges the applicability of certain regulations of the Department оf Taxation which we need not discuss since the Tax Court determined that Duluth Steel did not qualify аs a subcontractor under the statute, considered apart from the regulations.
Minn. St. 297A.01, subd. 4, provides:
“A ‘rеtail sale’ or ‘sale at retail’ means a sale for any purpose other thаn resale in the regular course of business. Property utilized by the owner only by leasing such рroperty to others or by holding it in an effort to so lease it, and which is put to no use by thе owner other than resale after such lease or effort to lease, shall be considered property purchased for resale. Sales of building materials, suрplies and equipment to owners, contractors, subcontractors or builders for thе erection of buildings or the alteration, repair or improvement of real property are ‘retail sales’ or ‘sales at retail’ in whatever quantity sold and whethеr or not for purpose of resale in the form of real property or othеrwise.”
The Tax Court in its memorandum accompanying the decision stated:
“* * * Generally, suppliers are those who sell building materials. *569 Contractors and subcontractors erect and construct the material into a building on the site. Modem improvements in construction techniques may in the future make it more difficult to recognize this distinction but, in this case, it seems clear that appellant is a supplier and not a subcontractor.”
We agree.
Affirmed.