2023 New York Laws › GBS - General Business › Article 36-B - Warranties on Sales of New Homes › 777 - Definitions.

§ 777. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall
  have the following meanings:
1.  "Builder"  means  any  person,  corporation,  partnership or other
  entity contracting with an owner for the construction or sale of  a  new
  home.
2. "Building code" means the uniform fire prevention and building code
  promulgated  under  section three hundred seventy-seven of the executive
  law,  local  building  code  standards  approved  by  the  uniform  fire
  prevention  and  building  code  council  under  section  three  hundred
  seventy-nine of the executive law, and the building code of the city  of
  New York, as defined in title twenty-seven of the administrative code of
  the city of New York.
3.  "Constructed  in  a  skillful  manner"  means that workmanship and
  materials meet or  exceed  the  specific  standards  of  the  applicable
  building  code.  When  the  applicable  building code does not provide a
  relevant  specific  standard,  such  term  means  that  workmanship  and
  materials  meet  or  exceed  the  standards of locally accepted building
  practices.
4. "Material defect" means actual physical  damage  to  the  following
  load-bearing portions of the home caused by failure of such load-bearing
  portions  which  affects their load-bearing functions to the extent that
  the home becomes unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unliveable:  foundation
  systems  and  footings,  beams,  girders,  lintels,  columns,  walls and
  partitions, floor systems, and roof framing systems.
5. "New home" or "home" means any single family house or for-sale unit
  in a multi-unit residential structure of five stories or less  in  which
  title  to  the  individual  units  is  transferred  to  owners  under  a
  condominium or cooperative regime. Such terms do not  include  dwellings
  constructed  solely  for lease, mobile homes as defined in section seven
  hundred twenty-one of this chapter, or any house or unit  in  which  the
  builder  has  resided  or  leased  continuously  for three years or more
  following the date of completion of  construction,  as  evidenced  by  a
  certificate of occupancy.
6. "Owner" means the first person to whom the home is sold and, during
  the unexpired portion of the warranty period, each successor in title to
  the  home  and  any  mortgagee in possession. Owner does not include the
  builder of the home or any firm under common control of the builder.
7. "Plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling  and  ventilation  systems"
  shall mean:
a.  in  the  case  of plumbing systems: gas supply lines and fittings;
  water supply, waste and vent pipes and their fittings; septic tanks  and
  their  drain  fields;  water,  gas  and  sewer service piping, and their
  extensions to the tie-in of a public utility connection, or on-site well
  and sewage disposal system;
b. in the case of electrical systems: all  wiring,  electrical  boxes,
  switches,  outlets  and connections up to the public utility connection;
  and
c. in the case of heating, cooling and ventilation systems:  all  duct
  work,   steam,  water  and  refrigerant  lines,  registers,  convectors,
  radiation elements and dampers.
8. "Warranty date" means the date of the passing of title to the first
  owner for occupancy by such owner or such owner's family as a residence,
  or the date of first occupancy of the home  as  a  residence,  whichever
  first occurs.