New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 5 - COMMUNITY AFFAIRS › Chapter 25 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING NEW HOME WARRANTIES AND BUILDERS' REGISTRATION › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 5:25-1.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Act" means the New Home Warranty and Builders' Registration Act (
				  P.L. 1977, c.467), and regulations promulgated hereunder.
"Appliances, fixtures, and equipment" shall mean and include, but
				  not be limited to: furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, humidifiers, air purifiers, air
				  handling equipment, ventilating fans, air conditioning equipment, water heater,
				  pumps, stoves, ranges, ovens, refrigerators, garbage disposals, food waste
				  disposers, compactors, dishwashers, automatic garage door openers, washers, and
				  dryers, plumbing fixtures and trim, faucets, fittings, motors, water treating
				  equipment, ejectors, thermostats and controls, including any fitting attachments;
				  electric receptacles, switches, lighting fixtures, and circuit breakers;
"Builder designee" means the partner, officer, or director
				  designated as such in the builder's application for registration and is the
				  individual responsible for on-site building activity.
"Certificate of occupancy" means the certificate required to be
				  issued pursuant to the State Uniform Construction Code Act, (52:27D-119 et seq.).
"Certificate of Participation" means that certificate which is
				  issued by the Commissioner to the owner of each new home constructed by a builder
				  who participates in the State Plan and which signifies that the home was constructed
				  by a participating builder, and that premiums due have been paid.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of
				  Community Affairs.
"Common elements" shall mean those elements listed in the master
				  deed on file for each such development or unit as required under law for common
				  ownership.
"Consequential damages" means damage to the home itself resulting
				  directly or proximately from a defect covered by the warranty.
"Construction permit" means that permit required pursuant to the
				  State Uniform Construction Code Act (52:27D-119 et seq.) before
				  the construction of any new home is permitted to begin.
"Department" means the Department of Community Affairs.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Codes and
				  Standards.
"Division" means the Division of Codes and Standards in the
				  Department of Community Affairs.
"General contractor" means a builder who is responsible for
				  general construction, plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning, and electrical work
				  for a single new home constructed for an owner on the owner's land.
"Major structural defect" means any actual damage to the
				  load-bearing portion of the home, including consequential damages, damage due to
				  subsidence, expansion or lateral movement of the soil (excluding movement caused by
				  flood or earthquake) that affects its load-bearing function and that vitally affects
				  or is imminently likely to vitally affect use of the home for residential purposes.
				  "Major structural defect" shall have the same meaning as "major construction
				  defect," as used in the Act.
"Mechanical and electrical systems" shall mean and include the
				  following:
1. Plumbing system: Gas supply
				lines and fittings, and water supply, waste and vent pipes and their fittings;
				septic tanks and their drains; water, gas, and sewer service piping, and their
				extensions to the property line which tie-in to a public utility connection or
				on-site well and/or sewage disposal system.
2. Electrical system: All wiring, electrical
				boxes, and connections up to the public utility meter connection, excluding
				appliances, fixtures and equipment.
3.
				Heating, Ventilating, Cooling and Mechanical systems: All ductwork, steam, water and
				refrigerant lines, registers, convectors, radiation elements and dampers.
"New home" means any dwelling unit not previously occupied,
				  excluding dwelling units constructed solely for lease, and units governed by the
				  Federal Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act,
				  42 USC 5401 et
				  seq.
"New home builder" means any individual, corporation, partnership
				  or other business organization engaged in the construction of new homes. Whenever
				  used herein the term "builder" shall mean "new home builder."
"Owner" means any person for whom the new home is built, or to
				  whom the new home is sold, for occupation by that person or the family of that
				  person as a home, and also means and includes his or her successors in title to the
				  home, or mortgagee in possession. "Owner" does not mean or include any development
				  company, association or subsidiary company of the builder or any person or
				  organization to whom the home may be sold or otherwise conveyed by the builder for
				  subsequent resale, letting or other purpose.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, association, or other
				  entity, as defined in
				  1:1-2.
"Release" means an executed acknowledgement of satisfaction of the
				  claim of defect required to be given to a builder by an owner after a claim of
				  defect is satisfied. A release shall not prejudice the right of the owner to further
				  relief from the builder pursuant to
				  5:25-5.5, Claims procedure.
"State New Home Warranty Security Plan" or "State Plan" means the
				  combination of dispute settlement procedure, New Home Warranty Security Fund, and
				  any other elements of the program operated by the Division of Housing and
				  Development intended to give effect to the Act and these regulations.
"Stockholder" means any person who owns any share or share in a
				  builder except that as used herein the term stockholder shall not include persons
				  holding publicly-traded shares on any national or regional stock exchange.
"Subsidiary" means any corporation, partnership or other business
				  organization which is controlled in any manner by any other corporation, partnership
				  or business organization. Control is presumed whenever such organizations share any
				  common officers, directors, principals, or stockholders.
"Warrantor" means the builder who constructed or transferred title
				  to the owner.
"Warranty" means the warranty prescribed by the Act and these
				  regulations.
"Warranty administrator" means that person responsible for
				  administering any portion or all of the claims resolution and defect correction
				  process of a private plan where that person is a legal entity different from the
				  warranty guarantor.
"Warranty date" means the date of the first occupation by the
				  owner or settlement date, whichever is sooner.
"Warranty guarantor" means that person responsible for securing
				  the warranty, required to be offered pursuant to these regulations, on behalf of a
				  private plan. The term shall mean and include warranty administrator where a
				  separate administrator is not established.