Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 440 - Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board › Chapter 10 - General Administration, Registration, Licensing, and Filing Claims › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - General Rules and Regulations for Applications, Registration, Licensing, Claims, Violations, and Administrative Hearings › Section 440-RICR-10-00-1.4 - General Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. In
				 addition to the terms defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
										5-65-1 and Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this Subchapter, the following terms
				 shall have the following meanings:
1. "Agent of service" or
				 "Registered agent" means a business or individual designated by the
				 registrant/licensee upon whom any process, notice, or demand required
				 or permitted by law to be served upon the corporation or individual
				 registrant/licensee may be served. An attorney licensed and located
				 in Rhode Island or a company listed by the Rhode Island Secretary of
				 State may serve as an agent of service.
2. "Applicant" means any person
				 seeking to obtain a registration or license that is issued by the
				 Contractors" Registration and Licensing Board.
3. "Architect" and the "practice of
				 architecture" are defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-1-2.
4. "Board" or "CRLB" means the
				 contractors' registration and licensing board established pursuant to
				 the provisions of §5-65-14
				 or its designees.
5.
				 "Building officials" means the officials charged with the
				 administration and enforcement of the Rhode Island State Building
				 Code.
6. "Claim" means
				 the portion of a complaint that requests the imposition of monetary
				 damages and/or restitution.
7. "Commercial Contractor" means a
				 contractor who does not regularly in the course of his or her or its
				 business as a contractor engage in construction activities as
				 contemplated in R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 5-65 on residential
				 structures.
8.
				 "Complainant" means an individual who files a complaint.
9. "Complaint" means a formal
				 allegation against another person.
10. "Condominium" is defined in
				 R.I. Gen. Laws §
											34-36.1-1.03(7).
11. "Contested Case" means an
				 adjudicatory proceeding before a Hearing Officer in which the legal
				 rights, duties or privileges of a Party are determined in accordance
				 with R.I. Gen. Laws §
											42-35-9.
12. "Continuing education credit"
				 means the credit unit awarded after a person receives instruction
				 related to the discipline for which that person is
				 registered/licensed with the Board. Different disciplines may require
				 a different number of credit units to maintain a
				 registration/license, and the credit must be issued by a Board
				 approved provider to be valid.
13. "Contract" means the written or
				 oral agreement between the client and the registered/licensed person
				 or person required to be registered/licensed, describing the
				 responsibilities and duties of each party and the fee to be
				 paid.
14. "Contractor" is
				 defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-65-1(4)(i).
15. "Department" means the
				 Department of Business Regulation.
16. "Developer" means a person who
				 owns property and contracts with a general contractor to construct,
				 improve, or alter one or more buildings or structures on the land for
				 the purpose of selling or leasing those buildings or structures, and
				 who is required to be registered with the Board pursuant to R.I. Gen.
				 Laws §
											5-65-1(4)(i).
17. "Director" means the Director
				 of the Department of Business Regulation or the Director's
				 designee.
18. "Employee"
				 means an individual who works for wages or salary and is not an
				 independent contractor.
19. "Employer" means a legal entity
				 that controls and directs a worker in return for payment of wages or
				 salary as a means of compensation.
20. "Engineer," and the "practice
				 of engineering" are defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-8-2.
21. "Expungement" means the
				 removal, deletion or erasing of information from a registrant's or
				 licensee's record that is accessible to the public.
22. "Flipping" means the process of
				 purchasing, renovating, and attempting to sell the property for a
				 quick profit.
23. "Good
				 standing" means an applicant who does not have any unresolved claims,
				 violations, penalties or fines with the Board for any
				 registration/license held by the applicant or its principal, nor with
				 any other municipal, state, or federal regulatory authority in Rhode
				 Island or elsewhere.
24.
				 "Inactive registration/license" means a registration/license that has
				 lapsed, expired, or has been suspended, surrendered, or
				 revoked.
25. "Incapacity"
				 or "Incapacitated" means an ailment that renders an active
				 registrant/licensee unable to perform the work of the discipline for
				 which they are registered/licensed,
26. "Independent Contractor" means
				 a person or entity contracted to perform work for-or provide services
				 to-another entity as a non-employee.
27. "License" means any type of
				 License issued by the Board granting permission to engage in certain
				 activities.
28.
				 "Licensee" means a holder of a license issued by the Board.
29. "Occupancy" means, but is not
				 limited to, the time of issuance of a certificate of occupancy or the
				 time of receipt of a letter of completion of the construction by the
				 Building Official.
30.
				 "Owner" means any person or his/her agent who holds title or other
				 rights to a property.
31.
				 "Party" or "Parties" means each Person named or admitted as a Party,
				 or properly seeking and entitled as of right to be admitted as a
				 Party in a Contested Case.
32. "Permits" means documentation
				 that must be obtained from the state or local building department of
				 each city or town in which work is to be performed prior to the
				 commencement of work.
33.
				 "Person" is defined in R.I. Gen. Laws
				  5-65-1(11) 
				 and includes any individual, partnership, corporation, limited
				 liability company, association, governmental subdivision, public or
				 private organization or any other entity however formed.
34. "Professional engineer" is
				 defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-8-2.
35. "Reasonable Cause" means there
				 exists a set of facts of a type commonly relied upon by reasonably
				 prudent persons in the conduct of their affairs which would induce a
				 reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that a
				 violation(s) of law, rule, or regulation has occurred.
36. "Registrant" means a holder of
				 a registration issued by the Board.
37. "Registration" means any type
				 of registration issued by the Board granting permission to engage in
				 certain activities.
38.
				 "Residence/residential building" means a structure that consists of
				 one or more dwelling units.
39. "Respondent" means a Party
				 against whom a complaint has been filed against or a violation has
				 issued.
40. "Responsible
				 person" means the individual, corporate member, or partner of a
				 business entity who is responsible for the actions of the entity, the
				 individuals employed by the entity, and for any violations of law,
				 rule, or regulation that occur under the
				 registration/license.
41.
				 "Revoke" means the termination of a registration or license by the
				 Board.
42. "Structure" is
				 defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											5-65-1 and includes modular and mobile homes at the time they are placed on
				 support blocking or permanent foundations in the place they will be
				 used.
43. "Subcontractor"
				 means a person or entity who has a contract, either oral or written,
				 not with the owner of the structure but with a registrant/licensee or
				 one who is required to be registered/licensed, to perform work
				 subject to the Board's authority, and who is responsible for a
				 specific portion of the project.
44. "Violation" means an action
				 that breaks or acts against a relevant statute, rule, regulation,
				 standard, order, registration, and/or license.
45. "Wages" is defined in R.I. Gen.
				 Laws §
											28-14-1(4).
46. "Work period" means the time
				 period from the date a contract is entered into until the date the
				 contracted work is substantially completed by the original
				 registrant/licensee, or if not substantially completed, the date work
				 by the original registrant/licensee ceased.