Terms Used In New York Laws > General Business > Article 35-E - Construction Contracts

• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Chairman: means the chairman of the dormitory authority. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 1695
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction contract: means a written or oral agreement for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenance, moving or demolition of any building, structure or improvement, or relating to the excavation of or other development or improvement to land, and where the aggregate cost of the construction project including all labor, services, materials and equipment to be furnished, equals or exceeds one hundred fifty thousand dollars. See N.Y. General Business Law 756
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contractor: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association, company, organization or other entity, including a construction manager, or any combination thereof, which enters into a construction contract with an owner. See N.Y. General Business Law 756
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Material supplier: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, or other organization or entity, or any combination thereof, which is party to a contract with an owner, contractor or subcontractor, for the provision of construction materials and/or equipment necessary to the completion of a construction contract. See N.Y. General Business Law 756
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Owner: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association or other organization or other entity, or a combination of any thereof, (with an ownership interest, whether the interest or estate is in fee, as vendee under a contract to purchase, as lessee or another interest or estate less than fee) that causes a building, structure or improvement, new or existing, to be constructed, altered, repaired, maintained, moved or demolished or that causes land to be excavated or otherwise developed or improved. See N.Y. General Business Law 756
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Subcontractor: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, organization or other entity, or any combination thereof, which is a party to a contract with a contractor or another subcontractor to perform a portion of work pursuant to a construction contract. See N.Y. General Business Law 756