Terms Used In Florida Statutes > Chapter 489 > Part I - Construction Contracting

• Abortion: means the termination of human pregnancy with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Active tuberculosis: means tuberculosis disease that is demonstrated to be contagious by clinical or bacteriological evidence, or by other means as determined by rule of the department. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arbitration: means a process whereby a neutral third person or panel, called an arbitrator or arbitration panel, considers the facts and arguments presented by the parties and renders a decision which is binding on the parties. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Arthropod: means those insects of public health or nuisance importance, including all mosquitoes, midges, sand flies, dog flies, yellow flies, and house flies. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Board of commissioners: means the governing body of any mosquito control district, and may include boards of county commissioners when context so indicates. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Born alive: means the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of a human infant, at any stage of development, who, after such expulsion or extraction, breathes or has a beating heart, or definite and voluntary movement of muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, induced abortion, or other method. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Building contractor: means a contractor whose services are limited to construction of commercial buildings and single-dwelling or multiple-dwelling residential buildings, which do not exceed three stories in height, and accessory use structures in connection therewith or a contractor whose services are limited to remodeling, repair, or improvement of any size building if the services do not affect the structural members of the building. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Business organization: means any partnership, corporation, business trust, joint venture, or other legal entity which engages or offers to engage in the business of contracting or acts as a contractor as defined in this section. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Certificate: means a certificate of competency issued by the department as provided in this part. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Certification: means the act of obtaining or holding a certificate of competency from the department as provided in this part. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Certified contractor: means any contractor who possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department and who shall be allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without being required to fulfill the competency requirements of that jurisdiction. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Class A air-conditioning contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the execution of contracts requiring the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems, including duct work in connection with a complete system if such duct work is performed by the contractor as necessary to complete an air-distribution system, boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, and all appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith, and any duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling of the system; to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, piping, insulation of pipes, vessels and ducts, pressure and process piping, and pneumatic control piping; to replace, disconnect, or reconnect power wiring on the line or load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnect switch on single phase electrical systems; to repair or replace power wiring, disconnects, breakers, or fuses for dedicated HVAC circuits with proper use of a circuit breaker lock; to install, disconnect, and reconnect low voltage heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control wiring; and to install a condensate drain from an air-conditioning unit to an existing safe waste or other approved disposal other than a direct connection to a sanitary system. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Class B air-conditioning contractor: means a contractor whose services are limited to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 Btu of heating in any one system in the execution of contracts requiring the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems, including duct work in connection with a complete system only to the extent such duct work is performed by the contractor as necessary to complete an air-distribution system being installed under this classification, and any duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling of the system; to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, piping and insulation of pipes, vessels, and ducts; to replace, disconnect, or reconnect power wiring on the line or load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnect switch on single phase electrical systems; to repair or replace power wiring, disconnects, breakers, or fuses for dedicated HVAC circuits with proper use of a circuit breaker lock; to install, disconnect, and reconnect low voltage heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control wiring; and to install a condensate drain from an air-conditioning unit to an existing safe waste or other approved disposal other than a direct connection to a sanitary system. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Class C air-conditioning contractor: means a contractor whose business is limited to the servicing of air-conditioning, heating, or refrigeration systems, including any duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling of the system, and whose certification or registration, issued pursuant to this part, was valid on October 1, 1988. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• clinic: means any facility in which abortions are performed. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contracting: means , except as exempted in this part, engaging in business as a contractor and includes, but is not limited to, performance of any of the acts as set forth in subsection (3) which define types of contractors. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Contractor: means the person who is qualified for, and is only responsible for, the project contracted for and means, except as exempted in this part, the person who, for compensation, undertakes to, submits a bid to, or does himself or herself or by others construct, repair, alter, remodel, add to, demolish, subtract from, or improve any building or structure, including related improvements to real estate, for others or for resale to others; and whose job scope is substantially similar to the job scope described in one of the paragraphs of this subsection. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• County: means a political subdivision of the state administered by a board of county commissioners. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• County health department: means an agency or entity designated as such in chapter 154. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Department: means the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Directly observed therapy: means treatment in which a patient ingests medications under the observation of a health care provider or other responsible party. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• District: means any mosquito control district established in this state by law for the express purpose of controlling arthropods within boundaries of said districts. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fatal fetal abnormality: means a terminal condition that, in reasonable medical judgment, regardless of the provision of life-saving medical treatment, is incompatible with life outside the womb and will result in death upon birth or imminently thereafter. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Financially responsible officer: means a person other than the primary qualifying agent who with the approval of the board assumes personal responsibility for all financial aspects of the business organization. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• General contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited as to the type of work which he or she may do, who may contract for any activity requiring licensure under this part, and who may perform any work requiring licensure under this part, except as otherwise expressly provided in…. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Gestation: means the development of a human embryo or fetus as calculated from the first day of the pregnant woman's last menstrual period. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hospital: means a facility as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Initial issuance: means the first time a certificate or registration is granted to an individual or business organization, including the first time an individual becomes a qualifying agent for that business organization and the first time a business organization is qualified by that individual. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• 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.
• Land management agency: means the agency charged with managing publicly owned lands. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• 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}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Local arthropod control agency: means the county, city, or district charged with arthropod control over publicly owned lands. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Local construction regulation board: means a board, composed of not fewer than three residents of a county or municipality, which the governing body of that county or municipality may create and appoint to maintain the proper standard of construction of that county or municipality. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Mechanical contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the execution of contracts requiring the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating, and ventilating systems, including duct work in connection with a complete system if such duct work is performed by the contractor as necessary to complete an air-distribution system, boiler and unfired pressure vessel systems, lift station equipment and piping, and all appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith, and any duct cleaning and equipment sanitizing that requires at least a partial disassembling of the system; to install, maintain, repair, fabricate, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, piping, insulation of pipes, vessels and ducts, pressure and process piping, pneumatic control piping, gasoline tanks and pump installations and piping for same, standpipes, air piping, vacuum line piping, oxygen lines, nitrous oxide piping, ink and chemical lines, fuel transmission lines, liquefied petroleum gas lines within buildings, and natural gas fuel lines within buildings; to replace, disconnect, or reconnect power wiring on the line or load side of the dedicated existing electrical disconnect switch on single phase electrical systems; to repair or replace power wiring, disconnects, breakers, or fuses for dedicated HVAC circuits with proper use of a circuit breaker lock; to install, disconnect, and reconnect low voltage heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control wiring; and to install a condensate drain from an air-conditioning unit to an existing safe waste or other approved disposal other than a direct connection to a sanitary system. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Medical abortion: means the administration or use of an abortion-inducing drug to induce an abortion. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• minor: includes any person who has not attained the age of 18 years. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nuisance: means a condition in which pestiferous arthropods occur in such numbers as to be annoying, obnoxious, or inimical to human comfort. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• 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.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partial-birth abortion: means a termination of pregnancy in which the physician performing the termination of pregnancy partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the delivery. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• 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.
• person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Physician: means a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or a physician practicing medicine or osteopathic medicine in the employment of the United States. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Plumbing contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the plumbing trade and includes contracting business consisting of the execution of contracts requiring the experience, financial means, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or, if not prohibited by law, design plumbing. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• political subdivision: include counties, cities, towns, villages, special tax school districts, special road and bridge districts, bridge districts, and all other districts in this state. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• Pollutant storage systems contractor: means a contractor whose services are limited to, and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, and use materials and items used in the installation, maintenance, extension, and alteration of, pollutant storage tanks. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Pollutant storage tank: means a tank, together with associated piping or dispensing facilities, which is or could be used for the storage or supply of pollutants as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Primary qualifying agent: means a person who possesses the requisite skill, knowledge, and experience, and has the responsibility, to supervise, direct, manage, and control the contracting activities of the business organization with which he or she is connected; who has the responsibility to supervise, direct, manage, and control construction activities on a job for which he or she has obtained the building permit; and whose technical and personal qualifications have been determined by investigation and examination as provided in this part, as attested by the department. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable medical judgment: means a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Registered contractor: means any contractor who has registered with the department pursuant to fulfilling the competency requirements in the jurisdiction for which the registration is issued. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Registered internal pollutant storage tank lining applicator: means any person who has registered with the department pursuant to subsection (3). See Florida Statutes 489.133
• Registered precision tank tester: means any person who has registered with the department pursuant to subsection (2). See Florida Statutes 489.133
• Registration: means registration with the department as provided in this part. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• 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.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Residential contractor: means a contractor whose services are limited to construction, remodeling, repair, or improvement of one-family, two-family, or three-family residences not exceeding two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story and accessory use structures in connection therewith. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Roofing contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the roofing trade and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, maintain, repair, alter, extend, or design, if not prohibited by law, and use materials and items used in the installation, maintenance, extension, and alteration of all kinds of roofing, waterproofing, and coating, except when coating is not represented to protect, repair, waterproof, stop leaks, or extend the life of the roof. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Secondary qualifying agent: means a person who possesses the requisite skill, knowledge, and experience, and has the responsibility to supervise, direct, manage, and control construction activities on a job for which he or she has obtained a permit, and whose technical and personal qualifications have been determined by investigation and examination as provided in this part, as attested by the department. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• 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.
• Sheet metal contractor: means a contractor whose services are unlimited in the sheet metal trade and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill necessary for the manufacture, fabrication, assembling, handling, erection, installation, dismantling, conditioning, adjustment, insulation, alteration, repair, servicing, or design, if not prohibited by law, of ferrous or nonferrous metal work of U. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Solar contractor: means a contractor whose services consist of the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance, relocation, or replacement of solar panels for potable solar water heating systems, swimming pool solar heating systems, and photovoltaic systems and any appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith, whether public, private, or otherwise, regardless of use. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Source reduction: means the physical land or water management of arthropod breeding areas to reduce the area's suitability for arthropod breeding. See Florida Statutes 388.011
• Specialty contractor: means a contractor whose scope of work and responsibility is limited to a particular phase of construction established in a category adopted by board rule and whose scope is limited to a subset of the activities described in one of the paragraphs of this subsection. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structural component: means any vertical or horizontal load-bearing member of a structure which supports dead or live loads in addition to its own weight and includes, but is not limited to, a foundation, an exterior or interior load-bearing wall, a column, a column beam, a floor, and a roof structure. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Tank: means any container other than one which is aboveground and either elevated or situated upon an impermeable surface, or which is located in an accessible underground area and either elevated or situated upon an impermeable surface therein, in such manner that any leak in such container may be readily detected. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Threat to the public health: means a rebuttable presumption that a person has active tuberculosis and:
  (a) Is not taking medications as prescribed;
  (b) Is not following the recommendations of the treating physician;
  (c) Is not seeking treatment for signs and symptoms compatible with tuberculosis; or
  (d) Evidences a disregard for the health of the public. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• treatment to cure: means the completion of a course of antituberculosis treatment. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trimester: means one of the following three distinct periods of time in the duration of a pregnancy:
  (a) "First trimester" which is the period of time from fertilization through the end of the 11th week of gestation. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Tuberculosis: means a disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, mycobacterium bovis, or mycobacterium africanum. See Florida Statutes 392.52
• Underground utility and excavation contractor: means a contractor whose services are limited to the construction, installation, and repair, on public or private property, whether accomplished through open excavations or through other means, including, but not limited to, directional drilling, auger boring, jacking and boring, trenchless technologies, wet and dry taps, grouting, and slip lining, of main sanitary sewer collection systems, main water distribution systems, storm sewer collection systems, and the continuation of utility lines from the main systems to a point of termination up to and including the meter location for the individual occupancy, sewer collection systems at property line on residential or single-occupancy commercial properties, or on multioccupancy properties at manhole or wye lateral extended to an invert elevation as engineered to accommodate future building sewers, water distribution systems, or storm sewer collection systems at storm sewer structures. See Florida Statutes 489.105
• veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01
• viability: means the stage of fetal development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures. See Florida Statutes 390.011
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01