(a) “Advertisement” means the publication, dissemination, circulation or placing before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated or placed before the public, any announcement or statement in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication, or in the form of a book, notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, handbill, poster, bill, sign, placard, card, label or tag, or over any radio, television station, or electronic medium.

(b) “Board” means the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service.

(c) “Burial” includes interment in any form, cremation and the transportation of the dead human body as necessary therefor.

(c1) “Chapel” means a chapel or other facility separate from the funeral establishment premises for the primary purpose of reposing of dead human bodies, visitation or funeral ceremony that is owned, operated, or maintained by a funeral establishment under this Article, and that does not use the word “funeral” in its name, on a sign, in a directory, in advertising or in any other manner; in which or on the premises of which there is not displayed any caskets or other funeral merchandise; in which or on the premises of which there is not located any preparation room; and which no owner, operator, employee, or agent thereof represents the chapel to be a funeral establishment.

(c2) “Dead human bodies”, as used in this Article includes fetuses beyond the second trimester and the ashes from cremated bodies.

(d) “Embalmer” means any person engaged in the practice of embalming.

(e) “Embalming” means the preservation and disinfection or attempted preservation and disinfection of dead human bodies by application of chemicals externally or internally or both and the practice of restorative art including the restoration or attempted restoration of the appearance of a dead human body. Embalming shall not include the washing or use of soap and water to cleanse or prepare a dead human body for disposition by the authorized agents, family, or friends of the deceased who do so privately without pay or as part of the ritual washing and preparation of dead human bodies prescribed by religious practices; provided, that no dead human body shall be handled in a manner inconsistent with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-395

(e1) “Entry-level examination in funeral directing” means an examination (i) offered as a component of a final or capstone course in a mortuary science program approved by the Board or (ii) accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education or an examination equivalent to the State Board Examination-Arts in Funeral Directing to assess competency in the following subjects:

(1) Funeral arranging and directing.

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(2) Funeral service marketing and merchandising.

(3) Funeral service counseling.

(4) Legal and regulatory compliance.

(5) Cemetery and crematory operations.

(f) “Funeral directing” means engaging in the practice of funeral service except embalming.

(g) “Funeral director” means any person engaged in the practice of funeral directing.

(h) “Funeral establishment” means every place or premises devoted to or used in the care, arrangement and preparation for the funeral and final disposition of dead human bodies and maintained for the convenience of the public in connection with dead human bodies or as the place for carrying on the practice of funeral service.

(i) “Funeral service licensee” means a person who is duly licensed and engaged in the practice of funeral service.

(j) “Funeral service” means the aggregate of all funeral service licensees and their duties and responsibilities in connection with the funeral as an organized, purposeful, time-limited, flexible, group-centered response to death.

(k) “Practice of funeral service” means engaging in the care or disposition of dead human bodies or in the practice of disinfecting and preparing by embalming or otherwise dead human bodies for the funeral service, transportation, burial or cremation, or in the practice of funeral directing or embalming as presently known, whether under these titles or designations or otherwise. “Practice of funeral service” also means engaging in making arrangements for funeral service, selling funeral supplies to the public or making financial arrangements for the rendering of such services or the sale of such supplies.

(l) “Resident trainee” means a person who is engaged in preparing to become licensed for the practice of funeral directing, embalming or funeral service under the personal supervision and instruction of a person duly licensed for the practice of funeral directing, embalming or funeral service in the State of North Carolina under the provisions of this Chapter, and who is duly registered as a resident trainee with the Board. (1957, c. 1240, s. 2; 1975, c. 571; 1979, c. 461, s. 6; 1987, c. 430, s. 2; c. 879, s. 6.2; 1997-399, s. 1; 2001-294, s. 2; 2003-420, ss. 1, 3; 2007-531, s. 2; 2022-63, s. 1(a).)