Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 68 > Safety > Chapter 120 - Building Regulations

• Abusive civil action: means a civil action filed by a plaintiff against a defendant with whom the plaintiff shares a civil action party relationship primarily to harass or maliciously injure the defendant and at least one (1) of the following factors are applicable:
  (A) Claims, allegations, and other legal contentions made in the civil action are not warranted by existing law or by a reasonable argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, or the establishment of new law. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Abusive civil action plaintiff: means a person who files a civil action that a court of record has determined to be an abusive civil action and against whom prefiling restrictions have been imposed pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member, together with any amount transferred to the account of the member established pursuant to chapters 34-37 of this title from the respective account of the member under one (1) or more of the superseded systems, with interest thereon, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Ammunition: means an ammunition or cartridge case, primer, bullet, or propellant powder designed for use in a firearm. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• 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.
• 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
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Average final compensation: means the average annual earnable compensation of a member during the five (5) consecutive years of the member's creditable service affording the highest such average, or during all of the years in the member's creditable service if less than five (5) years. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Beneficiary: means any person, persons or institution receiving a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided in chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• board: means the board provided for in part 3 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Child: includes any individual, adopted or natural born, entitled to take as a child under this title by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and excludes any person who is only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Civil action: means a civil action, as defined in Rule 2 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Civil action defendant: means a person or persons against whom a civil action has been filed that a court of record has determined to be an abusive civil action and imposed prefiling restrictions against the abusive civil action plaintiff pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Civil action party relationship: means the plaintiff commencing a civil action and the civil action defendant fall within one (1) of the following categories:
  (A) Adults who are current or former spouses. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• Court: means the court then exercising probate jurisdiction in the county in which the decedent had legal residence on the date of death. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Date of establishment: means the date as of which the retirement system is established as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Dealer: means a person who is licensed to engage in business as a dealer in this state in accordance with 18 U. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Decedent: means a person who is deceased. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: when used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of real or personal property. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Devisee: means any person designated in a will to receive a devise. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Earnable compensation: includes , but is not limited to, any bonus or incentive payment. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Employer: means :
  (A) The state or any department, commission, institution, board or agency of the state government by which a member is paid, with respect to members in its employ. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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}
• 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.
• Facilities where the public congregates: means sports and entertainment arenas, musical amphitheatres, stadiums, community and convention halls, specialty event centers, amusement facilities, fairgrounds, zoos, institutions of higher education, and specialty event centers in public parks. See Tennessee Code 68-120-502
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Food service establishment: means a food service establishment as defined in [former] §. See Tennessee Code 68-120-502
• Harass or maliciously injure: means the civil action determined to be an abusive civil action was filed with the intent or was primarily designed to:
  (A) Exhaust, deplete, impair, or adversely impact the civil action defendant's financial resources unless:

  (i) Punitive damages are requested and appropriate. See Tennessee Code 29-41-101
• Hazardous locations: means those installations, glazed or to be glazed in commercial and public buildings, known as framed or unframed glass entrance doors. See Tennessee Code 68-120-301
• Heirs: means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Hotel: means an establishment as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 68-120-502
• Internal Revenue Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, codified in United States Code, title 26, as amended. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• 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.
• Limitation year: means , for testing purposes under §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Limited letters: means the limited letters of administration of a small estate and limited letters testamentary of a small estate, as appropriate. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Limited letters of administration of a small estate: means limited letters of administration for the decedent's property that restrict the person to whom the limited letters of administration are issued to the property itemized and identified in the petition for the limited letters, which must be attached to and made a part of the limited letters. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Limited letters testamentary of a small estate: means limited letters testamentary for the decedent's property that restrict the person to whom the limited letters testamentary are issued to the property itemized and identified in the petition for the limited letters which must be attached to and made a part of the limited letters. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Local retirement fund: means any teachers' retirement fund or other arrangement for payment of retirement benefits to teachers, except this retirement system, supported wholly or in part by contributions made by an employer as defined by chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Manufacturer: means a person who is:
  (A) Engaged in the business of manufacturing a qualified product in intrastate commerce. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Negligent entrustment: means the supplying of a qualified product by a seller for use by another person when the seller knows, or reasonably should know, the person to whom the product is supplied is likely to, and does, use the product in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical injury to the person or others. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• 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.
• Parent: includes any person entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child, adopted or natural born, died without a will, as a parent under this title by intestate succession from the child whose relationship is in question and excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• 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: means an individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, governmental entity, or other entity. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, business trust, corporation, or other legal entity, and includes both the singular and plural, and the masculine and feminine, as appropriate. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: means the person to whom limited letters of administration of a small estate or limited letters testamentary of a small estate are issued. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Personal representative: includes executor, administrator, successor personal representative, special administrator, and persons who perform substantially the same function under the law governing their status. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Physical disability: means having a disability on account of sight disabilities, hearing disabilities, disabilities of incoordination, disabilities of aging, and any other disability that significantly reduces mobility, flexibility or perceptiveness. See Tennessee Code 68-120-203
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan year: means the fiscal year commencing July 1. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Prior class member: means a member who, on the day preceding the date of establishment, shall have been a member of a superseded system and who elects to remain covered by the benefit and contribution provisions of the superseded system, or who fails to elect to become covered by the benefit and contribution provisions of the retirement system applicable to new employees, as the case may be, in accordance with chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: means only personal property, or any interest in personal property, owned by the decedent on the date of death that would be subject to probate, other than personal property held as tenants by the entirety or jointly with right of survivorship, or personal property payable to a beneficiary other than the decedent's estate. See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• Property: includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See Tennessee Code 31-1-101
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Public building: means any building, structure, or improved area owned or leased by the state of Tennessee or its political subdivisions, and any building, structure, or improved area used primarily by the general public as a place of gathering or amusement, including, but not limited to, theaters, restaurants, hotels, factories, office buildings, stadiums, hospitals, voting areas, shopping areas, convention centers and all other public accommodations. See Tennessee Code 68-120-203
• Qualified civil liability action: means a civil action or proceeding or an administrative proceeding brought by a person against a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties, or other relief, resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a qualified product by a person. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Qualified product: means :
  (A) A firearm. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Receiver: means a person appointed by the court as the court's agent, and subject to the court's direction, to take possession of, manage, and, if authorized by this chapter or court order, transfer, sell, lease, license, exchange, collect, or otherwise dispose of receivership property. See Tennessee Code 29-40-102
• Receivership: means a proceeding in which a receiver is appointed. See Tennessee Code 29-40-102
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• 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.
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Responsible authority: means the local building inspector and:
  (A) The state building commission, with respect to state public buildings, as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 68-120-203
• Responsible authority: means those entities set forth in §. See Tennessee Code 68-120-502
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement allowance: means the sum of the member annuity and the state annuity. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
• Safety glazing material: means any glazing material, such as tempered glass, laminated glass, wire glass or rigid plastic, that meets the requirements of the minimum statewide building construction safety standards established by the state fire marshal pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 68-120-301
• Seller: means a person engaged in the business of selling a qualified product at wholesale or retail in this state. See Tennessee Code 29-42-101
• Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• 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.
• sex: means a person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Small estate: means the probate estate of a decedent in which the value of the probate property does not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). See Tennessee Code 30-4-102
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State annuity: means annual payments for life derived from contributions by an employer. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superseded system: means , where applicable, the Tennessee state retirement system, the Tennessee teachers' retirement system, the Tennessee judges' retirement system, the retirement system for county paid judges of Tennessee, the attorneys general retirement system of Tennessee, the public service commissioners' retirement system, and the Tennessee retirement system for county officials, any one (1) of them, or any combination thereof. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
• Testate: To die leaving a will.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105