Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 32 > Chapter 10 - Contractors

• Abuse: means the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behavior and which emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and is caused by the acts or omissions of an individual who has the care, custody and control of a child. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Advertisement: means any written or oral publication, dissemination, solicitation or circulation that is intended to directly or indirectly induce any person to enter into an agreement for contracting services with a contractor, including business cards and telephone directory display advertisements. See Arizona Laws 32-1101
• 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.
• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Commercial contractor: is synonymous with the terms "commercial builder" "industrial builder" and "public works builder" and means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, or a combination of any of them, that, for compensation, undertakes to or offers to undertake to, purports to have the capacity to undertake to, submits a bid or responds to a request for qualification or a request for proposals for construction services to, does himself or by or through others, or directly or indirectly supervises others, except within residential property lines, to:

  (a) Construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, highway, road, railroad, excavation or other structure, project, development or improvement, or to do any part thereof, including the erection of scaffolding or any other structure or work in connection with the construction. See Arizona Laws 32-1101

• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction contract: means a written or oral agreement relating to the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, moving or demolition of any building, structure or improvement or relating to the excavation of or other development or improvement to land. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contractor: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, or a combination of any of them, that has a direct contract with an owner to perform work under a construction contract. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• 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.
• Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
• Custodian: means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, who stands in loco parentis to the child or a person to whom legal custody of the child has been given by order of the juvenile court. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the department of child safety. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dual licensed contractor: is synonymous with the term "commercial and residential builder" and means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, or a combination of any of them, that for compensation undertakes to or offers to undertake to, purports to have the capacity to undertake to, submits a bid or responds to a request for qualification or a request for proposals for construction services to, does himself or by or through others, or directly or indirectly supervises others under a single license on commercial or residential property to:

  (a) Construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, excavation or other structure or improvement, including any appurtenances, or to do any part thereof. See Arizona Laws 32-1101

• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Final completion: means the earliest of the following:

  (a) When the work, or the work under a portion of a construction contract for which the contract states a separate price, has been completed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the construction contract. See Arizona Laws 32-1181

• 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.
• Fund: means the residential contractors' recovery fund. See Arizona Laws 32-1131
• 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.
• In-home intervention: means a program of services provided pursuant to article 14 of this chapter while the child is still in the custody of the parent, guardian or custodian. See Arizona Laws 8-801
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• 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.
• License: means an authorization for the person who is listed on the electronic, paper or other records maintained by the registrar to act in the capacity of a contractor. See Arizona Laws 32-1101
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Minor: means a person under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Named on a license: means required to be identified pursuant to section 32-1122, subsection B. See Arizona Laws 32-1101
• Owner: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, or a combination of any of them, that causes a building, structure or improvement to be constructed, altered, repaired, maintained, moved or demolished or that causes land to be excavated or otherwise developed or improved, whether the interest or estate of the person is in fee, as vendee under a contract to purchase, as lessee or another interest or estate less than fee. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• 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 a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, trust, society or natural person. See Arizona Laws 32-1101
• Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Petition: means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• 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.
• Prevention: means the creation of conditions, opportunities and experiences that encourage and develop healthy, self-sufficient children and that occur before the onset of problems. See Arizona Laws 8-201
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Qualifying party: means a person who is responsible for a licensee's actions and conduct performed under the license and who either:

  (a) Has an ownership interest in the license. See Arizona Laws 32-1101

• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Registrar: means the registrar of contractors. See Arizona Laws 32-1101
• Residential contractor: means a contractor as defined in section 32-1101 who is licensed to perform work on residential property pursuant to this chapter and who engages in residential contracting. See Arizona Laws 32-1131
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Retention: means a portion of a progress payment otherwise due from the owner to the contractor that is withheld pursuant to the terms and conditions of a construction contract to ensure proper performance of the construction contract. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• Solar contractor: means a contractor, as defined in section 32-1101, who installs, alters or repairs solar devices. See Arizona Laws 32-1170
• Solar device: means a device for the use and application of solar energy incidental to:

  (a) Boilers, steamfitting and process piping. See Arizona Laws 32-1170

• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subcontractor: means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, or a combination of any of them, that has a direct contract with a contractor or another subcontractor to perform a portion of the work under a construction contract. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• Work: means the labor, materials, equipment and services to be provided by a contractor or subcontractor under a construction contract. See Arizona Laws 32-1181
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215