Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 24 > Chapter 41 - Home Inspectors

• 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.
• 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
• Approved notification center: shall mean an organization identified by § 807 of this title and which complies with the requirements of § 807 of this title and is otherwise operated in accordance with the Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations codified at 49 C. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• 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: shall mean the State Board of Home Inspectors established in this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Broker: means any individual who holds a broker license from the Delaware Real Estate Commission and who for a compensation or valuable consideration, is self-employed or is employed directly or indirectly by a brokerage organization to sell or offer to sell, or to buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase, sale, or exchange of real estate, or to lease or rent or offer for rent any real estate, or to negotiate leases or rental agreements thereof or of the improvements thereon for others. See Delaware Code Title 25 Sec. 2602
• Buyer: means a person who buys or contracts to buy goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Commercial unit: means such a unit of goods as by commercial usage is a single whole for purposes of lease and division of which materially impairs its character or value on the market or in use. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Commission: means the Public Service Commission. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Consumer lease: means a lease that a lessor regularly engaged in the business of leasing or selling makes to a lessee who is an individual and who takes under the lease primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• 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.
• Damage: shall mean , but is not limited to:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802

• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Designer: shall mean any architect, engineer or other person, acting either as an employer or employee, who prepares a drawing for a construction or other project which requires excavation or demolition. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Division: shall mean the State Division of Professional Regulation. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• DNREC Regulated Site: shall mean any parcel of land or portion thereof for which a final permit, remediation plan, institutional or administrative control, use restriction or similar limitation is imposed under the authority granted to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control under Title 7 and for which due process opportunities have been provided. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Emergency: shall mean any condition constituting a clear and present danger to life, health or property by reason of escaping gas or petroleum products, exposed or broken wires, other breaks or defects in an operator's utility line or by reason of any disaster of artificial or natural causes. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• 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}
• excavation: shall mean any operation in which earth, rock or other material in the ground is moved, removed or otherwise displaced or disturbed by means of any tools, equipment or explosives and includes, without limitation, grading, trenching, digging, dredging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunnelling, boring, backfilling, post pounding, driving objects into the ground, installation of form pins, hammering, scraping, cable or pipe plowing or driving, but does not include the surface cultivation of the soil for agricultural purposes, such as tilling, or patch-type paving where the same, including cutback, does not exceed 12 inches in depth measured from the surface of the pavement being patched. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Excavator: shall mean any person, including those acting either as an employer or employee, intending to perform or performing excavation or demolition work. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Excessive use or abuse of drugs: shall mean any use of narcotics, controlled substances, or illegal drugs without a prescription from a licensed practitioner, or the abuse of alcoholic beverage such that it impairs the ability to perform the work of a home inspector. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Finance lease: means a lease with respect to which:

  (i) The lessor does not select, manufacture or supply the goods;

  (ii) The lessor acquires the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods in connection with the lease; and

  (iii) One of the following occurs:

  (A) The lessee receives a copy of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods before signing the lease contract;

  (B) The lessee's approval of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods is a condition to effectiveness of the lease contract;

  (C) The lessee, before signing the lease contract, receives an accurate and complete statement designating the promises and warranties, and any disclaimers of warranties, limitations or modifications of remedies, or liquidated damages, including those of a third party, such as the manufacturer of the goods, provided to the lessor by the person supplying the goods in connection with or as part of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods; or

  (D) If the lease is not a consumer lease, the lessor, before the lessee signs the lease contract, informs the lessee in writing

  (1) Of the identity of the person supplying the goods to the lessor, unless the lessee has selected that person and directed the lessor to acquire the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods from that person,

  (2) That the lessee is entitled under this Article to the promises and warranties, including those of any third party, provided to the lessor by the person supplying the goods in connection with or as part of the contract by which the lessor acquired the goods or the right to possession and use of the goods, and

  (3) That the lessee may communicate with the person supplying the goods to the lessor and receive an accurate and complete statement of those promises and warranties, including any disclaimers and limitations of them or of remedies. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103

• 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.
• Goods: means all things that are movable at the time of identification to the lease contract, or are fixtures (Section 2A-309), but the term does not include money, documents, instruments, accounts, chattel paper, general intangibles, or minerals or the like, including oil and gas, before extraction. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Home: shall mean any residential property, or manufactured or modular home, which is a single-family dwelling, duplex, triplex, quadruplex, condominium unit, or cooperative unit. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Home inspection: shall mean a visual analysis for the purposes of providing a written professional opinion of the condition of a building and its carports and garages, any reasonably accessible installed components and the operation of the building systems, including the controls normally operated by the owner, for the following components of a residential building of 4 units or fewer: heating system; electrical system; cooling system; plumbing system; structural components; foundation; roof covering; exterior and interior components; and site aspects as they affect the building. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Knowledge: means a person's actual knowledge of a fact, rather than the person's constructive knowledge of the fact. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• 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}
• Lease: means a transfer of the right to possession and use of goods for a term in return for consideration, but a sale, including a sale on approval or a sale or return, or retention or creation of a security interest is not a lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Lease agreement: means the bargain, with respect to the lease, of the lessor and the lessee in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance as provided in this Article. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Lessee: means a person who acquires the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Lessor: means a person who transfers the right to possession and use of goods under a lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Licensed home inspector: shall mean a person, who has met the licensing requirements of this chapter and who holds a current, valid license issued under this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• 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.
• Lot: means a parcel or a single article that is the subject matter of a separate lease or delivery, whether or not it is sufficient to perform the lease contract. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• 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.
• Operator: shall mean any person who furnishes or transports materials or services by means of a utility line. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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: shall mean an individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, joint stock company, limited partnership, limited liability company, and any other legal entity and includes a legal successor of those entities. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Person: means a natural person, partnership (whether general or limited), limited liability company, trust (including a common law trust, business trust, statutory trust, voting trust or any other form of trust), estate, association (including any group, organization, co-tenancy, plan, board, council or committee), corporation, government (including a country, state, county or any other governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality), custodian, nominee or any other individual or entity (or series thereof) in its own or any representative capacity, in each case, whether domestic or foreign. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• Person: shall mean any individual, firm, joint venture, partnership, corporation, association, municipality, other political subdivision, state or federal governmental unit, department or agency, state cooperative association, joint stock association and shall include any assignee, trustee, receiver or personal representative thereof. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal supervision: shall mean the active oversight by the licensed home inspector of the home inspector trainee. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Present value: means the amount as of a date certain of one or more sums payable in the future, discounted to the date certain. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Purchase: includes taking by sale, lease, mortgage, security interest, pledge, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating an interest in goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• 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.
• Seller: means a person who sells or contracts to sell goods. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2-103
• State: shall mean the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• State: means the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any state, territory, possession, or other jurisdiction of the United States other than the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 17-101
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Substantially related: shall mean the nature of the criminal conduct for which the person was convicted, has a direct bearing on the fitness or ability to perform 1 or more of the duties or responsibilities necessarily related to the practice of home inspecting. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• Supplier: means a person from whom a lessor buys or leases goods to be leased under a finance lease. See Delaware Code Title 6 Sec. 2A-103
• Trainee: shall mean a person who has satisfied the requirements as set forth in § 4109 of this title and any requirements as set forth in the rules and regulations as established by the Board. See Delaware Code Title 24 Sec. 4102
• 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.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Under age: means an age of less than 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Utility line: shall mean any item of personal property which shall be buried or placed below ground or submerged for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water, sewage, electronic, cable television, telephonic or telegraphic communications, electric energy, oil, petroleum products, gas or other substances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pipes, sewers, conduits, cables, fiber optic conductors, valves, lines, wires, manholes, vaults, attachments and those portions of poles, pylons or other supports below ground or submerged. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 802
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• written notice: shall mean notice in writing which is hand-delivered or mailed by certified mail, to the person who is to be given notice. See Delaware Code Title 26 Sec. 102
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302