(a)        The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1)        Arbitral award. – Any decision of an arbitral tribunal on the substance of a dispute submitted to it, and includes an interlocutory or partial award.

(2)        Arbitral tribunal. – A sole arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators.

(3)        Arbitration. – Any arbitration, whether or not administered by a permanent arbitral institution.

(3a)      Court. – A court of competent jurisdiction in this State.

(4)        Party. – A party to an arbitration agreement.

(5)        Repealed by Session Laws 2017-171, s. 1, effective October 1, 2017, and applicable to agreements entered into, renewed, or modified on or after that date.

(6)        Record. – 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.

(b)        Where a provision of this Article, except N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.58, leaves the parties free to determine a certain issue, such freedom includes the right of the parties to authorize a third party, including an institution, to make that determination.

(c)        Where a provision of this Article refers to the fact that the parties have agreed or that they may agree or in any other way refers to an agreement of the parties, such agreement includes any arbitration rules referred to in that agreement.

(d)       Where a provision of this Article, other than in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.55(1) and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.62(b)(1), refers to a claim, it also applies to a counterclaim or setoff, and where it refers to a defense, it also applies to a defense to a counterclaim or setoff. ?(1991, c. 292, s. 1; 2017-171, s. 1.)