Article 1 General Provisions
Article 3 Risk-Based Capital

Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 38 > Chapter 9 - Capital, Surplus, Reserves, and Other Financial Matters

  • abatement: refers to actions taken to ameliorate or correct conditions requiring remediation as defined in this section. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • ABET: means the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Accident and health insurance: means insurance of human beings against death or personal injury by accident, and each insurance of human beings against sickness, ailment, and any type of physical disability resulting from accident or disease, and prepaid dental service, but not including coverages required by the Workers' Compensation Law of this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Administrator: means the individual to whom the director has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board or of a professional or occupational group for which the department has regulatory authority or has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board;

    (2) "Authorization to practice" or "Practice authorization" means the approval to practice the specified profession, engage in the specified occupation, or use a title protected under this article, which has been granted by the applicable board. See South Carolina Code 40-1-20
  • Admitted assets: means assets of an insurer considered admitted on the most recent statutory financial statement of the insurer filed with the department pursuant to § 38-13-80. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • 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.
  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • Alien insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of a country other than the United States of America, its states, commonwealths, territories, or insular possessions. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Allegation: something that someone says happened.
  • 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.
  • Annuity: means each contract or agreement to make periodic payments, whether in fixed or variable dollar amounts, or both, at specified intervals. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • 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.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • Appointment: means an individual designated by an official or authorized representative of an authorized insurer to act on its behalf as a producer. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Board: means the South Carolina State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors created pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Board: means the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Bored: means a large diameter well, commonly greater than or equal to twenty-four inches in diameter, which is typically installed at a very shallow depth and constructed of rock, concrete, or ceramic material. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Branch office: means a place of business separate from the principal place of business where engineering services or surveying services are provided. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • cable television service: includes (1) services provided by or through the facilities of any cable television system or closed circuit coaxial cable communication system, and (2) any transmission service used in connection with any cable television system or similar closed circuit coaxial cable communication system. See South Carolina Code 16-11-815
  • Casualty insurance: means each insurance against legal liability of the insured for bodily injury to or death of another person, including workers' compensation insurance, and for damages to or loss or destruction of the property of another person; medical payments insurance when written in conjunction with insurance covering liability for the deaths or bodily injuries of another person; guaranteeing the fidelity of a person holding a position of public or private trust; loss of or damage to property caused by burglary, theft, larceny, robbery, fraud, or unlawful taking or secretion of property owned by or entrusted to the insured; loss of or damage to property of the insured resulting from the explosion of or damage to a fired or unfired boiler or other pressure vessel, engine, turbine, compressor, pump, wheel, or an apparatus generating, transmitting, or using electric power, and machinery or equipment connected with any of them; loss resulting from nonpayment of debts owed to merchants or another person extending credit. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
  • Commission: means the part of the premium paid to the producer as compensation for his services. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • 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.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the Department of Insurance of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Department: means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation;

    (5) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or the director's official designee;

    (6) "Licensee" means a person granted an authorization to practice pursuant to this article and refers to a person holding a license, permit, certification, or registration granted pursuant to this article;

    (7) "Licensing act" means the individual statute or regulations, or both, of each regulated profession or occupation which include, but are not limited to, board governance, the qualifications and requirements for authorization to practice, prohibitions, and disciplinary procedures;

    (8) "Person" means an individual, partnership, or corporation;

    (9) "Profession" or "occupation" means a profession or occupation regulated or administered, or both, by the department pursuant to this article. See South Carolina Code 40-1-20
  • Department: means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Direct push technology: means the creation of a man-made opening in the earth through the use of mechanical means wherein a tool is forced or hammered into the earth. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Director: means the person who is appointed by the Governor upon the advice and consent of the Senate and who is responsible for the operation and management of the department. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Director: means the Director of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Domestic insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Engaged in practice: means holding one's self out to the public as being qualified and available to perform engineering or surveying services. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Engineer: means a professional engineer as defined in this section. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Engineer-in-training: means a person who has qualified for and passed the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering examination as provided in this chapter and is entitled to receive a certificate as an engineer-in-training. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Environmental systems operator: is a generic term for any occupation licensed by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Environmental well: means an opening into the ground which qualifies as a "well" of Type I, II, III, IV, or V construction as defined in this section, that is made by boring, drilling, jetting, driving, direct push technology, or any other method for obtaining a sample of underground waters or soils for environmental or geological investigation or research or for environmental remediation, where the depth of the opening is reasonably likely to penetrate the water table. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • 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
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Firm: means a business entity functioning as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, professional association, professional corporation, business corporation, limited liability company, joint venture, or other legally constituted organization which practices or offers to practice engineering or surveying, or both. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • 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.
  • Foreign insurer: means an insurer incorporated or organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States other than this State. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
  • GIS: means geographic information systems. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Good character: refers to a person of good moral character and one who has not been convicted of a violent crime, as defined in § 16-1-60, or a crime of moral turpitude. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. Source: Federal Reserve
  • Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
  • Gross negligence: means an act or course of action, or inaction, which denotes a lack of reasonable care and a conscious disregard or indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others and which does or could result in financial loss, injury, or damage to life or property. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Human consumption: means water used for drinking, bathing, cooking, dishwashing, maintaining oral hygiene, or other similar uses. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • insurance: includes annuities. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Insurance company: means an "insurer". See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Insurer: includes a corporation, fraternal organization, burial association, other association, partnership, society, order, individual, or aggregation of individuals engaging or proposing or attempting to engage as principals in any kind of insurance or surety business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships, and corporations. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • License: means a document issued by the state's director or his designee authorizing a person to act as an insurance producer for the lines of authority specified in the document. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • License: means a serially numbered document issued by the board, containing the name of the person registered, certified, or licensed and the date of registration, certification, or licensing and certifying that the person named is authorized to practice a profession regulated by the board as specified on said document. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Licensed: means authorized by this board, pursuant to the statutory powers delegated by the State to this board, to engage in the practice of engineering, or surveying, or engineering and surveying, as evidenced by the board's certificate issued to the registered license holder. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Licensed activity: means any operation, function, or action of any kind in which one may not engage, or offer to engage, without a license issued pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Licensee: means a person currently or previously authorized to practice a licensed activity pursuant to this chapter and includes a person holding a license, permit, certification, or registration granted pursuant to this chapter. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Life insurance: means a contract of insurance upon the lives of human beings. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Marine insurance: means each insurance against loss or destruction of or damage to aircraft, vessels, or watercraft and their cargoes; insurance covering the risks or perils of navigation, transit, or transportation of all forms of property, including the liability of a carrier for hire for the loss of property of shippers delivered for transporting; marine builder's risks; bridges, tunnels, piers, wharves, docks and slips, dry docks, marine railways, and other aids to navigation and transportation, precious stones, precious metals, and jewelry, whether in the course of transportation or otherwise; coverage of personal property by all risk forms known as the "Personal Property Floater"; and coverage of mobile machinery and equipment. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • NCEES examination: means those written or electronic tests developed and administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying for the purpose of providing one indication of competency to practice engineering. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
  • Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
  • 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: means a person employed in a public water distribution system whose duties include making process control and system integrity decisions about water quality or quantity that affect public health. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • 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: means a corporation, agency, partnership, association, voluntary organization, individual, or another entity, organization, or aggregation of individuals. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Person: means an individual human being, firm, partnership, or corporation. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Person: means an individual, partnership, copartnership, cooperative, firm, company, public or private corporation, political subdivision, government agency, trust, estate, joint structure company, or any other legal entity or its legal representative, agent, or assigns. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • Policy: means a contract of insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Practice of engineering: means any service or creative work, the adequate performance of which requires engineering education, training, and experience in the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences to such services or creative work as commissioning, consultation, investigation, expert technical testimony, evaluation, design and design coordination of engineering works and systems, design for development and use of land and water, performing engineering surveys and studies, and the review of construction for the purpose of monitoring compliance with drawings and specifications, any of which embraces such services or work, either public or private, in connection with any utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, work systems projects, and industrial or consumer products or equipment of control systems, chemical, communications, mechanical, electrical, environmental, hydraulic, pneumatic, or thermal nature, insofar as they involve safeguarding life, health, or property, and including such other professional services as may be necessary to the planning, progress, and completion of any engineering services. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Premium: means payment given in consideration of a contract of insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Professional engineer: means a license holder who, by reason of his special knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to practice engineering as defined in this section as attested by his license and registration as a professional engineer in this State. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Professional surveyor: means a licensee who is qualified to practice any discipline of TIER A or TIER B surveying in this State, as defined in this section and as attested by his license and registration as a TIER A or TIER B professional surveyor in this State. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Public wastewater treatment plant: means that portion of any system that treats domestic or industrial waste and that alters physical, chemical, or bacteriological characteristics before placing the waste into any receiving waters. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Public water distribution system: means that portion of a public water system that is utilized for the delivery of water for human consumption, whether bottled, piped, or delivered through some other constructed conveyance, up to the point of consumer or owner connection. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Public water system: means :

    (a) any publicly or privately owned waterworks system which provides water, whether bottled, piped, or delivered through some other constructed conveyance, for human consumption, including the source of supply whether the source of supply is of surface or subsurface origin;

    (b) all structures and appurtenances used for the collection, treatment, storage, or distribution of water delivered to point of meter of consumer or owner connection;

    (c) any part or portion of the system, including any water treatment facility, which in any way alters the physical, chemical, radiological, or bacteriological characteristics of the water; however, a public water system does not include a water system serving a single private residence or dwelling. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Registered: means the engineer or surveyor is licensed and registered in the State. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Remediation: means the correction, repair, restoration, or any other action taken in order to bring any condition or circumstance into compliance with a statute, standard, or regulation. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • responsible charge: means that there is a clear-cut personal connection to the project or employee supervised, marked by firsthand knowledge and direct control and assumption of professional responsibility for the work. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Safe Drinking Water Act: means Article 1, Chapter 55 of Title 44. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • 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.
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Surety: includes insurance or a bond that covers obligations to pay the debts, or answer for the default, of another, including faithlessness in a position of public or private trust. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Surveyor-in-training: means a person who has qualified for and passed the NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying examination as provided in this chapter and is entitled to receive a certificate as a surveyor-in-training. See South Carolina Code 40-22-20
  • Terminate: means the cancellation of the relationship between an insurance producer and the insurer or the termination of a producer's authority to transact insurance. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • 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.
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Well: means a manmade horizontal, vertical, or angled opening in the ground made by digging, boring, drilling, jetting, driving, direct push technology, or any other method through which water is injected or withdrawn from beneath the surface of the earth for the purpose of human consumption, irrigation, industrial or commercial processes, or construction of closed loop systems. See South Carolina Code 40-23-20