This chapter may be cited as the “Heavy Equipment Dealer Act.” As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 59.1-353

  • 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.
  • Dealer: means a person in Virginia (i) engaged in the business of selling or leasing heavy equipment at retail, (ii) who customarily maintains a total inventory, valued at over $250,000, of new heavy equipment and attachments and repair parts therefor, and (iii) who provides repair services for the heavy equipment sold. See Virginia Code 59.1-353
  • farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
  • Heavy equipment: means self-propelled, self-powered or pull-type equipment and machinery, including engines, weighing 5000 pounds or more, primarily employed for construction, industrial, maritime, mining and forestry uses, as such terms are commonly used and understood as a usage of trade in accordance with § 8. See Virginia Code 59.1-353
  • in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
  • Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
  • 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 natural person, corporation, partnership, trust, agency or other entity as well as the individual officers, directors or other persons in active control of the activities of each such entity. See Virginia Code 59.1-353
  • Supplier: means every person, including any agent of such person, or any authorized broker acting on behalf of that person, that enters into an "agreement" with a dealer. See Virginia Code 59.1-353

“Agreement” means a commercial relationship, not required to be evidenced in writing, of definite or indefinite duration, between a supplier and a dealer pursuant to which the dealer has been authorized to distribute one or more of the supplier’s heavy equipment products, and attachments and repair parts therefor, and in connection therewith to use a trade name, trademark, service mark, logo type, or advertising or other commercial symbol.

“Dealer” means a person in Virginia (i) engaged in the business of selling or leasing heavy equipment at retail, (ii) who customarily maintains a total inventory, valued at over $250,000, of new heavy equipment and attachments and repair parts therefor, and (iii) who provides repair services for the heavy equipment sold.

“Heavy equipment” means self-propelled, self-powered or pull-type equipment and machinery, including engines, weighing 5000 pounds or more, primarily employed for construction, industrial, maritime, mining and forestry uses, as such terms are commonly used and understood as a usage of trade in accordance with § 8.1A-303(c). The term “heavy equipment” shall not include (i) motor vehicles requiring registration and certificates of title in accordance with § 46.2-600, (ii) farm machinery, equipment and implements sold or leased pursuant to dealer agreements with suppliers subject to the provisions of Chapter 27.1 (§ 59.1-352.1 et seq.) of this title, or (iii) equipment that is “consumer goods” within the meaning of § 8.9A-102.

“Person” means a natural person, corporation, partnership, trust, agency or other entity as well as the individual officers, directors or other persons in active control of the activities of each such entity. “Person” also includes heirs, assigns, personal representatives, guardians and conservators.

“Supplier” means every person, including any agent of such person, or any authorized broker acting on behalf of that person, that enters into an “agreement” with a dealer.

1988, c. 73; 1997, c. 801; 2002, c. 898; 2003, c. 353.