ยง 777. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
1. "Builder" means any person, corporation, partnership or other
entity contracting with an owner for the construction or sale of a new
home.
2. "Building code" means the uniform fire prevention and building code
promulgated under section three hundred seventy-seven of the executive
law, local building code standards approved by the uniform fire
prevention and building code council under section three hundred
seventy-nine of the executive law, and the building code of the city of
New York, as defined in title twenty-seven of the administrative code of
the city of New York.
3. "Constructed in a skillful manner" means that workmanship and
materials meet or exceed the specific standards of the applicable
building code. When the applicable building code does not provide a
relevant specific standard, such term means that workmanship and
materials meet or exceed the standards of locally accepted building
practices.
4. "Material defect" means actual physical damage to the following
load-bearing portions of the home caused by failure of such load-bearing
portions which affects their load-bearing functions to the extent that
the home becomes unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unliveable: foundation
systems and footings, beams, girders, lintels, columns, walls and
partitions, floor systems, and roof framing systems.
5. "New home" or "home" means any single family house or for-sale unit
in a multi-unit residential structure of five stories or less in which
title to the individual units is transferred to owners under a
condominium or cooperative regime. Such terms do not include dwellings
constructed solely for lease, mobile homes as defined in section seven
hundred twenty-one of this chapter, or any house or unit in which the
builder has resided or leased continuously for three years or more
following the date of completion of construction, as evidenced by a
certificate of occupancy.
6. "Owner" means the first person to whom the home is sold and, during
the unexpired portion of the warranty period, each successor in title to
the home and any mortgagee in possession. Owner does not include the
builder of the home or any firm under common control of the builder.
7. "Plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling and ventilation systems"
shall mean:
a. in the case of plumbing systems: gas supply lines and fittings;
water supply, waste and vent pipes and their fittings; septic tanks and
their drain fields; water, gas and sewer service piping, and their
extensions to the tie-in of a public utility connection, or on-site well
and sewage disposal system;
b. in the case of electrical systems: all wiring, electrical boxes,
switches, outlets and connections up to the public utility connection;
and
c. in the case of heating, cooling and ventilation systems: all duct
work, steam, water and refrigerant lines, registers, convectors,
radiation elements and dampers.
8. "Warranty date" means the date of the passing of title to the first
owner for occupancy by such owner or such owner's family as a residence,
or the date of first occupancy of the home as a residence, whichever
first occurs.