For purposes of this article the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) AWARDING AUTHORITY.

a. The Alabama Department of Transportation, if the project is either for, or is funded in whole or in part by, the State of Alabama to construct, repair, resurface, refurbish, replace, remove, modify, alter, or otherwise improve any public or private infrastructure, including any public-private partnership project, for which construction monitoring services are contracted.

b. A county, city, town, or municipality that appropriates public funds for the construction, repair, resurfacing, refurbishment, replacement, removal, modification, alteration, or other improvement of any public or private infrastructure, including any public-private partnership project, for which construction monitoring services are contracted.

c. All other state, county, or municipal boards, bodies, commissions, agencies, departments, institutions, and instrumentalities, and their political subdivisions, that appropriate public funds for the construction, repair, resurfacing, refurbishment, replacement, removal, modification, alteration, or other improvement of any public or private infrastructure, including any public-private partnership project, for which construction monitoring services are contracted.

(2) CONSTRUCTION MONITORING SERVICES. The monitoring, review, observation, or inspection of the contractor's work on behalf of the awarding authority to determine the contractor's compliance with the plans and specifications issued for that project, sometimes referenced in the industry as "construction engineering inspection."

(3) PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS. Engineering designs, drawings, plans and specifications, or other design products prepared by or on behalf of an awarding authority by a licensed and registered professional engineer, and issued to a contractor by the awarding authority for the purpose of constructing, repairing, resurfacing, refurbishing, removing, replacing, modifying, altering, or otherwise improving any public or private infrastructure.

(4) PROFESSIONAL FIRM. A corporation, company, partnership, sole proprietorship, professional corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that is duly qualified by the Secretary of State to conduct business in Alabama, and that has been issued a certificate of authorization by the State of Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors pursuant to Chapter 11 of Title 34, to engage in the practice of engineering.

(5) PUBLIC OR PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE. Shall include but not be limited to highways, roads, streets, overpasses, bridges, utilities, rights-of-way, airports, runways and taxiways, water ports, waterways, bays, rivers, and streams, railways, and all other assets or conveyances of convenience, safety, or transportation, including all appurtenances thereto, located in whole or in part within the borders of the State of Alabama, whether publicly or privately owned.