§ 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.