Except where the context makes another meaning clear, the following words shall have the meaning indicated when used in Ed 321:

1. (a) “Architectural and engineering fees” means the expenses associated with the development and implementation of the project that the architect or engineer charged the project owner in order to work on the project;
2. (b) “Chartered public school” means “chartered public school” as defined in RSA 194-B:1, IV, and as approved pursuant to RSA 194-B:3-a. The term also includes “charter school”;
3. (c) “Commissioning” means a systematic documented process by an independent entity which includes visual examination and functional performance testing to demonstrate that installed components or systems meet the intent of the original design;

4. (d) “Completion of the project” means the point when:

   1. (1) The responsibility of the project shifts from the contractor to the school district or charter school; and
   2. (2) The contractor should receive most, if not all, of the balance of the contract;
5. (e) “Construction cost" means the total cost of labor and materials for the construction of the foundation, erection of the structure, finish work, and the installation of equipment integral to the operation of building systems. The cost of site development is not included;
6. (f) “Department” means the New Hampshire department of education;
7. (g) “Design capacity” means the maximum total number of students intended to be educated in a school building;
8. (h) “Educational space” means those parts of a school building to which pupils are assigned for instructional purposes. Educational space includes, but is not limited to, classrooms, laboratories, gymnasiums, libraries, cafeterias, special education spaces, and administration spaces;
9. (i) “Educational specifications” means a report that describes the facility’s anticipated uses and identifies the specific physical characteristics that will be required to house and promote the programmatic needs of the school district or charter school;
10. (j) “Emergency project” means a school construction project requiring the replacement of all or a significant portion of a school facility which is declared uninhabitable or is identified as an imminent danger or substantial risk by the state fire marshal or a state or federal agency, and which results from an unanticipated and sudden natural or human disaster;
11. (k) “Feasibility study” means a report that was completed prior to design that evaluates the physical and programmatic needs of a school district or charter school, identifies the best uses of existing buildings, and makes recommendations on improvements to maintain and upgrade the existing facility or build a new facility, while meeting the school district’s or charter school’s educational goals;
12. (l) “Gross square footage” means the total square footage of the school building measured to the outside of the exterior walls;
13. (m) “Moveable equipment” means equipment, including technology equipment, for a school construction project that supports the educational program. Moveable equipment has an expected life of at least 5 years and is not attached to the building. This term also includes “furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E)”;
14. (n) “Net energy use intensity (net EUI)” means the absolute value of the annual energy use at the site per square foot of building area, minus the annual onsite renewable energy generation per square foot of building area, with the energy use including consumption of all fuels in thousands of British Thermal Units (kBtu) per year;
15. (o) “New construction” means construction work that results in the creation of a new building or additional space to an existing building;
16. (p) “Phased project” means a project that is divided into 2 or more smaller, distinct projects where each smaller project has its own start date, end date, and scope of work. Once work on each smaller project is completed, the resulting space can be utilized for educating K-12 students;
17. (q) “Preliminary design plans” means a set of plans that present the proposed school facility in its earliest stages denoting at a minimum the square footage of each room and the proposed use of each room. Detailed doors, windows, closets, utilities, and mechanical functions are not typically shown at this stage;
18. (r) “Project manager” means “project manager” as described in RSA 198:15-c, III, and is the professional hired by the project owner to serve as a consultant and adviser to the project owner to ensure the project owner’s best interests are carried out. The term also includes “owner’s project manager (OPM)”;
19. (s) “Project contingency” means the project funds that have been set aside or reserved to cover bidding overruns, unforeseen conditions and omissions, or miscellaneous project expenditures not part of the initial project budget but necessary to complete the project;
20. (t) “Renovation means” work involving upgrades to existing space in a building or conversion of the use of existing space in a building;
21. (u) “School district” means “school district” as defined in RSA 198:15-a, I-a;
22. (v) “School building aid” means the state grants for the payment of a share of the cost for school building construction under RSA 198:15-a;
23. (w) “Sufficient” means an amount of space, time, or material that will enable a particular function to proceed as intended without restriction or impediment from the size or condition of the school facility, according to variations in enrollment, staffing, program, or level of instruction from one school building to another;
24. (x) “Technology equipment” means equipment needed to operate the school facility, including servers, printers, cameras, audio visual equipment, copiers, phones, intercoms, and computers. It does not include laptops and computers for students and teachers, office or educational software, or infrastructure items such as network and wireless cabling; and
25. (y) “Usable land” means land upon which a school building, parking lot, on-site traffic circulation and drop-off locations, playgrounds, or school playing fields can be built.

Source. #8265, eff 1-22-05; ss by #10363, eff 6-15-13; ss by #13054, eff 6-12-20; ss by #14023, eff 7-12-24; ss by #14215, eff 3-14-25