Sec. 77.0. Definitions

The following words and phrases as used in this Part shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) Department means the New York State Department of Health.

(b) Commissioner means the Commissioner of Health of the State of New York.

(c) School means any educational institution wherein funeral directing, embalming and related subjects are taught for the purpose of preparing students for licensing and practice as funeral directors.

(d) Curriculum means the complete program of instruction in funeral service education.

(e) Accrediting agency means a duly constituted and departmentally recognized agency which evaluates and accredits curricula in funeral service education.

(f) Common carrier is defined, for the purposes of this Part and Part 13 of this Title, as a carrier licensed or authorized to transport cargo by any of the following:

(1) New York State Department of Transportation;

(2) Interstate Commerce Commission;

(3) Federal Aviation Administration; or

(4) United States Coast Guard.

(g) Customer means the person making arrangements, or the customer's designee, to whom a written statement showing thereon the price of the funeral, including an itemized list of the services and merchandise to be furnished for such price, shall be furnished at the time funeral arrangements are made.

(h) Customer's designee means the person whom the funeral director reasonably believes to be acting on behalf of a customer.

(i) Casket includes coffin and means a rigid container designed for the encasement of human remains and customarily ornamented and lined with fabric.

(j) Outer interment receptacle means any container or enclosure which is placed in the grave around the casket to prevent the collapse of the grave and/or to protect the casket, including but not limited to receptacles commonly known as burial vaults, grave boxes or grave liners.

(k) Actual retail price is the price for which a funeral director regularly sells an item of merchandise to customers.

(l) Direct cremation is the disposition of human remains by cremation, without a formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present.

(m) Direct burial is the disposition of human remains by burial, without formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, except for a graveside service.

(n) Unfinished wooden box is an unornamented casket made of wood which does not have a fixed interior lining.

(o) Alternative container is a nonmetal receptacle or enclosure, without ornamentation or a fixed interior lining, which is designed for the encasement of human remains and which is made of cardboard, pressed wood, composition materials (with or without an outside covering) or pouches of canvas or other materials.