The following words and terms when used in these rules shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
  (1) Applicant--The entity that has submitted an application for a building or structure it owns or for which it has a contract to purchase.
  (2) Application--A fully completed Texas Historic Preservation Tax Credit Application form submitted to the Commission, which includes three parts:
    (A) Part A - Evaluation of Significance, to be used by the Commission to make a determination whether the building is a certified historic structure;
    (B) Part B - Description of Rehabilitation, to be used by the Commission to review proposed projects for compliance with the Standards for Rehabilitation; and
    (C) Part C - Request for Certification of Completed Work, to be used by the Commission to review completed projects for compliance with the work approved under Part B.
  (3) Application fee--The fee charged by the Commission and paid by the applicant for the review of Part B and Part C of the application as follows:
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  (4) Audited cost report--Such documentation as defined by the Comptroller in 34 TAC Chapter 3, Tax Administration.
  (5) Building--Any edifice enclosing a space within its walls, and usually covered by a roof, the purpose of which is principally to shelter any form of human activity, such as shelter or housing, or to provide working, office, parking, display, or sales space. The term includes, among other examples, banks, office buildings, factories, warehouses, barns, railway or bus stations, and stores and may also be used to refer to a historically and functionally related unit, such as a courthouse and jail or a house and barn. Functional constructions made usually for purposes other than creating human shelter or activity such as bridges, windmills, and towers are not considered buildings under this definition and are not eligible to be certified historic structures.
  (6) Certificate of Eligibility--A document issued by the Commission to the owner, following review and approval of a Part C application, that confirms the property to which the eligible costs and expenses relate is a certified historic structure and the rehabilitation qualifies as a certified rehabilitation; and specifies the date the certified historic structure was first placed in service after the rehabilitation.
  (7) Certified historic structure--A building or buildings located on a property in Texas that is certified by the Commission as:
    (A) listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places;
    (B) designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark under §442.006, Texas Government Code, or as a State Antiquities Landmark under Chapter 191, Texas Natural Resources Code; §21.6 and §26.3(66) and (67) of this title (relating to Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Designation and Definitions, respectively); or
    (C) certified by the Commission as contributing to the historic significance of:
      (i) a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places; or
      (ii) a certified local district as per 36 CFR §67.9.
  (8) Certified local district--A local historic district certified by the United States Department of the Interior in accordance with 36 CFR §67.9.
  (9) Certified rehabilitation--The rehabilitation of a certified historic structure that the Commission has certified as meeting the Standards for Rehabilitation. If the project is submitted for the federal rehabilitation tax credit, it must be reviewed by the National Park Service prior to a determination that it meets the requirements for a certified rehabilitation under this rule. In the absence of a determination for the federal rehabilitation tax credit, the Commission shall have the sole responsibility for certifying the project.
  (10) Commission--The Texas Historical Commission.
  (11) Comptroller--The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
  (12) Contributing--A building in a historic district considered to be historically, culturally, or architecturally significant according to the criteria established by state or federal government, including those formally promulgated by the National Park Service and the United States Department of the Interior at 36 CFR Part 60 and applicable National Register bulletins.
  (13) Credit--The tax credit for the certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures available pursuant to Chapter 172 of the Texas Tax Code.
  (14) District--A geographically definable area, urban, or rural, possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, building, structures, or objects united by past events geographically but linked by association or history.
  (15) Eligible costs and expenses--The qualified rehabilitation expenditures as defined by §47(c)(2), Internal Revenue Code, including rehabilitation expenses as set out in 26 CFR §1.48-12(c), incurred during the project, except as otherwise specified in Chapter 172 of the Texas Tax Code.
  (16) Federal rehabilitation tax credit--A federal tax credit for 20% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures with respect to a certified historic structure, as defined in §47, Internal Revenue Code; 26 CFR §1.48-12; and 36 CFR Part 67.
  (17) Functionally related buildings--A collection of buildings that were constructed or used to serve and support an overall single purpose during their period of significance. Examples include but are not limited to: a residence and carriage house; a multi-building apartment complex; a multi-building industrial or commercial complex; or buildings constructed as a campus. Buildings within a typical neighborhood or downtown commercial historic district, among other property types, do not count as functionally related buildings with other buildings in the district, unless there is a certain historical attachment other than community development. Functionally related buildings owned by one entity are viewed as a single property while those owned by separate entities are viewed as separate properties.
  (18) National Park Service--The agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior that is responsible for certifying projects to receive the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
  (19) Owner--A person, partnership, company, corporation, whether for profit or not, governmental body, an institution of higher education or university system or any other entity holding a legal or equitable interest in a Property or Structure, which can include a full or partial ownership interest. Not all of these owner entities can qualify as an applicant for the credit, based on the requirements listed in Chapter 172 of the Texas Tax Code. A long-term lessee of a property may be considered an owner if their current lease term is at a minimum 27.5 years for residential rental property or 39 years for nonresidential real property, as referenced by §47(c)(2), Internal Revenue Code.
  (20) Phased development--A rehabilitation project which may reasonably be expected to be completed in two or more distinct states of development, as defined by United States Treasury Regulation 26 CFR §1.48-12(b)(2)(v). Each phase of a phased development can independently support an Application for a credit as though it was a stand-alone rehabilitation, as long as each phase meets the definition of a Project. If any completed phase of the rehabilitation project does not meet the requirements of a certified rehabilitation, future applications by the same owner for the same certified historic structure will not be considered.
  (21) Placed in Service--A status obtained upon completion of the rehabilitation project as described in Part B of the application, and any subsequent amendments, and documented in Part C of the application. Evidence of the date a property is placed in service includes a certificate of occupancy issued by the local building official and/or an architect's certificate of substantial completion. Other documents will suffice when certificates of occupancy and/or substantial completion are not available for a specific project, including final contractor invoices or other verifiable statements of completion. Alternate documents should be approved by the Commission before submission. Placed in Service documentation must indicate the date that work was completed.
  (22) Project--A specified scope of work, as described in a rehabilitation plan submitted with Part B of the application and subsequent amendments, comprised of work items that will be fully completed and Placed in Service. Examples of a project may include, but are not limited to, a whole building rehabilitation, rehabilitation of individual floors or spaces within a building, repair of building features, or replacement of building systems (such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems). Partial or incomplete scopes of work, such as project planning and design, demolition, or partial completion of spaces, features, or building systems are not included in this definition as Cont'd...