1. “Construction contract” means a written contract or subcontract awarded by an owner or contracting entity for the purpose of making any public improvements or constructing any public building or making repairs to or performing maintenance on the same;

2. “Material supplier” means any entity that supplies materials, services, or equipment to be used in conjunction with the performance of work on a construction contract;

3. “Prime contractor” means any entity that has a direct contract with an owner to perform work under a construction contract;

4. “Owner” means any state government entity, municipality, township, public trust or an instrumentality of a state government entity, municipality, township or public trust in this state, or any entity designated by the owner to act on the owner's behalf, that requests work to be performed by a contractor under a construction contract;

5. “Proper invoice” means a request for payment or partial payment based on work performed on a construction contract;

6. “Retainage” means the difference between a gross proper invoice amount on a construction contract and the amount paid on said contract;

7. “Subcontractor” means any entity that has a direct contract with a prime contractor to perform a portion of the work under a construction contract; and

8. “Sub-subcontractor” means any entity that has a direct contract with another subcontractor to perform a portion of the work under a construction contract.