Board's Rules for Practicing Engineering - a PDH Online Course for Engineers

Board's Rules for Practicing Land Surveying

Course Outline

Besides meeting specific requirements, such as education, experience, and examination, a land surveyor must get familiar with the Board Rules in order to practice land surveying in any state. While the Rules do vary from state to state, the basic requirements for the qualifications and the professional conduct are very similar throughout the United States. In this course, the student is required to study the Model Rules published by National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be familiar with:

The Model Rules published by NCEES;
Qualifications of becoming a professional land surveyor;
Rules of professional conducts;
The mandatory continuing education requirements;
Proper ways to sign and seal design documents; and
The roles and responsibilities of a professional land surveyor.

Course Content

All state boards for PE & LS require that the licensed professional land surveyors get familiar with the Rules of State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (the Rules). Many state boards periodically disclose in their newsletters the disciplinary actions taken by the boards against the licensees who violated the Rules. The most common types of violations are:

1. Performed services outside his/her area of competence.

2. Practiced land surveying without being licensed in the state of the project.

3. Practiced or offered to practice land surveying while not properly licensed.

4. Failed to have a resident licensed professional in responsible charge in each office.

5. Failed to properly sign, seal and date documents.

6. Affixed his/her seal to work not done under his/her direct supervision or responsible charge.

7. Affixed his/her seal to inadequate design documents, failing to protect the public.

Other types of violations include:

1. Produced a deficient, substandard or inaccurate report, failing to protect the public.

2. Contracted with non-licensed individual to provide certain professional services.

3. Failed to avoid conflicts of interests.

To avoid the above violations, it is highly recommended for all licensees to periodically review the Rules. As a professional land surveyor, the licensee shall at all times recognize the primary obligation to protect the safety, health, property and welfare of the public. If a licensee's professional judgment is overruled under circumstances where the safety, health or welfare of the public are endangered, he/she shall inform the proper authorities and his/her employer of the situation as may be appropriate.

In this course you are required to study the following document:

Model Rules of National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (the Rules, a PDF file, 40 pages).

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, save or print the document for your study.

The following contains an outline of the Rules:

NCEES MODEL RULE CONTENTS

210 INTRODUCTION

210.10 Introduction

210.20 Definitions

210.25 Inclusions and Exclusions to the Practice of Surveying

210.30 Clarifications to the Offering to Practice Engineering and Surveying

220 THE LICENSING BOARD

220.10 Board Operations

220.20 Adoption and Amendment of Rules and Regulations

220.30 Fees

230 CANDIDATES FOR LICENSURE

230.10 Education Requirements Approved by the Board

230.20 Experience

230.30 References

230.40 Examinations

230.50 Classifications and Disciplines of Engineering and Surveying

230.60 Applications

240 LICENSEES

240.10 Licensure

240.15 Rules of Professional Conduct

240.20 Seals

240.30 Continuing Professional Competency

240.40 Expirations, Renewals, and Reinstatement to Active Practice

250 DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

250.10 Knowledge of Rules

250.20 Compliance

250.30 Disciplinary Action of Licensees

250.40 Reinstatement of Licensure or Certification after Revocation

250.50 Bias

260 MISCELLANEOUS

260.10 Severability

260.20 Grandfathering of Model Law Engineers and Model Law Structural Engineers

APPENDIX A: Suggested Guidelines for Evaluating Progressive Engineering Experience

APPENDIX B: Suggested Guidelines for Evaluating Progressive Surveying Experience

APPENDIX C: Cross-Reference for Model Rules

APPENDIX D: NCEES Publications

Additional Readings

In addition, you are encouraged to visit the following website for state-specific requirements:

Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Landscape Architects: Rules & Regulations

Course Summary

To safeguard the safety, health, property and welfare of the public, licensed professional land surveyors must fully understand the requirements contained in Rules of State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (the Rules). A licensee who violates the Rules may be subject to disciplinary action, such as a fine, reprimand, suspension or revocation of his/her license.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at his/her own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.