I don't see how to create a poll on here, please comment about states you're licensed in and/or have knowledge of?
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California is Ineffective.
What's the difference between unliscenced practice, and licenced persons, who cannot measure to a tolerance of 15' in 900 feet?
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What's the difference between unliscenced practice, and licenced persons, who cannot measure to a tolerance of 15' in 900 feet?
A stamp...and about 16,667 PPM.
I would think the better question is, "how effective do you feel your fellow professionals are at self regulation and reporting violations when discovered?"
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
what does that matter if the board won't do anything about it??ÿ I mean, I guess we could form a lynch mob.?ÿ
But yes, it is our responsibility to report, that was implied in the board action comment.?ÿ 🙂
@plumb-bill point being...there is no way for the board to discipline anything if it??s not reported. I would predict 100% of us has come across substandard work and questionable practice.
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
@nate-the-surveyor?ÿ ?ÿ 14 feet
It's been a while but I was told by a member of the Georgia BOR that they had no power to regulate unregistered practice.?ÿ It would have to be pursued by the Attorney General's office and that they were not interested in pursuing the practice unless it involved large economic loss.?ÿ The BOR would (and did) write letters to the unlicensed individuals but if they didn't cease there was nothing they could do except to report it to the Attorney General.
I had much more problem with licensed individuals that "sold their stamp" or stamped plats that they did not review, much less perform.
Andy
The NC Board has teeth and likes to bite.
Disciplinary action is at the end of the fall newsletter.
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No real impact on those who are not licensed.?ÿ A few of those who are licensed did get hit with some penalties but relatively minor.?ÿ Our Board adds in investigation expenses on top of the penalty and frequently pulls their license until certain things occur.
It seems nearly all Boards are impotent on truly punishing those who are not licensed.
When considering a formal complaint against a licensed surveyor does anyone address the violation with the accused, via any correspondence, prior to the actual filing? In some surveys I have seen, including my own, have omitted or included a minor ??necessity? incidental to the survey but not harming the public or owner.?ÿ
Many young guns are out there and don??t have the wisdom/experience we do and appreciate guidance on such issues rather than suffering the humility of a Board inquiry for a minor infraction.
By no means am I suggesting leniency for anyone, just remember when you first started and were scared as hell as well as common sense when reporting a fellow surveyor. ?????ÿ
First step should ALWAYS be to have at least one conversation with the presumed offender, starting off in a questioning manner to determine if this is simply a matter of opinion on something or an intentional violation of one or more of the land surveying rules.?ÿ Just because someone did it differently than the way you assume you would have done it does not mean they are necessarily wrong.
NC will throw some hefty fines at engineers practicing surveying without a license.?ÿ I often see engineering firms get popped for surveying or engineering without an NC license. A while back a fellow put out some ads for boundary corner location.?ÿ Basically he had a metal detector and would try to find rebar or pipes for $20 per found monument. He was promptly shut down.?ÿ
The AG will get involved when necessary.?ÿ I personally know a wetland scientist that was fined $2000 for locating his own flags down here.?ÿ There's some ambiguity concerning when a PLS is required to stamp mapping grade utility location for GIS.?ÿ I have mentioned to a few non licensed individuals that they should be careful about making statements concerning the accuracy of their GIS as this is a threshold for unlicensed practice.
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Texas Board will send the State Attorney General after them.
Don't mess with Texas 😉
At the risk of being targeted and castigated when the time comes for me to apply and attempt to get licensed, I am finding that the newer regulations of boards in several states aim at "raising the bar" by requiring a college degree in land surveying( and yeah, look up how many universities even offer that, almost none) or a "board approved" degree of similar comparison instead of pursuing and prosecuting the offending licensed practitioners, and then as has been mentioned, almost nothing for the unlicensed as they seem to vaporize and disappear.?ÿ This has effectively created a huge gap in upcoming surveyors, and without follow up and investigation by the States Attorney generals in the cases of the unlicensed perpetrators, the problem largely goes unmitigated.
Frankly, I believe as a licensed professional just like a doctor or lawyer or anything, if you intentionally violate your rules/bylaws etc, it should be punished as expected and written in the code.
For the unlicensed, a Marine style blanket party would be a great start......
( mic drop.....)
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Boards only have the authority given to them by the legislature. Hard to blame them for not doing anything when they aren't allowed to.
They definitely enforce it.?ÿ While not the premise of the original question, here are examples:
https://www.aols.org/public-protection/complaints/discipline
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Here's the most recent one.
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The Survey Review Department (SRD) checks your work periodically.?ÿ You are "graded" on your work.?ÿ If you are found deficient, you can lose your license.?ÿ You often have to contract a lawyer for the proceedings as your license could depend on it.?ÿ There are often fines.?ÿ You have to pay for the proceedings if found "guilty."?ÿ The proceedings are publically displayed on the AOLS website and your peers are made aware of your shortcomings.?ÿ You need to pay someone else to monitor your work for a set period determined by the Board.
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It's what's known as a.........Bad Thing.........and you do your best to avoid it.?ÿ Any extra money you collected by hurriedly finishing something is more than lost and is simply not worth it.
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"Penalty
The Panel accepted the Joint Submission after confirming that the parties would agree to small clarifications. The penalty imposed by the Panel including those clarifications was:
- a cancellation of Mr. Raithby??s license to be deferred provided Mr. Raithby complies with the remaining terms of the Order;
- Mr. Raithby would fully comply with all legislation, regulations and Standards of Survey as these may prevail and apply to SRPR??s and all survey products rendered by him and his firm, NA Geomatics (the ??Firm) and to permit access to surveyor project files under his
supervision to be inspected by an Inspector on a random basis for 12 months from the 14th day after the date of the Hearing, calculated as June 25, 2020;
- certain terms, conditions and limitations on Mr. Raithby??s license, being:
o Mr. Raithby is to practice in consultation with a Monitor (a current or retired OLS accepted by the Registrar);
o To cooperate fully with the Monitor;
o To implement any reasonable (in the opinion of the Registrar) recommendations made by the Monitor;
o To make best efforts to ensure that the Monitor provides quarterly reports regarding Mr. Raithby??s practice to the Registrar;
o To reimburse the AOLS for the cost of the Monitor;
- Costs of the discipline hearing in the amount of $9,000 to be paid in 18 equal monthly installments of $500 by postdated cheques;
- Publication of a summary of the decision and reasons in the Quarterly, in In Sight, and on the AOLS website."
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EDIT:
In regards to the unlicensed bit:
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$15,000 fine
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$2,500 fine
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Yes, it's "Canuck bucks" so only, like, monopoly money amounts 😉