I know in VA the only surveying you can do without a license is construction.
No, but the wording is a bit sketchy and open for various interpretations. So the answer is still NO, if what your doing is not tied to a boundary otherwise it MIGHT be YES. A lot of construction outfits get several control points set by a PLS to avoid any issues.?ÿ
But if I was King for a day I would change that and remove the ambiguous wordings.
I worked for a major construction company with a regional office in Peachtree without any licensed surveyors on staff.?ÿ I've only known 1 or 2 licensed surveyors that work construction, and they were surveying in construction far before they ever got their license.?ÿ If you're talking about on your own, unlicensed, I don't know the GA law on that.?ÿ But would suggest dotting your "I"s and crossing your "T"s, CYA, maybe even have a lawyer look over the contract before you sign.?ÿ Project Managers are well known for shafting the surveyor at the end of the project.
As the former head of the surveying department for an engineering company I can tell you we worked with several companies that staked for construction but had no licensed surveyors on staff.?ÿ To be quite honest a couple of them were better at construction staking than almost all the licensed people I knew.?ÿ Those I often gave copies of field notes and coordinate files so they could recover any control that got destroyed.?ÿ BUT, they were never setting any property corners.
Andy
New Jersey does not require a pls to sign and seal grade sheets.
Does Georgia require grade sheets to be signed and sealed?
New Jersey does not require a pls to sign and seal grade sheets.
Does Georgia require grade sheets to be signed and sealed?
Are you talking about Grading Plans or maybe Plan & Profiles for roads, storm & sewer? If that is what you're referring to they are stamped (signed and sealed).
Now to your question; the board only regulates land surveying and a grading plan is not technically a "SURVEY" but the local jurisdiction who the plans are being submitted to will require them to be stamped.
I'm speaking of being asked to stake out drainage, sanitary, curb and water. I'm a PLS in NJ. When I stake out the above and give cuts and fills, I do not have to sign and seal the cut sheets.
Obviously, establishing the boundary and control has to be done by a pls. I'm speaking strictly of layout work.
In some states this work can be performed under a PE license with no need for an LS whatsoever.
Georgia
TITLE 43. PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESSES
CHAPTER 15. PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS
(6) "Land surveying" means any service, work, or practice, the adequate performance of which
requires the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related
physical and applied sciences, and the requirements of relevant law in the evaluation and
location of property rights, as applied to:
(E) Conducting horizontal and vertical control surveys, layout or stake-out of proposed
construction, or the preparation of as-built surveys which relate to property, easement, or right of
way boundaries;
You figure it out. 😉 ?ÿ
layout or stake-out of proposed
construction
So if I show you where the rebar goes, in a proposed concrete pile cap, I need to be a licensed surveyor?
Yeah, and the latter part of (E) appears to imply that only as-built boundary surveys need to be done by an LS, not as-built surveys of structures.
That's why he said for you to "figure it out" because it is clear as mud.
It has generally been considered that construction staking does not require one to be licensed. I personally believe that because the above mentioned rule is so poorly written it invites and opens the door to unlicensed practice.
Here is my rule of thumb.
A large construction site where there is site control is a lot different than a house or even a big box store or apartment site where the layout has to be done by tying into the property corners and rotating into the design drawing.
A lot of PLS's here have been conditioned into thinking that any form of construction staking is outside the scope of the board rules and those same PLS's turn a blind eye to illegal unlicensed practice. And that folks is why there has always been a huge problem with unlicensed practice in Georgia. Oh, and also most of these PLS's refuse to take a stand and do something about it because they don't want to get involved.
Make no mistake a lot of surveyors here know of unlicensed practiced but they go through life intentionally ignorant of it.
