APEGS VIEW : SK LAND SURVEYORS

The Saskatchewan Land Surveyors Association (SLSA) has notified APEGS that they have received some reports of APEGS members potentially engaging in the practice of professional land surveying. It is not the intention of APEGS to determine if APEGS members are engaging in the practice of professional land surveying, however APEGS wishes to remind members the importance of understanding the definition of the practice of professional land surveying and the prohibition sections of The Land Surveyors and Professional Surveyors Act.

In Saskatchewan there are more than 60 regulatory bodies. Many of these regulated occupations are related, some by definition some by professional activity. Architecture and engineering, or psychiatry and psychology as examples. Most regulated professions have their own legislation containing sections on protection of title and scope of practice prohibiting non-members from using title or engaging in practicing. Regardless, many professional activities between regulated occupations may appear to overlap. Prohibition and enforcement activity can be alleviated where exceptions to the defined scopes of practice exist, so as not to enforce prohibition on related professionals practising within the meaning of their own legislation.

While practising professional engineering or professional geoscience it is important to understand when you are engaging in the “practice of professional surveying” and recognize when you may have crossed into engaging in the “practice of professional land surveying” as defined in The Land Surveyors and Professional Surveyors Act.

It is noted that The Land Surveyors and Professional Surveyors Act does not contain scope of practice exceptions for professional engineers or professional geoscientists, however nothing in this act prohibits APEGS members, or anyone else, from carrying out all or any of the activities of the “practice of professional surveying” which means:

• the determination, establishment or recording, by any means and for any purpose, of the positions of points or natural or man-made features above or below the surface of the earth;
• the determination of the form of the earth;
• the manipulation, integration and analysis of spatial information; (iv) the preparation of maps, plans, systems and documents and giving advice with respect to any of the activities described in subclauses (i) to (iii).

Note however that only a licensed member of the SLSA who is a Saskatchewan land surveyor shall engage in the “practice of professional land surveying” which means:

• the measurement of land, water or air space to determine or establish boundaries delineating any right or interest in land, water or air space above or below the surface of the earth;
• the determination and certification of the location, relative to a boundary, of any natural or man-made features above or below the surface of the earth;
• cadastral surveying, that is, the conducting of surveys or reporting on surveys to establish, locate, define or describe lines, boundaries or corners of parcels of land or land covered by water, and includes the recording of those boundaries and related details of surveys;
• the integration of any monument defining a boundary, either directly or indirectly, with a network of geodetic points of any order of precision and the determination of co-ordinate values for the monument when those values are used in the development or maintenance of a geographic information system which will be used in whole or in part for the purpose of determining or establishing boundaries;
• the establishment of photogrammetric control points for the purpose of determining or establishing boundaries; and
• the preparation of maps, plans and documents and giving advice with respect to determining or establishing boundaries;

Both APEGS and the SLSA welcomes opportunities to speak with members on this topic. The SLSA can be contacted at 306.352.8999 in Regina, www.slsa.sk.ca