Existing law, the Professional Land Surveyors’ Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of land surveyors by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists. The act prohibits a person from practicing land surveying unless appropriately licensed or specifically exempted from licensure. Under the act, a person who practices, or offers to practice, land surveying without applicable legal authorization is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill would specify tiered penalties, including specified fines and jail time, for a first, 2nd, or 3rd conviction for practicing land surveying without legal authorization.

Existing law requires a licensed land surveyor to use a written contract when contracting to provide professional services to a client pursuant to the act, except as specified.

This bill would require a licensed land surveyor who does not have professional liability insurance, before contracting to provide services, to inform the client in writing that the licensed land surveyor does not have professional liability insurance, and if the licensed land surveyor’s professional liability insurance policy lapses or they otherwise no longer have professional liability insurance after contracting, to inform the client, as specified. Because a violation of the act is a crime, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and would therefore impose a state-mandated local program.