NCEES Model Rule - Inclusions and Exclusions of Surveying Practice Kurt Donaldson, November 2009

1. Mapping the
Mountain State
GIS-Surveying Committee
Promoting and sharing geographic information
and mapping technologies in the Mountain State
11/13/09 GIS-Surveying Committee

2. Mapping the
Mountain State
Resolution in endorsing
NCEES Inclusions & Exclusions
of Surveying Practice
11 November 2009 2GIS-Surveying Committee

3. Mapping the
Mountain State
11 November 2009
Surveying.……Meets……..GIS
• Mapping traditionally done by Surveyors
• High skill and knowledge of measurement
and error adjustment
• GIS maps typically have low accuracy,
little control, subject to inappropriate
usage
• Health, Safety, & Welfare of public in
danger from misuse of GIS or bad GIS
data
• GIS Professionals are practicing
survey/mapping without a license
• Surveyor's professional codes overreach
by including all manner of mapping,
regardless of purpose or use of GIS
• No distinction between original
measurement documentation and
representational, referential spatial
diagrams
• Criteria needed to distinguish Survey
from other mapping
• "Surveyors' Full Employment Act"
Surveying Concerns
Discussions before the fact are far more productive than dialog after the fact and
provides greater opportunities for shared learning and fewer feelings of mistrust
GIS Concerns
3GIS-Surveying Committee

4. Mapping the
Mountain State
WV GIS-Surveying Committee
• June 2008: Keynote by Oregon GIS Coordinator, Cy Smith at
WV GIS Conference
• 15 Oct 2008: WVAGP appoints committee
• 30 Oct 2008: NCEES surveying inclusion/exclusion rules adopted
• Nov 2008: NCEES rule presented to membership
• June 2009: Draft resolution presented to membership
• Sep 2009: WVSPS pass similar resolution
• Oct 2009: WVAGP Draft resolution finalized
11 November 2009 4GIS-Surveying Committee

5. Mapping the
Mountain State
11 November 2009
Surveying.……Meets……..GIS
• Jeff Stephens (Chair)
• John Green
• Rick Witte
• Chuck Smith
• Richard Henline
• Rob Shaffer
• Kurt Donaldson
• Craig Neidig
• Jennings Starcher
• Sam Lammie
• Matt Mullenax
Surveyors and GIS Professionals who attended GIS-Surveying Committee Meetings
5GIS-Surveying Committee

6. Mapping the
Mountain State
Committee Focus
• Clear Map Disclaimer Policy
• Encourage use of metadata
• Promote GIS Certification
• Compare WV surveying laws to NCEES Model Law/Rules
• Adopt NCEES “Inclusion/Exclusion Rules of
Surveying Practice
11 November 2009 6GIS-Surveying Committee

7. Mapping the
Mountain State
What is NCEES?
11 November 2009
• The ‘Model Law & Rules’ published by the National Council of Examiners for
Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is a national nonprofit organization
composed of provides state engineering and surveying licensure boards. It
provides national guidance in developing individual state practice laws. NCEES
also creates the common examinations used by most jurisdictions
• No statutory authority at NCEES level. Each jurisdiction is autonomous –
approximately 65 individual licensing Boards. NCEES Model Law is just that – a
“model.”
• In 1995, the surveying portion of the Model Law was revised to include specific
reference to the use of ‘land information systems and geographic information
systems’. Once aware of the change, GIS professionals raised concerns as to
the potential impact of the Model Law on the practice of GIS.
• The NCEES responded to the concerns by adding representatives from URISA
and the National States GIS Council (NSGIC) to a ‘Multi-organizational Task
Force’ (MOTF) already comprised of representatives from several engineering,
surveying and photogrammetry professional associations.
7GIS-Surveying Committee

8. Mapping the
Mountain State
MOTF
(Multiorganizational Task Force)
11 November 2009
ASPRS – Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing
MAPPS – Photogrammetry & Mapping
ACSM – Survey & Mapping
ASCE – Civil Engineers
NSPS – Professional Surveyors
URISA – GIS Professionals
NSGIC – State GIS Councils
8GIS-Surveying Committee

9. Mapping the
Mountain State
Model Law Revisions
11 November 2009
• The NCEES was highly receptive to the 13 months of work of the MOTF and
implemented most of the group’s recommendations 18 months later in the 2003
revision to the Model Law.
• The success of the effort was due in great part to willingness of the survey
community to include the GIS community in the dialog and explore issues of
mutual concern.
• There was early agreement that surveyors ‘determine’ location and GIS
professionals ‘reference’ location.
• MODEL LAW was revised with a more narrow definition of the term “Practice of
Surveying or Land Surveying”
• Previous MODEL LAW had a reference to GIS/LIS technologies. The GIS
professionals pushed for the removal of any reference to tools and technologies
and provided recommendations to focus the language on the mapping activities
that define the practice of surveying.
9GIS-Surveying Committee

10. Mapping the
Mountain State
Model Law Revisions
11 November 2009
Model Law 110.20 Definitions (Model Law)
http://www.ncees.org/introduction/about_ncees/model_law_2008.pdf
4. Practice of Surveying – The term “Practice of Surveying,” within the intent of this Act,
shall mean providing, or offering to provide, professional services using such sciences as
mathematics, geodesy, and photogrammetry, and involving both (1) the making of
geometric measurements and gathering related information pertaining to the physical or
legal features of the earth, improvements on the earth, the space above, on, or below the
earth and (2) providing, utilizing, or developing the same into survey products such as
graphics, data, maps, plans, reports, descriptions, or projects. Professional services
include acts of consultation, investigation, testimony evaluation, expert technical
testimony, planning, mapping, assembling, and interpreting gathered measurements and
information related to any one or more of the following...
same definition in WV CODE: §30-13A-3. Definitions
10GIS-Surveying Committee

11. Mapping the
Mountain State
Model Rules
11 November 2009
• The most significant work achieved by the MOTF was the development of a set
of ‘Model Rules’ intended to accompany the Model Law.
• Based upon a set of ‘Inclusions and Exclusions’ developed cooperatively by
the Surveying and GIS professionals within the State of North Carolina, the
Model Rules set forth specific mapping activities considered ‘included within the
surveying practice’ and ‘excluded from surveying practice’ and are intended to
serve as guidelines for the both the mapping community at large and the
regulatory boards.
• The MODEL RULES emphasize that ‘a distinction must be made in the use of
electronic systems between making or documenting original measurements in
the creation of survey products, versus the copying, interpretation, or
representation of those measurements in such systems.
• Further, a distinction must be made according to the intent, use, or purpose of
measurement products in electronic systems to determine a definitive location
versus the use of those products as a locational reference for planning,
infrastructure management, and general information’.
11GIS-Surveying Committee

12. Mapping the
Mountain StateNCEES Model Rules (Cont.)
11 November 2009
• Activities Included within Surveying Practice :
– Determining Property Boundaries
– Engineering Design Location of Fixed Works
– Locating Elevation Contours or Shape of the Earth for Engineering Design, Land
Development, etc.
– Creating Survey Control Information
– Determining and Certifying Basemap Accuracy
• Activities Excluded from Surveying Practice:
– Infrastructure Inventory and Maintenance
– Planning and Analysis
– Environmental Management
– Social, Demographic, Economic, Tax Maps
– Guides, Educational, Advertising maps
USAGE Should DetermineWhen
GIS Needs Surveyor Supervision
210.25 Inclusions and Exclusions of Surveying Practice
http://www.ncees.org/introduction/about_ncees/model_rules_2008.pdf
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13. Mapping the
Mountain StateNCEES Model Rules (Cont.)
11 November 2009
• National
– Urban and Regional Information Systems Association
– National States Geographic Information Council
– American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing
– American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• State
– WV Society of Professional Surveyors
Endorsed by:
13GIS-Surveying Committee

14. Mapping the
Mountain State
WV HB 2957
(b) The cooperative extension service of West Virginia University shall
develop a program to collect the name and longitudinal and latitudinal
data of all cemeteries within West Virginia, including those cemeteries
otherwise referenced in section six, article five-a, chapter thirty-five of
this code. The program may then be implemented by county
cooperative extension service committees. Once implemented,
extension workers, along with members of local 4-H organizations, shall
collect data with global positioning system devices, and provide said
data to the Director of the Historic Preservation Section of the Division
of Culture and History, which shall serve as a repository for the
information.
11 November 2009
Surveying.……Meets……..GIS
Intent of language in bill unclear whether GPS data collection is a practice
of a Surveyor or GIS Professional – John Green, WVSPS Legislative
Committee
14GIS-Surveying Committee

15. Mapping the
Mountain State
WV HB 2957
(b) The cooperative extension service of West Virginia University shall
develop a program to collect the name and longitudinal and latitudinal
data of all cemeteries within West Virginia, including those cemeteries
otherwise referenced in section six, article five-a, chapter thirty-five of
this code. The program may then be implemented by county
cooperative extension service committees. Once implemented,
extension workers, along with members of local 4-H organizations, shall
collect data with global positioning system devices, or other appropriate
methods, and provide said data to the Director of the Historic
Preservation Section of the Division of Culture and History, which shall
serve as a repository for the information. It is the intent of the legislature
that data collected under this program are not intended to be used as a
survey product, nor intended to indicate the authoritative location of
cemetery or property boundaries.
11 November 2009
Surveying.……Meets……..GIS
More Precise Language – John Green, WVSPS Legislative Committee
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16. Mapping the
Mountain State
Conflict
between
Surveyors &
GIS
Professionals
11 November 2009 16GIS-Surveying Committee

17. Mapping the
Mountain State
WVAGP RESOLUTION
• RESOLVED that the West Virginia Association of
Geospatial Professionals endorses the “Inclusions and
Exclusions of Surveying Practice” as contained within the
NCEES Model Rules, dated August 2008, Section 210.25.
• Further, be it RESOLVED that the West Virginia
Association of Geospatial Professionals recommends to
the West Virginia Board of Professional Surveyors to
include the “Inclusions and Exclusions of Surveying
Practice” as contained within the NCEES Model Rules,
dated August 2008, Section 210.25 be incorporated in
West Virginia legislation.
11 November 2009 17GIS-Surveying Committee

18. Mapping the
Mountain State
Questions?
11 November 2009
Contact:
Kurt Donaldson
WV Association of Geospatial Professionals
P.O. Box 3903
Charleston, WV 25339
Web: http://www.wvagp.org
Phone: (304) 293-9467
E-mail: kdonalds@wvu.edu
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