Massachusetts Land Surveying Licensing Law

Massachusetts Code · 13 sections

The following is the full text of Massachusetts’s land surveying licensing law statutes as published in the Massachusetts Code. For the official version, see the Massachusetts Legislature.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81D

Section 81D. The following words and phrases as used in sections eighty-one D to eighty-one T, inclusive, hereinafter referred to as said sections, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:— ''Board'', the board of registration of professional engineers and of land surveyors, established by section forty-five of chapter thirteen. ''Professional engineer'', a person who, by reason of his special knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to practice engineering, as attested by his registration as a professional engineer; provided, however, that registration as a professional engineer shall not qualify a person to practice as an engineer licensed under chapter one hundred and forty-six. ''Practice of engineering'', any professional service or creative work requiring engineering education, training and experience and the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical and engineering sciences to such professional services or creative work as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, design and supervision of construction for the purpose of assuring compliance with specifications and design, in connection with any public or private utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, works or projects, but it shall not include the practice of architecture, as defined in section sixty A, except that a registered professional engineer may do such architectural work as is incidental to his work, nor shall it include the practice of land surveying, except that a registered professional engineer qualified in the branch of civil engineering may perform land surveying incidental to his engineering work for locating or relocating any of the fixed works embraced within the practice of civil engineering excluding property line determination. A person shall be construed to practice or to offer to practice engineering who practices any branch of the profession of engineering; or who, by verbal claim, sign, advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way represents himself to be a professional engineer, or through the use of some other title implies that he is a professional engineer; or who holds himself out as able to perform, or who does perform any engineering service or work or any other professional service designated by the practitioner or recognized by educational authorities as engineering. The practice of engineering shall not include the work ordinarily performed by persons who operate, maintain or install machinery or equipment. ''Professional land surveyor'', a professional specialist in the technique of measuring land, educated in the basic principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence and all requisite to the surveying of real property and engaged in the practice of land surveying. ''Practice of land surveying'', any service or work, the adequate performance of which involves the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence to the act of measuring and locating lines, angles, elevations, natural and manmade features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes, for the monumenting of property boundaries, for locating or relocating any of the fixed works embraced within the practice of civil engineering, and for the platting, and layout of lands and subdivisions thereof, including the topography, alignment and grades of streets, and for the preparation and perpetuation of maps, record plats, field note records and property descriptions that represent these surveys. A person shall be construed to practice or to offer to practice land surveying who engages in land surveying, or who by verbal claim, sign, letterhead, card or in any other way represents himself to be a land surveyor, or through the use of some other title implies that he is a land surveyor, or who represents himself as able to perform, or who does perform any land surveying service or work, or any other service designated by the practitioner which is recognized as land surveying.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81E

Section 81E. The board shall examine applicants for registration as professional engineers and as professional land surveyors and applicants desiring to take written or oral examinations to evidence qualification for registration as professional engineers or professional land surveyors. It shall make such rules and regulations as are necessary or proper for the conduct of its duties. The board may adopt and shall use an official seal. If any person, firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association refuses to obey any decision, rule or order, or any part thereof, issued by the board pursuant to its powers, the attorney general of the commonwealth shall, upon request of the board, file a petition in equity for the enforcement of such decision, rule or order in the superior court for Suffolk county or for the county in which such person, firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association resides or has a place of business. After due hearing, with such notice as the court may direct, the court shall order the enforcement of such decision, rule or order, or any part thereof, to the extent that such decision, rule or order, or any part thereof, has been legally and properly made by the board. The board, for the purposes of registration of professional engineers, shall recognize all the fundamental branches of engineering which shall include, without limiting the generality thereof by specific enumeration, the following fields:— aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, heating and ventilating, and air conditioning, industrial, mechanical, metallurgical, mining, safety, fire protection, sanitary and structural.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81I

Section 81I. A roster showing the names and places of business of all registered professional engineers and all registered land surveyors shall be prepared by the secretary of the board during the month of July of each year, commencing in nineteen hundred and forty-two. Such roster shall be posted on a publicly available website.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81J

Section 81J. The following shall be considered as minimum evidence satisfactory to the board that an applicant is qualified for registration as a professional engineer or professional land surveyor, respectively, to wit: (1) As a professional engineer: (a) A person holding a certificate or registration to engage in the practice of engineering, issued to him by a proper authority of a state, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any foreign country, who, in the opinion of the board, meets the requirements of this chapter, based on verified evidence may, upon application, be registered without further examination. A person holding a certificate of qualification issued by the National Council of Engineering Examiners, whose qualifications meet the requirements of this chapter, may, upon application, be registered without further examination. (b) A graduate of an engineering curriculum of four years or more approved by the board as being of satisfactory standing; and with a specific record of an additional four years or more of experience in engineering work of a grade and character which indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering, and who passes or has passed the required written examination in the fundamentals of engineering, and the required written examination in the principles and practice of engineering. The board may require that the above experience in engineering work be completed prior to admission to the examination in the principles and practice of engineering. Should the board permit the examination to be taken at an earlier date, then the applicant may be required to pass an oral examination as determined by the board. Upon passing such examinations, the applicant shall be granted a certificate of registration to practice engineering in the commonwealth, provided he is otherwise qualified. (c) An applicant, having satisfactorily completed a four-year college curriculum in engineering or in related science other than the ones approved by the board and eight years or more of progressive experience in engineering work of a character and grade which indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering, and who passes or has passed the required written examination in the fundamentals of engineering designed to show knowledge and skill approximating that obtained through graduation in an approved four-year engineering curriculum, and the required written examination in the principles and practice of engineering, shall be granted a certificate of registration to practice engineering in the commonwealth, provided he is otherwise qualified; provided, however, where an applicant is permitted by the board to be admitted to the examination in the principles and practice of engineering prior to completion of the above experience, the board may require that the applicant pass an oral examination as determined by the board before issuing a certificate of registration. (d) An applicant having completed twelve years or more of progressive experience in engineering work of a character and grade, including five years or more in responsible charge of engineering work, which indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering, and who passes or has passed the required written examination in the fundamentals of engineering designed to show basic engineering knowledge and skill and the required written examination in the principles and practice of engineering and an oral examination when required by the board may be granted a certificate of registration to practice engineering in the commonwealth, provided he is otherwise qualified. (e) An applicant, with a specific record of at least twenty years of lawful practice in engineering work, of which at least ten years have been in responsible charge of important engineering work, and of a grade and character which indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering and who has passed an oral or written examination in the principles and practice of engineering, and is otherwise qualified, shall be registered to practice engineering in the commonwealth. (f) Undergraduate study in an engineering curriculum approved by the board as being of satisfactory standing may be considered as engineering experience on an equivalent full-time basis up to a maximum of three years in computing the number of years of experience in engineering work in clauses (d) and (e) of this subsection. (g) Engineering teaching in a college or university offering an approved engineering curriculum of four years or more may be considered as engineering experience. (2) As a professional land surveyor: (a) A person holding a bachelor of science degree in an approved curriculum and presenting evidence satisfactory to the board that, in addition thereto, he has had at least four years of combined office and field experience in land surveying with a minimum of three years' experience in responsible charge of land surveying projects under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor and who has passed the oral and written examinations as required by the board. (b) A person holding two years of formal education in an approved curriculum above high school level with at least sixty semester credit hours passed or equivalent quarter-hours, or the equivalent approved by the board, and presenting evidence satisfactory to the board that in addition thereto he has had at least six years of combined office and field experience in land surveying with a minimum of four years' experience in responsible charge of land surveying projects under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor and who has passed the oral and written examinations as required by the board. (c) A person who has a specific record of twelve years or more of lawful practice in surveying work of a character satisfactory to the board and who passes the required written examinations, which shall include questions on laws, procedures and practices pertaining to practices in the commonwealth, and passes an oral examination at the discretion of the board may be granted a certificate of registration to practice surveying provided he is otherwise qualified. (d) A person holding a certificate of registration to engage in the practice of land surveying issued on comparable qualifications from a state, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, will be given comity consideration. However, he may be asked to take such examinations as the board deems necessary to determine his qualifications, but in any event he shall be required to pass the required written examination of not less than four hours' duration, which shall include questions on laws, procedures and practices pertaining to practice in the commonwealth. (e) Undergraduate study in a surveying curriculum approved by the board as being of satisfactory standing may be considered as surveying experience on an equivalent full-time basis up to a maximum of two years in computing the number of years of experience in surveying work in clauses (b) and (c) of this subsection. (f) A person, with a record of at least twenty years of lawful practice in land surveying work, of which at least ten years he has been responsible for major land surveying work, of a grade and character which indicates to the board that the person may be competent to practice land surveying and who has passed an oral or written examination in the principles and practice of land surveying, and is otherwise qualified, shall be registered to practice land surveying in the commonwealth. (3) The board shall certify persons who have passed written or oral examinations and shall specify the nature and type of the examination passed in such certification. The board may certify persons who have passed appropriate examinations and who have education and/or experience qualifications satisfactory to the board as follows: (a) A graduate of an approved engineering curriculum of four years or more who has passed the board's eight-hour written examination in the fundamentals of engineering shall be certified or enrolled as an engineer-in-training, if he is otherwise qualified. (b) An applicant having satisfactorily completed a four-year college curriculum in engineering or in related science other than the ones approved by the board and a specific record of four or more years of experience in engineering work of grade and character satisfactory to the board, who passes the board's eight-hour written examination in the fundamentals of engineering shall be certified or enrolled as an engineer-in-training, if he is otherwise qualified. (c) A graduate of an approved land surveying curriculum of four years or more who has had in addition thereto at least two years of combined office and field experience in land surveying, with a minimum of one year in responsible charge of land surveying procedures under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor, and who has passed the written examinations required by the board shall be certified or enrolled as a land surveyor-in-training, if he is otherwise qualified. (d) An applicant having at least two years of formal education in an approved curriculum above high school level with at least sixty semester credit hours passed, or equivalent quarter-hours, or the equivalent approved by the board, and who presents evidence satisfactory to the board that in addition thereto he has had at least four years of combined office and field experience in land surveying with a minimum of two years in responsible charge of land surveying projects under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor, and who has passed the written examinations required by the board shall be certified or enrolled as a land surveyor-in-training, if he is otherwise qualified. (e) All of the examinations above required may be taken during the period of formal education or subsequently either prior to or following completion of the required experience. Upon completion of required experience, the board shall then certify the applicant as an engineer-in-training or a land surveyor-in-training. No person shall be eligible for registration as a professional engineer or land surveyor or for certification as having satisfactorily completed an oral or written examination who is not of good character and reputation. The board shall determine the duration, date, place and content of all written examinations. Registered engineers or professional land surveyors may take examinations required for registration hereunder without prejudice to their present registrations. The execution, as a contractor, of work designed by a professional engineer, or the supervision of the construction of such work as a foreman or superintendent shall not be deemed to be the practice of engineering. The fact that an applicant for registration by the board is not at the time of application practicing his profession shall not of itself make him ineligible for such registration.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81K

Section 81K. Applications for registration shall be on forms prescribed and furnished by the board, shall contain statements made under oath, showing the applicant's education and detailed summary of this technical work, and shall contain not less than five references. For engineering applicants, three or more shall be professional engineers having personal knowledge of the applicant's engineering experience, and for surveying applicants, three or more shall be registered professional land surveyors having personal knowledge of the applicant's surveying experience. Registration and examination fees for professional engineers and professional land surveyors, which shall accompany each particular application, shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. If in the opinion of the board any applicant is ineligible to receive a certificate of registration no part of the fee accompanying his application shall be refunded to him.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81L

Section 81L. When oral or written examinations are required they shall be held at such time and place as the board shall determine. If examinations are required on fundamental engineering subjects, such as are ordinarily given in college curricula, the applicant shall be permitted to take this part of the professional examination prior to his completion of the requisite years of experience in engineering work. The scope of the examinations and the methods of procedure shall be prescribed by the board with special reference to the applicant's ability to design and supervise engineering works so as to insure the safety of life, health and property. Examinations for the purpose of determining the qualifications of applicants for registration in professional engineering and in land surveying shall be given separately. A candidate failing on his first examination, upon application therefor not less than six months thereafter, shall be entitled to be reexamined upon payment of the appropriate registration fee required by section eighty-one K. Upon request by any applicant who is rejected the board shall furnish him with the reasons for his rejection.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81M

Section 81M. The board shall issue a certificate of registration upon payment of the registration fee to any applicant who, in the opinion of the board, has satisfactorily met all the requirements of said sections. In the case of a registered professional engineer, the certificate shall authorize the practice of engineering. In the case of a registered professional land surveyor, the certificate shall authorize the practice of land surveying. Certificates of registration shall show the full name of the registrant, shall have a serial number and be under seal of the board. The issuance of a certificate of registration by the board shall be prima facie evidence that the person named therein is entitled to all the rights and privileges of a registered professional engineer or of a registered professional land surveyor, as the case may be, while such certificate remains unrevoked or unexpired. Each registrant hereunder shall, upon registration, obtain a seal of the design authorized by the board, bearing the registrant's name and the legend ''Registered Professional Engineer'' or ''Registered Professional Land Surveyor''. Plans, specifications, plats and reports prepared by a registrant shall be stamped with the said seal when filed with public authorities, while the registrant's certificate is in force, but it shall be unlawful for anyone to stamp or seal any documents with said seal after the certificate of the registrant named thereon has expired or has been revoked, unless said certificate shall have been renewed or reissued. Plans, specifications, plats and reports whenever stamped with the seal of a registered professional engineer or professional land surveyor shall be signed by the registrant named thereon. The use of a facsimile signature stamp shall not be deemed to comply with this section.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81N

Section 81N. Certificates of registration shall expire June thirtieth in every even-numbered year, and may be renewed as hereinafter provided. The secretary of the board shall, at least one month in advance of the expiration date of such certificate, notify the registrant of such expiration date and of the fee required for the renewal of the certificate for the succeeding two-year period, and any such certificate may be renewed on or prior to the expiration date or at any time prior to August first following such expiration date upon the payment of a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. If a registrant fails to renew his certificate prior to said August first, such certificate may thereafter be renewed within two years of its expiration date upon the payment of a fee as determined under the aforementioned provision. If a registrant fails to renew his certificate within two years of the expiration date, he shall be temporarily dropped from the roster of registered professional engineers or of registered professional land surveyors, subject to reinstatement as hereinafter provided. Written notice shall be given to the registrant by the secretary of the board one month in advance of such dropping from said roster. A registrant, who has been temporarily dropped from said roster, may be reinstated upon the payment of a fee as determined under the aforementioned provision and upon the filing of an application for reinstatement together with evidence satisfactory to the board that nothing has occurred during the time he was dropped from said roster which would justify the revocation of his certificate under the provisions of section eighty-one P. A registrant so reinstated shall, without the payment of an additional fee, be issued a certificate of registration.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81P

Section 81P. The board shall have the authority to reprimand a registrant and to suspend the registration of a registrant for a limited period to be specified in such suspension order for any fraud, deceit, gross negligence, incompetence, misconduct or any crime involving moral turpitude in the practice of engineering or land surveying. The board may revoke the certificate of registration of any registrant who is found guilty of:— (a) The practice of any fraud or deceit in obtaining a certificate of registration; or (b) Any gross negligence, incompetency or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering or land surveying as a registered professional engineer or as a registered professional land surveyor; or (c) The affixing of his signature to plans, drawings, specifications or other instruments of service which have not been prepared by him or in his office, or under his immediate and responsible direction, or permitting his name to be used for the purpose of assisting any person, not a registered professional engineer or registered professional land surveyor, to evade the provisions of this chapter. Any person may prefer charges of fraud, deceit, gross negligence, incompetency or misconduct against any registrant. Such charges shall be in writing, shall be sworn to by the person making them and shall be filed with the secretary of the board. The board, under the hand of its chairman and the seal of the board, may subpoena witnesses and compel their attendance, and may require the production of books, papers and documents in any case involving the revocation of registration. Any member of the board may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the board. If any person refuses to obey any subpoena so issued, or refuses to testify or produce such books, papers and documents, the board may present a petition to the superior court, setting forth the facts, and thereupon the superior court shall, after a hearing and in its discretion, order such person to appear before said board and to testify or to produce such books, papers and documents as may be deemed necessary and pertinent. Any person failing or refusing to obey the order of said court may be proceeded against in the same manner as for refusal to obey any other order of said court. All charges, unless dismissed by the board as unfounded or trivial, shall be heard by the board within three months after the date on which they shall have been preferred. The time and place for said hearing shall be fixed by the board, and a copy of the charges, together with a notice of the time and place of hearing, shall be personally served on, or mailed to the last known address of, such registrant at least thirty days before the date fixed for the hearing. At any hearing the accused registrant shall have the right to appear personally and by counsel, to cross-examine witnesses appearing against him, and to produce evidence and witnesses in his own defence. If, after such hearing, three or more members of the board vote in favor of finding the accused guilty, the board shall revoke the certificate of registration of such registered professional engineer or registered professional land surveyor.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81R

Section 81R. Nothing in said sections shall be construed to prevent or to affect:— (a) the practice of any other legally recognized profession including the practice of architecture as defined in this chapter and the practice of any trade, including, in connection with the practice of the electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration and all other trades, the preparation of plans, specifications or shop drawings by any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association practicing any such trade, for work to be installed or being installed by the same person, firm, partnership, corporation or association preparing such plans, specifications or shop drawings; (b) a person not a resident of and having no established place of business in the commonwealth from practicing or offering to practice therein the profession of engineering or land surveying, when such practice does not exceed in the aggregate more than thirty days in any calendar year; provided, such person is legally qualified by registration to practice the said profession in his own state or country in which the requirements and qualifications for obtaining a certificate of registration are not lower than those specified in said sections; (c) a person not a resident of and having no established place of business in the commonwealth or who has recently become a resident thereof, from practicing or offering to practice engineering or land surveying therein for more than thirty days in any calendar year, if he shall have filed with the board an application for a certificate of registration and shall have paid the fee required by said sections; provided, that such person is legally qualified by registration to practice engineering or land surveying in his own state or country in which the requirements and qualifications for obtaining a certificate of registration are not lower than those specified in said sections. Such practice shall continue only for such time as the board requires for the consideration of the application for registration; (d) the work of an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a certificate of registration under said sections, an employee of a person practicing lawfully under clause (b) or (c) of this section, or an employee of a firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association engaging lawfully under clause (f) of this section; provided, such work does not include final designs or decisions and is done under the direct responsibility, checking and supervision of a person holding a certificate of registration under said sections or a person practicing lawfully under clause (b) or (c) of this section; (e) the practice of officers and employees of the government of the United States while engaged within the commonwealth in the practice of engineering or land surveying for said government; (f) the practice of engineering or land surveying in the commonwealth by a firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association; provided, that the person in charge of such practice by such firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association is a professional engineer or land surveyor, holding a certificate of registration under said sections; (g) the performance of engineering work or services by employees of a corporation engaged in manufacturing, research or development operations, which work or services are performed in connection with the research or development activities of, or the manufacture, sale, installation, maintenance, repair or service of the products of, such corporation, or of its parents, affiliates or subsidiaries; provided, that such research or development activities which are not related to the manufacture, sale, installation, maintenance, repair or service of the products of such corporation, or of its parents, affiliates or subsidiaries, are not primarily in connection with the construction of fixed works which are to be made available for use by the general public; (h) the practice of landscape architects, city planners and regional planners, in so far as their work consists in the consultations and preparation of master plans of parks, land areas, sites, organized groups of buildings or communities, or the preparation of detailed plans and the supervision of planting, grading, paving, and such structural features as fences, steps, walls, minor pools, garden structures and minor utilities normally included as part of their work; (i) sales personnel from recommending applications to specific uses of products for which they act as sales representatives; (j) the performance of engineering work or services by any person employed by an insurance company or by its agents, its affiliates or subsidiaries, or the performance of engineering work or services for insurance inspection and actuarial bureaus, provided such work or services in either case are incidental to the operation of an insurance company; (k) the work of an owner or managing agent of a building or any employee of such owner or agent making alterations or repairs to such building or supervising the same, or of a person engaged by such owner or agent to perform work of any other legally recognized trade exempted under clause (a) of this section; (l) the performance of engineering work and services by a person, firm or corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the department of public utilities or the department of telecommunications and cable which work and services are performed as part of their employment and for the benefit of such person, firm, or corporation; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to engineering work or services that could pose a material risk to public safety, as determined by the department of public utilities, performed by or on behalf of a gas company, as defined in section 1 of chapter 164, that distributes and sells gas within the commonwealth; or (m) the performance of engineering work and services by employees of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority which work and services are performed as part of their employment and for the benefit of the said authority.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 81T

Section 81T. Whoever practices or offers to practice engineering or land surveying in the commonwealth without being registered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or presents or attempts to use as his own the certificate of registration or the seal of another, or gives any false or forged evidence of any kind to the board or to any member thereof in obtaining a certificate of registration, or falsely impersonates any registrant, or attempts to use an expired or revoked certificate of registration, or violates any of the provisions of sections eighty-one D to eighty-one S, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for a period not exceeding three months, or both. It shall be the duty of the attorney general or the district attorney for the district in which the alleged violation was committed to enforce the provisions of this section and sections eighty-one D to eighty-one S, inclusive, and to prosecute any person violating the same. The attorney general or his assistant shall act as legal advisor of the board and render such legal assistance as may be necessary in carrying out the provisions of said sections.

M.G.L. ch. 143, s. 12

Section 12. The supreme judicial or superior court may restrain the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance or use of a building or structure in violation of any ordinance or by-law of a city or town or of the state building code and order its removal or abatement as a nuisance; and may restrain the further construction, alteration or repair, maintenance, use or occupancy of a building or structure reported to be dangerous, under a survey authorized by section eight, until the determination of the matter, as provided in section ten.

M.G.L. ch. 143, s. 8

Section 8. If an owner, lessee or mortgagee in possession of such unsafe structure refuses or neglects to comply with the requirements of such notice within the time limited, and such structure is not made safe or taken down as therein ordered, or made secure, a careful survey of the premises shall be made by a board consisting in a city of the city engineer, the head of the fire department, as such term is defined in section one of chapter one hundred and forty-eight, and one disinterested person to be appointed by the local inspector, and in a town of a surveyor, the head of the fire department and one disinterested person to be appointed by the local inspector. If there is no city engineer in such city or no head of the fire department in such city or town, the mayor or selectmen shall designate one or more officers or other suitable persons in place of the officers so named as members of said board. A written report of such survey shall be made, and a copy thereof served on such owner, lessee or mortgagee in possession.

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)