N.M. Admin. Code § 16.39.5.10

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 16.39.5.10 - PRACTICE OF SURVEYING

A. A person or any business entity shall not advertise or offer to practice surveying work or accept such work unless that person or a member of the business entity is licensed by the board and is legally able to bind that business entity by contract.

B. Neither persons nor business entities shall circumvent these rules.

C. Nothing in this section is intended to prevent the existence of an association of professionals in different disciplines.

D. The board will consider the use of the terms, "surveyor", "surveying" or any modification or derivative of such terms, in the title of a firm or business entity to constitute the offering of surveying services. The board also considers the use of these terms or any modification or derivative of such terms in a domestic corporation's articles of incorporation or in a foreign corporation's certificate of authority as published by the New Mexico's secretary of state to constitute the offering of surveying services.

E. In the case of practice through a business entity offering or providing services or work involving the practice of surveying, an authorized company officer and the professional surveyor who is employed by the business entity and in responsible charge shall place on file with the board a signed affidavit within 30 days, as prescribed by board rule. The affidavit shall be kept current, and, if there is any change in the professional surveyor or authorized company officer, the affidavit shall be revised within 30 days and resubmitted to the board.

F. Inclusions and exclusions to the practice of surveying.

Land surveying does not encompass work products which represent only a generalized location of a feature, object, or boundary upon which the public would not reasonably rely as the precise location of that feature, object, or boundary.

(1) Activities included within the practice of surveying activities that must be accomplished by or under the responsible charge of a professional surveyor (unless specifically exempted in Subsection B of this Section) include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) The creation of maps and georeferenced databases representing authoritative locations for boundaries, the location of fixed works, or topography. This includes maps and georeferenced databases prepared by any person or government agency where that data is provided to the public as a survey product.

(b) Original data acquisition, or the resolution of conflicts between multiple data sources, when used for the authoritative location of features within the following data themes: geodetic control, orthoimagery, elevation and hydrographic, fixed works, private and public boundaries, and cadastral information.

(c) Certification of positional accuracy of maps or measured survey data.

(d) Adjustment or authoritative interpretation of raw survey data.

(e) Geographic information system (GIS)-based parcel or cadastral mapping used for authoritative boundary definition purposes wherein land title or development rights for individual parcels are, or may be, affected.

(f) Authoritative interpretation of maps, deeds, and other land title documents to resolve conflicting data elements.

(g) Acquisition of field data required to authoritatively position fixed works or cadastral data relative to geodetic control.

(h) Analysis, adjustment or transformation of cadastral data of the parcel layers with respect to the geodetic control layer within a geographic information system (GIS) resulting in the affirmation of positional accuracy.

(2) Activities excluded from the practice of surveying. 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. The following items are not to be included as activities within the definition of the practice of surveying:

(a) The creation of general maps:

(i) Prepared by private firms or government agencies for use as guides to motorists, boaters, aviators, or pedestrians.

(ii) Prepared for publication in a gazetteer or atlas as an educational tool or reference publication.

(iii) Prepared for or by education institutions for use in the curriculum of any course of study.

(iv) Produced by any electronic or print media firm as an illustrative guide to the geographic location of any event.

(v) Prepared by laypersons for conversational or illustrative purposes. This includes advertising material and user guides.

(b) The transcription of previously georeferenced data into a geographic information system (GIS) or land information systems (LIS) by manual or electronic means, and the maintenance thereof, provided the data are clearly not intended to indicate the authoritative location of property boundaries, the precise definition of the shape or contour of the earth, and/or the precise location of fixed works of humans.

(c) The transcription of public record data, without modification except for graphical purposes, into a GIS- or LIS-based cadastre (tax maps and associated records) by manual or electronic means, and the maintenance of that cadastre, provided the data are clearly not intended to authoritatively represent property boundaries. This includes tax maps and zoning maps.

(d) The preparation of any document by any federal government agency that does not define real property boundaries. This includes civilian and military versions of quadrangle topographic maps, military maps, satellite imagery, and other such documents.

(e) The incorporation or use of documents or databases prepared by any federal agency into a Geographic information system (GIS)/ land information systems (LIS), including but not limited to federal census and demographic data, quadrangle topographic maps, and military maps.

(f) Inventory maps and databases created by any organization, in either hard-copy or electronic form, of physical features, facilities, or infrastructure that are wholly contained within properties to which they have rights or for which they have management responsibility. The distribution of these maps and/or databases outside the organization must contain appropriate metadata describing, at a minimum, the accuracy, method of compilation, data sources and dates, and disclaimers of use clearly indicating that the data are not intended to be used as a survey product.

(g) Maps and databases depicting the distribution of natural resources or phenomena prepared by foresters, geologists, soil scientists, geophysicists, biologists, archeologists, historians, or other persons qualified to document such data.

(h) Maps and georeferenced databases depicting physical features and events prepared by any government agency where the access to that data is restricted by statute. This includes georeferenced data generated by law enforcement agencies involving crime statistics and criminal activities.

G. In the case of an employee of a business entity who performs only the surveying services involved in the operation of the business entity's business, the extent to which the surveying services can be provided without licensure is limited to only the legal boundaries of the property owned or leased by that business. Practice beyond this extent or within off-premises easements is considered within public space and is subject to the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act.

N.M. Admin. Code § 16.39.5.10

16.39.5.10 NMAC - Rp, 16 NMAC 39.5.10, 1/01/2002; A, 7/01/2006, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXVI, Issue 11, June 16, 2015, eff. 7/1/2015, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXVIII, Issue 23, December 12, 2017, eff. 12/28/2017, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXIII, Issue 04, February 22, 2022, eff. 3/12/2022