Chapter 472 — Chapter 472

The Legislature deems it necessary to regulate surveyors and mappers as provided in ss. 472.001-472.037.

Sections 472.001-472.037 do not apply to:(1) Any surveyor and mapper working as a salaried employee of the United States Government when engaged in work solely for the United States Government.(2) A registered professional engineer who takes or contracts for professional surveyin…

As used in ss. 472.001-472.037:(1) “Board” means the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers.(2) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.(3) “Surveyor and mapper” includes the term “professional surveyor and mapper” and means a person who is reg…

The department shall:(1) Adopt rules establishing a procedure for the biennial renewal of licenses. However, the department may issue up to a 4-year license to selected licensees notwithstanding any other law to the contrary. Fees for such renewal may not exceed the fee caps for …

There is created in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers.(1) The board shall consist of nine members, seven of whom shall be registered surveyors and mappers primarily engaged in the practice of surveying and mapping …

The board may be contacted through the headquarters of the department in the City of Tallahassee.

(1) The board has authority to adopt rules to implement this chapter conferring duties upon it. This specific grant of rulemaking authority to the board shall be exercised only through proceedings pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 and with the prior approval of the department…

The headquarters of the board shall be in Tallahassee.

(1) When not otherwise provided by law, the department shall by rule provide procedures under which exiled professionals may be examined under this chapter. A person is eligible for the examination if the exiled professional:(a) Immigrated to the United States after leaving the p…

(1) The board, by rule, may establish fees to be paid for applications, examination, reexamination, licensing and renewal, inactive status application and reactivation of inactive licenses, recordmaking and recordkeeping, and applications for providers of continuing education. Th…

(1) A person desiring to be licensed as a surveyor and mapper shall apply to the department for licensure.(2) An applicant shall be entitled to take the licensure examination to practice in this state as a surveyor and mapper if the applicant is of good moral character and has sa…

(1) The department shall provide, contract, or approve services for the development, preparation, administration, scoring, score reporting, and evaluation of all examinations. The department shall consult with the board in providing such services.(a) The department shall ensure t…

In addition to, or in lieu of, any other discipline imposed pursuant to s. 472.033, a person who wrongfully takes an examination in whole or in part or reproduces or copies an examination administered by the department, whether such examination is reproduced or copied in part or …

(1) If the board requires a student to complete a specific number of clock hours of classroom instruction for initial licensure purposes, the board shall establish the minimal competencies that such student must demonstrate in order to be licensed. The demonstration of such compe…

(1) Notwithstanding any other law, the department is the sole authority for determining the contents of any documents to be submitted for initial licensure and licensure renewal. The documents may contain information including, as appropriate: demographics, social security number…

(1) Any member of the United States Armed Forces who is now or in the future on active duty and who, at the time of becoming such a member of the United States Armed Forces, was in good standing with the board and entitled to practice or engage in surveying and mapping in the sta…

(1) It is the declared purpose of this section to encourage the use of foreign-speaking residents of this state duly qualified to become licensed surveyors and mappers so that all Florida citizens may receive better services.(2) Any person who has successfully completed, or is cu…

The department shall renew a license upon receipt of the renewal application and fee, upon proof of compliance with the continuing education requirement of s. 472.018, and, if a demonstration of competency is required by law or rule, upon certification by the board that the licen…

The department may not renew a license until the licensee submits proof satisfactory to the board that during the 2 years before her or his application for renewal the licensee has completed at least 24 hours of continuing education. The board may provide by rule for continuing e…

(1) The continuing education requirements for reactivating a license may not exceed 12 classroom hours for each year the license was inactive.(2) The board shall promulgate rules relating to licenses which have become inactive and for the renewal of inactive licenses. The board s…

(1) All information required by the department of any applicant shall be a public record and shall be open to public inspection pursuant to s. 119.07, except financial information, medical information, school transcripts, examination questions, answers, papers, grades, and gradin…

(1) An officer, employee, or person under contract with the department or the board, or any subject of an investigation may not convey knowledge or information to any person who is not lawfully entitled to such knowledge or information about any public meeting or public record, w…

(1) A licensee may practice a profession only if the licensee has an active status license. A licensee who practices a profession without an active status license is in violation of this section and s. 472.0351, and the board may impose discipline on the licensee.(2) The board sh…

(1) At least 90 days before the end of a licensure cycle, the department shall:(a) Forward a licensure renewal notification to an active or inactive licensee at the licensee’s last known address of record with the department.(b) Forward a notice of pending cancellation of licensu…

(1) Each licensee of the department is solely responsible for notifying the department in writing of the licensee’s current mailing address and place of practice, as defined by rule of the board. A licensee’s failure to notify the department of a change of address constitutes a v…

(1) The practice of or the offer to practice surveying and mapping by registrants through a corporation or partnership offering surveying and mapping services to the public, or by a corporation or partnership offering said services to the public through registrants under ss. 472.…

(1) Upon approval by the board and payment of a fee not to exceed $25, the department shall grant a temporary certificate for work on one specified project in this state and for a period not to exceed 1 year to a surveyor and mapper holding a certificate to practice in another st…

(1) The board shall adopt, by rule, a form of seal to be used by all registrants holding valid certificates of registration, whether the registrants are corporations, partnerships, or individuals. Each registrant shall obtain a seal in that form; and all final drawings, plans, sp…

The board shall adopt rules establishing standards of practice for the profession of surveying and mapping to:(1) Assure competence in the practice of the profession;(2) Assure accuracy, completeness, and quality in the products provided;(3) Assure adequate and defensible real pr…

(1) IN GENERAL.—Surveyors and mappers or their subordinates may go on, over, and upon the lands of others when necessary to make surveys and maps or locate or set monuments, and, in so doing, may carry with them their agents and employees necessary for that purpose. Entry under t…

(1) No person shall:(a) Practice or offer to practice surveying and mapping unless such person is registered pursuant to ss. 472.001-472.037;(b) Use the name or title “registered surveyor and mapper,” “surveyor and mapper,” “professional surveyor and mapper,” “land surveyor,” “su…

Disciplinary proceedings for the board shall be within the jurisdiction of the department.(1)(a) The department shall investigate any complaint that is filed before it if the complaint is in writing, signed by the complainant, and legally sufficient. A complaint is legally suffic…

(1) A licensee may petition the department to review a disciplinary incident to determine whether the specific violation meets the standard of a minor violation as set forth in s. 472.033(3). If the circumstances of the violation meet that standard and 2 years have passed since t…

For the purpose of an investigation or proceeding conducted by the department, the department shall administer oaths, take depositions, make inspections, issue subpoenas which must be supported by affidavit, serve subpoenas and other process, and compel the attendance of witnesse…

(1) Notwithstanding s. 472.033, the board shall adopt rules to designate which violations of this chapter are appropriate for mediation. The board may designate as mediation offenses those complaints where harm caused by the licensee is economic in nature or can be remedied by th…

(1) Notwithstanding s. 472.033, the board or the department shall adopt rules to permit the issuance of citations. The citation shall be issued to the subject and shall contain the subject’s name and address, the subject’s license number if applicable, a brief factual statement, …

(1) The following acts constitute grounds for which the disciplinary actions specified in subsection (2) may be taken:(a) Violation of any provision of s. 472.031;(b) Attempting to procure a license to practice surveying and mapping by bribery or fraudulent misrepresentations;(c)…

(1) The board by rule shall adopt and periodically review the disciplinary guidelines applicable to each ground for disciplinary action which may be imposed by the board pursuant to this chapter and any rule of the board or department.(2) The disciplinary guidelines shall specify…

(1) When the department has probable cause to believe that a person not licensed by the department or the board has violated this chapter or any rule adopted pursuant to this chapter, the department may issue and deliver to such person a notice to cease and desist from such viola…

In order to protect the public and to ensure a consumer-oriented department, it is the intent of the Legislature that vigorous enforcement of regulation for professional surveying and mapping activities is a state priority. All enforcement costs under this chapter should be cover…

(1) As used in this section, the term:(a) “Division” means the Division of Emergency Management established within the Executive Office of the Governor under s. 14.2016.(b) “Elevation certificate” means the certificate used to demonstrate the elevation of property which has been …

(1) Nothing contained in ss. 472.001-472.037 shall be construed to repeal, amend, limit, or otherwise affect any local building code or zoning law or ordinance, now or hereafter enacted, which is more restrictive with respect to the services of registered surveyors and mappers th…