Becoming a Licensed Land Surveyor in Maryland—Requirements & Steps
All individuals looking to provide land surveying services in Maryland must first obtain a professional land surveying license. Similarly, land surveying businesses need to secure a firm permit to be able to operate in the state legally. These accreditations serve to protect the public from unethical and unqualified practices and ensure land surveyors in the state adhere to the highest professional standards.
Applicants seeking licensure are expected to demonstrate their expertise, meet specific requirements, and regularly renew their permits to maintain their rights to practice.
In this article, we’ll explore what it takes to become a licensed land surveyor in Maryland. We’ll also explain how Harbor Compliance makes your firm’s licensure journey seamless with its Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions.
Maryland Land Surveyor Licensing Requirements for Individuals
Maryland requires individual land surveyors to demonstrate their competency in certifying the accuracy of land surveys, signing land surveying documents, and bidding for government contracts by obtaining a license from the Maryland Board for Professional Land Surveyors. The Board oversees the licensure process and sets licensing requirements to ensure that only qualified practitioners can perform land surveying services in the state.
Individual practitioners must fulfill the following sets of requirements to be eligible for a professional land surveying license in Maryland:
- Education
- Experience
- Examination
- References
1. Educational Requirements
All professionals are expected to undergo formal training to qualify for licensure. The educational requirement can be fulfilled by:
- Completing a four-year degree from a Board-approved curriculum in land surveying, physical sciences, or applied sciences
- Using a high school diploma or equivalent (for applicants with at least nine years of approved professional experience)
Furthermore, applicants with foreign degrees must enlist a company affiliated with the National Association of Credential Evaluation Service (NACES) for a comprehensive course-by-course evaluation of their credentials to meet licensure requirements.
2. Experience Criteria
Applicants are expected to prove they have worked under the supervision of a licensed land surveyor and provide documentation showing they are capable of working on surveying projects. The years of experience required for licensure generally range from two to nine years, depending on the education level attained.
Applicants without a formal land surveying degree and sufficient years of professional experience can take courses to meet the experience requirement. The Board grants one year of experience for every 30 semester hours spent attending land surveying-related courses, up to a maximum of three years.
3. Examination Criteria
Applicants are expected to pass the following exams to be eligible for licensure:
In addition, applicants are required to take the following state-specific exams unless exempted by the Board:
- Maryland Law and Ethics Exam
- Storm Drain and Road Grade Exam
4. Reference Requirement
Applicants must provide a list of five references unless exempted by the Board. Three of the five references must be licensed land surveyors with personal knowledge of the candidate’s surveying experience.
Requirements for the Maryland Land Surveying Firm Permit
All land surveying businesses in Maryland, except sole proprietorships, are expected to obtain a separate firm permit to be able to legally provide land surveying services in the state. To be eligible for this permit, organizations must have a responsible member. The responsible member is a licensed professional land surveyor who acts as an employee, officer, partner, or member of the firm.
Additionally, all firms must be in good standing with the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation (SDAT) and provide the necessary documentation to support this claim.
Renewing the Maryland Land Surveyor License and Firm Permit
Land surveying practitioners in Maryland are expected to renew their licenses every two years to uphold their right to practice in the state. Firms can only apply for renewal after their responsible party has renewed their land surveying license.
The Maryland Board of Professional Land Surveyors requires licensed professionals to earn a minimum of 24 continuing professional competency (CPC) units to qualify for a renewal. A minimum of four of these CPC units must be acquired by participating in activities related to the following:
- Minimum standards of practice
- Maintenance of the skill set needed to practice land surveying in an ethical and responsible manner
- Ethical concerns and conflicts
- Legal cases and materials related to the law of land boundaries in Maryland
- Codes of conduct
- Standards of practice or care
All license and permit holders receive a renewal notice 60 days before their licenses and permits expire. Licensees who meet the continuing education requirements are expected to file an online application for renewal within this timeframe to ensure their license remains active.
You can renew your firm permit once your responsible member’s renewal has been approved. Firms are also expected to file their SDAT good standing status with the Board upon renewal.
Secure Your Maryland Land Surveying Permit Easily With Harbor Compliance
Obtaining and maintaining licenses and permits requires significant time and effort. If you’d rather spend your valuable resources on growing your land surveying business instead of tracking state licensing requirements and filing paperwork, consider delegating your licensure workload to professionals.
Harbor Compliance is an organization that provides a range of services to assist individuals and firms in navigating the complexities of state licensing regulations. Our Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions are specifically designed to help engineering, land surveying, geology, hydrology, and soil science firms secure and manage the permits they need to operate in all states in the U.S.
Meanwhile, our advanced software solutions provide a comprehensive overview of the status of your individual and company licenses across the U.S., eliminating manual tracking of changing state requirements and renewal dates.
Benefits of Using Harbor Compliance’s Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions
The benefits of partnering with Harbor Compliance to manage your licenses include:
- Access to our team of experts who understand the complexities of licensure and specialize in helping entities secure and manage their licenses and permits
- Error-free application and timely renewals, which prevent costly license gaps and penalties
- Access to Compliance Core™, a nationwide database of the most up-to-date and accurate information on licensure and regulatory requirements
- Outsourcing your licensure process saves time and effort, which you can invest in your primary responsibilities
Meanwhile, our proprietary Compliance Software Suite, offered separately, helps businesses keep track of license statuses, renewals, and state licensing requirements on a centralized platform. Three notable modules within the Suite include:
- License Manager—Provides a centralized dashboard that helps firms track the status of their licenses. It also sends automated alerts for upcoming license renewals and stores all licensing documents, allowing for easy access and retrieval
- Tax Manager—Streamlines and automates the management of business tax registration and filings. It also stores tax-related documents to reduce the risk of losing or misplacing tax files
- Entity Manager—Streamlines multi-state entity registration and stores all entity-related documents securely
The Process of Ordering Harbor Compliance’s Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions
At Harbor Compliance, we provide three service options to accommodate the diverse licensing needs of our clients. The breakdown of our service options is shown in the table below:
| Service Option | Solutions |
|---|---|
| Self-managed | You’ll manage your licensing processes independently, but with the help of our software solutions. |
| Fully managed | Here, you’ll outsource the majority of your firm licensure workload to our team of experts, and we’ll handle everything from filing applications to tracking renewals. |
| Hybrid | With this option, you’ll outsource some of your licensure workload to our team and handle the rest with our proprietary software. |
Regardless of the service option you opt for, you can order our Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions by taking the following steps:
- Visit the Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions service page and click on the Contact Us button.
- Complete the provided form with your basic contact details.
- Schedule a quick introductory meeting with our team.
Additional Services Harbor Compliance Provides
The table below outlines some of the most popular services in our extensive portfolio.
| Category | Services |
|---|---|
| Business licensing | We help firms secure the general business licenses they need to operate in all states in the U.S. |
| Registered agent | We help organizations stay on top of their legal matters by serving as their registered agent. This enables us to receive and forward your important legal notices. |
| Document filing and retrieval | Our drop-off filing service enables firms to submit documents directly to secretaries of state. We also help entities secure their certified copies, certificates of good standing, and foreign qualifications to transact business. |
| Beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting | Our BOI Reporting Service helps entities meet the requirements set by the Corporate Transparency Act. |
| Nonprofit formation | We help nonprofit organizations file for incorporation and tax exemption. |
| Tax registration | We assist entities in obtaining their payroll accounts and sales and use tax IDs. We also help businesses secure their Employer Identification Number (EIN). |
| Entity lifecycle management | We offer various services to help entities manage their operations, including filing for incorporation, name reservation, reinstatement, dissolution, and renewal. Additionally, we help entities submit their initial reports. |
Land Surveyor Maryland FAQs
This section will answer some frequently asked questions about the Maryland land surveying license and permits. To learn more, visit Harbor Compliance’s Information Center.
All business entities, excluding sole proprietorships, must apply for and secure a land surveying firm permit to operate legally in Maryland.
Yes. Surveyors acting as their firm’s responsible members must apply for a Maryland land surveying license. However, the responsible member may be able to transfer their qualifications to meet the licensure criteria in Maryland.
Firms and individuals are expected to renew their permits and licenses every two years to uphold their rights to practice.
Partnering With Harbor Compliance for a Seamless Licensure Journey
Make your licensure journey seamless and error-free by partnering with Harbor Compliance and leveraging our Architecture & Engineering Compliance Solutions. Get started by scheduling a quick call with our team and choosing a service option that best suits your needs. You can also request a demo session of our cutting-edge software and see how it can streamline your licensing and compliance work.
In the meantime, you can easily check your overall regulatory standing by getting your FREE Harbor Compliance Score™.
If you want to learn more about engineering and land surveying licenses in other states, refer to the articles in the table below:
