A PE Seal on a Boundary Survey Plat
A Maryland-licensed professional engineer (PE) prepares a plat titled "Boundary Survey of Parcel A" for a 6.2-acre parcel in Carroll County. The PE performed the fieldwork, located the deed lines, set two new iron pins, and signed and sealed the plat with his PE seal. The firm employs a Maryland-licensed professional land surveyor (PLS), but the PLS was on leave and did not review the work. The client intends to record the plat among the land records and use it to convey the parcel. The PE has 20 years of civil/site design experience and has prepared many site plans, but has never been licensed as a land surveyor. The plat shows bearings, distances, area, and a vicinity map.
1. Is the PE authorized to prepare and seal this boundary survey plat in Maryland? Explain the scope-of-practice issue.
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No. Maryland licenses land surveying separately from engineering. Preparing a boundary survey plat, locating deed lines, determining boundaries, and setting boundary monuments are land-surveying activities. A PE license authorizes engineering practice within its scope, but it does not authorize boundary determination or the sealing of a boundary survey plat. The PE's civil/site design experience and familiarity with site plans do not change that result. The fact that the firm employs a PLS also does not cure the defect, because the PLS was on leave and did not review, direct, or take responsible charge of the work. A boundary survey must be performed by or under the responsible charge of a Maryland-licensed professional land surveyor, and the plat must carry that surveyor's seal and certification.
2. What are the likely consequences for the PE, the firm, and the client, and what is the proper path to a recordable plat?
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The PE's seal on a boundary survey plat can be treated as unlicensed land-surveying practice and as a misleading professional certification. The PE and the firm face possible board investigation, disciplinary action, civil exposure, and reputational harm. The client faces a plat that may be rejected for recording or, if recorded, may not be accepted as a proper boundary survey for conveyance or financing. The proper path is to retain a Maryland PLS to perform or independently retrace the survey, examine the deed research and field evidence, verify or reject the two iron pins, prepare the plat, and seal it with the PLS certification. The PE may assist with engineering or site-design aspects under the PLS's responsible charge, but the PLS must control the boundary determination and the plat. The client should not record the PE-sealed plat as a boundary survey.
3. If the firm's PLS later reviews and seals the work, what must that review include to satisfy responsible-charge requirements?
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The PLS cannot merely sign the PE's plat as a courtesy. Responsible charge requires meaningful control of the surveying work and professional judgment over the boundary determination. The review should include the deed and plat research, the field evidence for the two iron pins and any other monuments, the basis for accepting or rejecting the record calls, the traverse or GNSS control and closure checks, the area computation, the plat depiction, and the certification language. The PLS should personally verify the critical evidence or direct field verification, determine whether the pins were properly set and perpetuated, and decide whether the plat is accurate and complete. If the PLS cannot support the boundary determination, the plat should be corrected or re-surveyed, not sealed.