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MD Land Surveyor study materials
MD Land Surveyor study resources

MD Land Surveyor: Maryland Laws, Standards, and Professional Practice

MD Land Surveyor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Maryland Laws, Standards, and Professional Practice

Maryland Laws, Standards, and Professional Practice

This domain tests the regulatory frame: licensure, Board authority, minimum standards, seals, continuing education, and ethics. Maryland-specific items often ask what a licensee may sign and what a plat must show.

Core rules

  • The Maryland Code, Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 15 governs professional land surveying. The State Board of Professional Land Surveyors, within the Maryland Department of Labor, administers licensure, examinations, renewal, and discipline.
  • A license is required to practice or offer to practice land surveying and to use the protected title. The licensee's seal and signature certify responsible charge; do not seal work prepared by others outside your control.
  • Minimum standards of practice regulations require boundary surveys to be based on title research and field evidence, with plats showing the deed reference, bearings and distances, monuments, area, north arrow, scale, date, and surveyor's certification. Recordation and property-description requirements vary by project and jurisdiction.
  • Continuing education is required for renewal; the Board's current rule controls the hours and subject breakdown, so verify the cycle before reporting PDHs.

Worked example

A developer asks you to seal a boundary plat drafted by an unlicensed technician from another firm, with no field notes and no deed research in your file. You must decline. The seal represents personal responsible charge; Maryland law and Board rules prohibit certifying surveying work you did not prepare or directly supervise. The proper path is to perform or supervise the research and fieldwork, then seal only the work you can defend.

Traps

Treating licensure as automatic reciprocity; signing a plat without field verification; omitting deed references or monument notes; assuming CE hours without checking the current renewal rule; and using the title or seal in a business context without the required licensee control.