How Georgia Regulates Land Surveying
Georgia's land surveying profession is regulated under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 15, which gives the Georgia State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors the authority to license surveyors, set standards for professional practice, and discipline those who violate the rules. The Board operates under the Secretary of State's office.
Only a person holding an active Georgia Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) license can legally sign, seal, and certify a land survey in the state. Performing survey work for hire without a license is a violation of state law and can result in fines and other penalties. For property owners, this means the license verification step is not optional. A survey signed by an unlicensed person has no legal standing before a court, a building department, or a title company.
What Georgia's Licensing Requirements Mean for You
When you hire a licensed Georgia PLS, you are engaging someone who has:
- Met education requirements set by the Board
- Passed the national Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam
- Completed a supervised professional experience period
- Passed the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam
- Agreed to abide by the Board's professional conduct rules
The license also creates accountability. If a surveyor makes a material error, you can file a complaint with the Board, which has authority to investigate, impose fines, require remedial work, or revoke the license. This is leverage you have only when you hire a licensed professional.
What a Licensed Georgia Surveyor Can Do
Establish Property Boundaries
The core practice of land surveying in Georgia is determining where property lines legally run. The surveyor researches the chain of title, reviews adjacent parcel records, examines recorded plat maps, and performs fieldwork to locate existing monuments or establish new ones. The result is a certified drawing that reflects the legally correct boundaries based on the available evidence.
Set Corner Monuments
Only a licensed PLS can legally set a corner monument in Georgia. Setting a monument establishes or confirms a legal boundary point. Iron pins, concrete monuments, and rebar are common monument types used in Georgia. If you or a contractor move, remove, or destroy a survey monument, you may be liable under Georgia law.
Subdivide Land
Creating a subdivision plat in Georgia requires a licensed PLS. Any time a parcel is divided into two or more lots and a new plat is recorded at the county, the plat must be prepared and sealed by a licensed surveyor. This applies to both formal residential subdivisions and simple family divisions of rural acreage.
Prepare Legal Descriptions
The metes-and-bounds description in a deed, or the lot and block reference to a recorded plat, must accurately describe the parcel being conveyed. A licensed PLS prepares or reviews legal descriptions to make sure they correctly describe the parcel on the ground. Errors in legal descriptions can create boundary problems that persist for decades.
Certify Flood Elevations
Licensed Georgia PLS holders, along with licensed engineers and architects, are authorized to prepare and certify FEMA Elevation Certificates. This is a separate but related practice area important to property owners in Georgia's coastal and riverine flood zones.
What Surveyors Cannot Do in Georgia
A land survey establishes where boundaries are based on legal records and physical evidence. It does not:
- Create a new property right or override a neighbor's valid legal claim
- Settle a boundary dispute by itself if the neighbor refuses to accept the findings
- Determine ownership questions that require a title search or legal ruling
- Override recorded easements, covenants, or other encumbrances on the property
If a survey reveals a conflict with a neighbor's claim, the surveyor's job is to document the facts accurately. Resolving the legal conflict may require a boundary line agreement, a corrective deed, mediation, or a court action.
Property Boundary Disputes Under Georgia Law
When neighbors disagree about where a boundary runs, Georgia law provides several paths to resolution.
Agreed Boundary
Under Georgia common law, if two neighboring property owners agree on a boundary line and act on that agreement for a long enough period, the agreed line may become legally binding even if it differs from the original deed description. This doctrine has limits and conditions, and outcomes depend on specific facts. A licensed surveyor can document the situation, but a real estate attorney should advise on whether an agreed-boundary claim would hold up.
Boundary Line Agreement
Neighbors can resolve a disputed line by signing a written boundary line agreement and recording it at the county Superior Court Clerk's office. A licensed surveyor typically prepares a plat showing the agreed line, which is attached to the recorded agreement. This is often the fastest and least expensive path to resolving a dispute when both parties are willing to negotiate.
Quiet Title Action
When negotiation fails, a quiet title action in Georgia Superior Court asks the court to declare the correct boundary. These proceedings consider deed evidence, survey evidence, historic use and occupation, and other relevant facts. Licensed survey testimony and certified surveys are central to most quiet title cases.
Georgia's Property Recording System and Surveyors
Georgia records deeds, plats, and other property instruments at the county level through the Superior Court Clerk. Each of Georgia's 159 counties maintains its own records. Plat maps recorded with the county clerk are a key starting point for any boundary survey: they document how a subdivision was laid out when it was originally created.
For properties not in a recorded subdivision, older deed descriptions using metes and bounds may reference landmarks, old roads, streams, or even trees. A licensed surveyor familiar with historical deed records in that county can interpret these descriptions and translate them into accurately located boundaries on the ground.
Your Rights When a Surveyor Enters Your Property
Georgia law grants licensed surveyors a limited right of entry onto private property for the purpose of conducting a survey. Property owners should not physically obstruct or threaten a licensed surveyor performing authorized work. At the same time, surveyors are expected to provide reasonable notice, cause minimum disruption, and avoid unnecessary damage to crops, fences, or structures. If a surveyor is on your property without any apparent authorization or is causing damage, contact an attorney before taking any action.
Have questions about a specific Georgia survey situation? Find a land surveyor in Georgia who can review your property and advise on your options.