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<chapter num="07" heading="Educational Equivalency Requirements" title_num="09" subtitle_num="13">
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".01" heading="Purpose.">
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>This chapter applies to an applicant who seeks eligibility to sit for the applicable examination for licensure as a professional land surveyor, as described in Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 15, Annotated Code of Maryland, and this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>Pursuant to Business Occupations and Professions Article, §15-305, Annotated Code of Maryland, an applicant for the appropriate licensing examination as a professional land surveyor shall meet certain experiential requirements. The experience that an applicant is to demonstrate pursuant to the above statutory authority must be acceptable to the Board for Professional Land Surveyors.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="C.">
      <text>In order to assure a minimum acceptable level of competence of an applicant immediately after the passage of the applicable examination, the Board considers that it is in the best interests of Maryland consumers that the applicant has a diversified prelicensing experience in different aspects of land surveying.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="D.">
      <text>To further the Board's goal in protecting the interests of Maryland consumers and also in order to guide an applicant in obtaining an appropriate type and amount of pre-licensing experience, the Board is promulgating these regulations to set forth the criteria for the type and amount of work experience that may be acceptable to the Board.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".02" heading="Guidelines for Acceptable Work Experience.">
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>Applicants claiming the respective number of years of land surveying experience required in Business Occupations and Professions Article, §15-305(b), (c), (d), (e), or (f), Annotated Code of Maryland, shall demonstrate that the experience was gained by performing tasks in a variety of diverse surveying categories, including, but not limited to, the following:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Control surveys;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Boundary surveys;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Topographic surveys;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(4)">
        <text>Subdivision planning;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(5)">
        <text>Road and street grade design, sediment and erosion control design, storm drainage systems design, and storm water management design, all as more particularly described in Business Occupations and Professions Article, §15-101(k)(1)(vi), Annotated Code of Maryland, and commonly known as “minor engineering experience”;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(6)">
        <text>Construction surveys; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(7)">
        <text>Location drawings.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>The acceptable work experience described in §A(5) of this regulation may be acquired by a combination of education and experience approved by the Board, as more particularly described in Regulations .03—.05 of this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="C.">
      <text>The Board has the final authority with regard to both the quality and quantity of acceptable work experience.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="D.">
      <text>An applicant for the principles and practice examination under Business Occupation and Professions Article, §15-305, Annotated Code of Maryland shall have 18 months of work experience generally described in Business Occupations and Professions Article, §15-101(k)(2)(vi), Annotated Code of Maryland, and commonly known as “minor engineering experience”.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="E.">
      <text>An applicant may be able to meet an 18-month experiential requirement set forth in this regulation by the following methods:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Acceptable work experience;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Acceptable education; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>A combination of acceptable work experience and acceptable education.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".03" heading="Educational Equivalency.">
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>An applicant may claim 3 semester credit hours as an equivalent of 6 months of minor engineering experience after the completion, to the Board's satisfaction, of the courses described in this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>In order to be eligible for the Board's approval, the courses of instruction shall be in the following areas:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>Hydraulics;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>Surface water hydrology;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(3)">
        <text>Route surveying or road design;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(4)">
        <text>Storm drainage system design;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(5)">
        <text>Storm water management design;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(6)">
        <text>Sediment and erosion control design; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(7)">
        <text>Infiltration.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="C.">
      <text>The Board may choose to approve courses of instruction in areas other than those listed in §B of this regulation.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="D.">
      <text>The courses described in §§B and C of this regulation are collectively referred to as eligible courses.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="E.">
      <text>The Board may approve the eligible course if the following requirements are met:</text>
      <paragraph num="(1)">
        <text>The course is offered by a university, community college, professional surveying organization, or other qualified provider acceptable to the Board; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(2)">
        <text>The Board approves the individual course syllabus and description submitted by either an applicant or directly by the provider before the applicant takes the eligible course.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="F.">
      <text>The Board may, at its discretion, approve courses successfully completed by an applicant before the effective date of this chapter if the courses meet the criteria and standards set forth in this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".04" heading="Determination of Value.">
    <paragraph num="A.">
      <text>An applicant shall furnish, at the time of filing the appropriate examination application, evidence of having completed, to the Board's satisfaction, the eligible course or courses, as described in Regulation .03 of this chapter.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="B.">
      <text>A semester credit hour is defined as not less than 15 standard 50-minute classroom hours of instruction.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </regulation>
  <regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".05" heading="Board's Discretion.">
    <text>The Board has the final authority with regard to the approval of the type and value of courses and any other matters related to the educational equivalency requirements described in this chapter.</text>
  </regulation>
  <annotations>
    <annotation type="Authority">Business Occupations and Professions Article, §§15-208 and 15-305, Annotated Code of Maryland</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Effective date: April 3, 2000 (27:6 Md. R. 641)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Regulation .02B amended effective October 9, 2017 (44:20 Md. R. 945)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Chapter revised effective April 6, 2020 (47:7 Md. R. 384)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Regulation .02D, E adopted effective January 6, 2025 (51:26 Md. R. 1186)</annotation>
    <annotation type="History" subtype="Administrative History">Regulation .04A amended effective January 6, 2025 (51:26 Md. R. 1186)</annotation>
  </annotations>
</chapter>