Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 24 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Chapter 24.183 - BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS › Subchapter 24.183.11 - Uniform Standards for Monumentation, Certificates of Survey, and Final Subdivision Plats › Rule 24.183.1111 - ACTIVITIES EXCLUDED FROM SURVEYING PRACTICE

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) A distinction must be made between making
				and documenting original measurements in the creation of survey products,
				versus the copying, interpretation, or representation of those measurements.
				Further, a distinction must be made according to the intent, use, or purpose of
				measurement products to determine an authoritative location, versus the use of
				those products as a locational reference for planning, infrastructure
				management, and general information. The following items are not to be included
				as activities within the definition of land surveying:
(a) Items and activities exempted in
				60-2-209,
				MCA and
				76-3-209,
				MCA.
(b) The creation of any map
				not used for the authoritative location of property boundaries, the definition
				of the shape or contour of the earth, or the location of fixed works of
				engineering. Examples include but are not limited to maps:
(i) prepared by private firms or government
				agencies for use as guides to motorists, boaters, aviators, or
				pedestrians;
(ii) prepared for
				publication in a gazetteer or atlas as an educational tool or reference
				publication;
(iii) prepared for or
				by educational institutions for use in the curriculum of any course of
				study;
(iv) produced by any
				electronic or print media firm as an illustrative guide to the geographic
				location of any event; and
(v)
				prepared by laypersons for conversational or illustrative purposes, including
				advertising material and users guides.
(c) The transcription of previously
				georeferenced data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) or Land
				Information System (LIS) by manual or electronic means, and the maintenance
				thereof, provided the data are clearly not intended to indicate:
(i) the authoritative location of property or
				administrative boundaries, easements, rights of way, or other legal interest in
				real property;
(ii) the definition
				of the shape or contour of the earth; and
(iii) the location of fixed works of
				engineering.
(d) The
				transcription of public record data into a GIS- or LIS-based cadastre (tax maps
				and associated records) by manual or electronic means, and the maintenance of
				that cadastre, provided the data are clearly not intended to authoritatively
				represent property or administrative boundaries or easements, rights of way, or
				other legal interests in real property. Examples include:
(i) tax maps;
(ii) zoning maps; and
(iii) school district maps.
(e) The preparation of any
				document by any federal government agency that does not define real property
				boundaries. Examples include:
(i) civilian
				and military versions of quadrangle topographic maps;
(ii) military maps;
(iii) satellite imagery;
(iv) aerial photography; and
(v) orthoimagery.
(f) The incorporation or use of documents or
				databases prepared by any federal agency into a GIS/LIS. Examples include:
(i) census and demographic data;
(ii) quadrangle topographic maps;
				and
(iii) military maps.
(g) Inventory maps and databases
				created by any individual or organization, in either hardcopy or electronic
				form of physical features, facilities, or infrastructure that are wholly
				contained within properties to which they have rights or for which they have
				management or regulatory responsibility. The distribution of these maps and/or
				databases outside the organization must contain appropriate metadata clearly
				indicating that the data is not for design.
(h) Maps and databases depicting the
				distribution of natural resources or phenomena. Examples include, but are not
				limited to, maps prepared by:
(i)
				foresters;
(ii)
				geologists;
(iii) soil
				scientists;
(iv)
				geophysicists;
(v)
				biologists;
(vi) archeologists;
				and
(vii) historians.
(i) Maps and georeferenced
				databases depicting physical features and events prepared by any government
				agency where the access to that data is restricted by law. This includes
				georeferenced data generated by law enforcement agencies involving crime
				statistics and criminal activities.
(j) Engineering surveys performed by a
				professional engineer as specifically allowed under
				37-67-101(4),
				MCA.
(k) Work ordinarily performed
				by persons who operate or maintain machinery or equipment, communication lines,
				signal circuits, electric power lines, or pipelines.
(l) The preparation of documents that create,
				assign, reference, or transfer interests in real property by reference to a
				legal description prepared by a professional land surveyor. Examples include,
				but are not limited to:
(i)
				contracts;
(ii) deeds;
(iii) easements;
(iv) certificates of location for mining
				claims;
(v) rights of way;
				and
(vi) similar documents, which
				may incorporate or make reference to:
(A)
				plats;
(B) certificates of
				survey;
(C) narrative legal
				descriptions; or
(D) exhibits
				prepared by a professional land surveyor.
(m) Operating and publishing data from a
				continuously operating reference station (CORS).
(n) Original data acquisition by contract or
				second parties for nonauthoritative purposes when the metadata is clearly
				labeled "Not for Design."
(o) The
				acquisition, preparation, processing, manipulation, or certification of final
				products or original data developed or collected by remote sensing or
				photogrammetric methods. Control may be derived from existing sources for
				remote sensing or photogrammetric products, where spatial accuracy is not
				critical and specific map accuracy standards are not required.