On May 2, 2024, Governor Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 195 into law. This new law, affecting Section 7 of OCGA 43-15-13, significantly changes how the State Board will review and approve land surveying applications for licensure.

Here are few important facts about the new law:

• Eighteen semester hours of acceptable land surveying coursework are still required by law for licensure as a land surveyor.Per previous board policy, prerequisite hours required for the required surveying coursework do not apply towards the total of 18 hours of land surveying subjects.

• Three distinct experience tracks for licensure are now created with passage of the new law, based on the level of education of the applicant.Each track requires different amounts of experience as follows:
  • High School Diploma 8 years of acceptable land surveying experience
  • Associate’s Degree 5 years of acceptable land surveying experience
  • Bachelor’s Degree 3 years of acceptable land surveying experience

• Effective immediately, applicants are now allowed to take the NCEES FS, NCEES PS, and the GA State Specific exams (in this order) at any time during their licensure journey.Surveying coursework should be completed or nearly complete before attempting to pass the exams.

• Applicants that take and pass the FS (Fundamentals of Surveying) exam may apply to the board to obtain a LSIT certificate if desired.

Click to read the full original article on the SAMSOG website.