(a) The board shall evaluate the nature and quality of the experience found in the supplementary experience record or the NCEES record experience information and shall determine if the work is satisfactory to the board for the purpose of issuing a license to the applicant. The board shall evaluate the supplementary experience record for evidence of the applicant's competency to be placed in responsible charge of land surveying work of a similar character.

(b) The following standards are to be used in evaluating experience:

(1) All experience must be obtained under the direction and guidance of one or more registered professional land surveyors.

(2) Experience shall be obtained in the area of boundary surveying and boundary determination only.

(3) Experience to be counted toward registration shall be counted from the date the applicant passes the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) fundamentals of land surveying examination.

(4) The required experience is divided into two types of experience, which are as follows: (A) Office experience. The required office experience will consist of a minimum of three months of acceptable experience within each of the following categories, herein referred to as "acceptable office experience" for a minimum of one year: (i) Research of county records and records search; (ii) Legal principles, boundary reconciliation, and deed sketches; (iii) Computations/traverse accuracy analysis; (iv) Documentation/description/monumentation/preparation of final surveys. All two years of the experience requirement may be obtained as office experience. (B) Field experience. The remaining acceptable experience, if not within the previously listed office experience categories, must be within the categories following: (i) Field accuracies and tolerances; (ii) Field traverse notes; (iii) Monument search based on deed sketches.

(c) In the review of surveying experience, the board may consider additional elements including:

(1) whether the experience was sufficiently complex and diverse, and of an increasing standard of quality and responsibility;

(2) whether the quality of the surveying work shows minimum technical competency;

(3) whether the experience was gained in accordance with the provisions of the Surveying Act and board rules;

(4) whether non-traditional surveying experience such as sales or military service provides sufficient depth of practice;

(5) whether short engagements have had an impact upon professional growth;

(6) whether the applicant intends to practice or offer surveying services in Texas;

(7) whether the experience was supplemented by training courses or participation in surveying organizations or societies that contribute to the applicant's competence and readiness for registration.

(d) Surveying experience may be considered satisfactory for the purpose of registration provided that:

(1) the experience is gained during an engagement longer than three months in duration;

(2) the experience, when taken as a whole, meets the minimum time;

(3) the experience is not anticipated and has actually been gained at the time of application; and

(4) the time granted for the experience claimed does not exceed the calendar time available for the periods of employment claimed.

Source Note: The provisions of this §134.43 adopted to be effective December 30, 2020, 45 TexReg 9513