Board
Appointed
The Minister for Land
Information, the Hon John Tamihere, announced the appointment of the new
Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board (CSLB) in December 2002. The following people were appointed for a
period of three years from 2 December:
Gary
Clark of Auckland,
Brian
Coutts of Dunedin,
Brett
Gawn of Wellington,
Jenny
Kirk of Auckland, and
Marton
Sinclair of Christchurch.
Tony
Bevin, Surveyor General, is an ex officio member of the Board.
Frances
Russell and Peter Smidt were appointed as substitute members. Brett Gawn and Marton Sinclair were
appointed on the recommendation of a body representing licensed cadastral
surveyors.
The
Board had its first meeting on 13 December.
Its first action was to elect Brian Coutts as its Chairperson.
Ian
Fargher, secretary of the former Board, has agreed to act as the Secretary
until such time as a permanent arrangement can be entered into.
The
new Board owns the old Surveyors Register, and has historic records. However, it inherited only a small sum of
money from its predecessor, constraining immediate action. The Board has invoiced the NZIS for the
balance of the operating costs of the old Board, which was provided for under
the old legislation. It is the last
time that the NZIS will be required to financially support the regulatory
system.
License
fees
At
the meeting held on 13 December the Board resolved to set a license fee of
$188+GST for the 2002/03 year. This is
the maximum allowable under the Cadastral Survey Act 2002. The Board was acutely aware that it was established
by the Government without any set-up funding and that it will need to arrange
its own secretarial and office services.
Under
the new regime the Board may be required to appear in defended hearings, or
employ counsel for disciplinary hearings.
It therefore needs to create a reserve fund for such contingencies. The size of that fund will be the subject of
a future policy debate.
Posting of accounts to LCSs was delayed by the necessity to have an IRD number for GST purposes. The lead up to Christmas exacerbated the difficulties in sorting out such critical details. Accounts have now been sent out to 737 people eligible to hold a licence.
Under the new legislation, everyone who had an Annual Practicing Certificate (ACP) on the commencement of the new legislation is required to be treated as if they held a licence (s.32). However, in order to hold a licence, they must pay the fee set by the Board by the due date. If they do not, then the Act requires that they be treated as if they do not hold a licence.
The due date, in accordance
with
s.32 (d) of the Cadastral
Survey Act 2002
is 20 March 2003.
Those
who do not pay by that date may have to go through some relicensing
process. It is critical that all those
intending to carry a licence have paid by this date.
Given
the urgency in dealing with candidates who might have been expecting to
register under the previous legislation, the CSLB has adopted, as an interim
measure, the competencies that applied under the Survey Act 1986 as the
standards for the issue of new licenses.
The
New Zealand Institute of Surveyors Inc has indicated to the Board that it is
proposing to run a Laws and Regulations Examination, and a set of Professional
Interviews, to the same standards as the previous Board did, and as prescribed
in the Surveyors Professional Regulations 1977. It has also indicated that these will be available to anyone
eligible under the old system, irrespective of their membership of the
Institute.
In
response, the CSLB has decided that, provided the standard of examination is
maintained at the earlier level, this will be sufficient to satisfy the Board
of competency for a licence. An
application for a licence will be necessary and a standard form is under
development. Some form of character
reference may still be required.
The
details of the examinations of the old Survey Board of New Zealand were last
published on 23 July 2001. It is these
that the CSLB will require the NZIS examination process to adhere to.
In
order for practitioners to have a licence on 1 July 2003, the CSLB is planning
to send out invoices for 2003/04 in April.
Payment will need to be made by the end of May so that the Board can
recompile the Register of Licensed Surveyors and LINZ can be informed of those
who hold current licences. Landonline
requires a surveyor to hold a current licence, and the names of licensed
practitioners will need to loaded into Landonline before 1 July so that there
is no interruption to the ability to lodge plans.
Under
s.28 the Board is required to be satisfied that a surveyor complies with the
current standards of the Board before it can renew a licence. Having extended the competencies from the
old system as permitted by s.11(5), renewal of licences will be
straight-forward, but in this case will only be for one year. The question of competence on this occasion
will be assumed, unless the Surveyor General reports otherwise under s.7(1)(d).
It
is hoped that in this way there will be as little interruption to regular
business of licensed surveyors as possible.
It is, however, the responsibility of the surveyor to ensure that a current licence is held.
At
this point, the priority for the Board is to get administrative systems running
that will ensure as little disruption to the normal flow of activities. Priorities have therefore been focused, so
far, on dealing with licences and licensing through to 30 June 2004.
With
this now under control the Board has significant work ahead through the coming
year, in developing standards and policies for the continued future operation
of the system.
Clearly, the change in the law anticipated that there would be changes to the old system. The CSLB will therefore begin to focus on the standards that it is required to set for cadastral surveyors according to s.11(1)(d). These standards must relate to the competencies needed to meet the standards for surveys as set by the Surveyor General.
In
addition they have to “ . . . relate to the requirements for the subdivision
of land to the extent that they are relevant to cadastral surveying”
s.11(3)(b). It is not clear at this
time just how that will effect what the Board will require as competencies for
the issue or renewal of a licence in the future. Policy will be developed as the year unfolds.
The
other significant aspect of policy development will be in the area of
complaints and disputes procedures. The
CSLB must have a way of informing the public (clients and stakeholders) of
their rights with respect to complaints they have regarding LCS‘s they have
employed. These of course will relate
to cadastral surveys only, and not business practice.
As
a consequence, the Board must also have fair ways of dealing with LCS’s against
whom a complaint has been made. It is
important that justice is done, and seen to be done, in an even-handed way that
is fair to all participants. These also
will be explored and developed during this year.
The
Board is aware that cases of complaints about technical competency have been
rare in recent times.
It
is intended that the reciprocal agreement that has existed between the
Australian States and New Zealand for over 110 years will be maintained. The CSLB will retain its membership of the
Council of Reciprocating Survey Boards of Australia and New Zealand (CRSBANZ).
Finally,
the Board is in the process of developing a strategy that will assist all
parties interested in or affected by the policy issues, procedures and
administration of the Board.
In
the meantime, all communication with the Board should be in writing and addressed
to:
The
Secretary
Cadastral
Surveyors Licensing Board
P
O Box 5520
WELLINGTON.