Illinois Administrative Code
Title 68 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
Part 1270 - ILLINOIS PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR ACT OF 1989
Appendix B - Significant Dates for the Administration of the Act
a) May 10, 1901. An Act to provide for the permanent survey of lands. Repealed July 8, 1957.
b) July 21, 1937. An Act entitled "An Act to provide for the registration of land surveyors" was filed. This Act was repealed in 1939.
c) July 29, 1939. The Illinois Land Surveyors Act was enacted. The requirements for examination were: 21 years of age, citizen of the US, good moral character, graduated from a high school or secondary school, has 5 years' experience. The examinations were state-constructed and given by the Department of Registration and Education. Partnerships regulated. Committee of Examiners established. Surveyors in other States may be licensed if requirements are substantially equal to the requirements in this State.
d) July 16, 1963. Act amended to allow temporary permit: no more than one project and does not exceed in the aggregate more than 30 days in any calendar year. Experience granted for each one-fourth of the total hours of academic credit required for the awarding of a baccalaureate degree in civil engineering by an accredited engineering college shall be considered as equivalent to one year of Land Surveying experience; provided that undergraduate academic credit shall not be accepted in lieu of more than 3 years of Land Surveying experience when such credit does not result in the granting of a baccalaureate degree in civil engineering. Committee of Examiners increased from three to five members with new members appointed as of September 1, 1963.
e) April 27, 1967. Examinations will consist of questions in the following area relating to land surveying: (a) The statutes of the United States and the State of Illinois as they relate to land surveying, (b) The subdivision of land and (c) Practical surveying and the mathematics of land surveying. The applicant must make an average grade of not less than 75 percent with no grade below 60 to successfully complete the examination. Applicants for registration through reciprocity must appear before the Examining Committee and submit evidence of his qualifications. Discrimination: It is unprofessional and unethical conduct on the part of a registrant who refuses to render land surveyor services to a person solely on account of that person's race, color, creed, or national origin.
f) August 7, 1969. Minimum age for licensure was increased to 25 years of age with a total of 8 years of experience and 4 years of responsible charge. Adds corporations to be regulated that offer land surveying. The portion of examination taken to be enrolled as a Land Surveyor in Training is waived when taking the portion of the Registered Land Surveyor examination.
g) August 14, 1980. Time limit established by Act: A Certificate of Registered Land Surveyor in Training is valid for 10 years and may not be renewed.
h) July 21, 1982. The creation of the Design Professionals Administration and Investigation Fund. Effective July 1, 1985, all fees collected will be deposited in the Design Professionals Administration and Investigation Fund and no longer into the General Revenue Fund.
i) January 1, 1982. Effective January 1, 1986, such experience in responsible charge must be subsequent to receiving a certificate of registration as a Registered Land Surveyor in Training. Responsible charge of land surveying operations under this Act means the direct control and supervision of such operations but subject to overall supervision of a Registered Land Surveyor. Qualifications for examination for registered land surveyor in training: (1) A baccalaureate degree in Land Surveying from an accredited college or university, or (2) A Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited college or university and 2 years of land surveying experience, or (3) An Associate degree in Land Surveying Technology from an accredited junior college and 3 years land surveying experience, or (4) An Associate degree in Engineering Technology from an accredited junior college and 4 years land surveying experience, or (5) A high school diploma or its equivalent and 8 years land surveying experience.
j) January 1, 1984. Inactive status and restoration established. The temporary permit for Land Surveying was repealed by P.A. 83-1017.
k) April 1984. Illinois first administered the NCEE Fundamentals of Surveying, a 4-hour examination (FLS) for enrollment as a LSIT, and the NCEE Principles and Practice of Surveying, a 4-hour examination (PLS 1) for licensure. This replaces the State constructed examinations.
l) August 10, 1984. Five references are required for either the LSIT or Registered Land Surveyor. Establishment of the requirement to take the Illinois Jurisdictional Examination in addition to the NCEE exams.
m) October 1986. NCEE changed the PLS 1 (4-hour exam) to the PLS 2a (3-hour exam) with an additional 1-hour Public Domain portion. The Illinois Jurisdictional Examination was 1-hour.
n) January 6, 1987. Definitions of Related Sciences
1) A baccalaureate degree in a Related Science is a four-year curriculum that includes core courses in at least the following subjects for the noted semester hours or their equivalent:
A) Mathematics (beyond trigonometry) - 15 hours.
B) Basic Sciences (physics, chemistry, geology) - 15 hours.
C) Additional Sciences - 15 hours.
2) An associate degree in a Related Science is a two-year curriculum that includes core courses in at least the following subjects for the noted semester hours or their equivalent:
A) Mathematics (beyond trigonometry) - 3-6 hours.
B) Basic Sciences (physics, chemistry, geology) - 4-6 hours.
C) Additional Sciences - 4-6 hours.
o) January 8, 1987. Applicants for licensure on the basis of reciprocity must hold a valid certificate of Registration as a Land Surveyor issued under the laws of another jurisdiction and must provide proof satisfactory to the Department that they met the requirements equivalent to those in force in Illinois at the time of his licensure by examination, including certification of education, affidavits of experience, certification by the jurisdiction of the original licensure date and descriptions of examinations; those who qualify shall write the Illinois Jurisdictional Examination. Candidates from another jurisdiction for whom the Examining Committee has questions shall appear for an oral interview. All other candidates will be reviewed upon the documents submitted. The requirement for all applicants by reciprocity to appear for an oral interview was eliminated.
p) January 1, 1989. The Act was sunsetted and revised and may be cited as the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989. The Examining Committee was reestablished as the Land Surveyor Examining Board consisting of 7 members appointed by the Director, one of which is a public member, the others Professional Land Surveyors, all residents of Illinois. Requirements for licensure as a Land Surveyor were 1) applied in writing, 2) citizen of the US, 3) good moral character, 4) has acquired an Illinois license as a Land Surveyor-in-Training, 5) has at least 4 years of experience subsequent to licensure as a LSIT verified by a Professional Land Surveyor in responsible charge of land surveying operations and then, 6) passes an examination authorized by the Department to determine his fitness as a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS and Illinois Jurisdictional exams). Experience is required to be completed after passage of the FS and prior to submitting an application for approval to sit for the PS and Jurisdictional examination. The requirements for enrollment by examination for Land Surveyor-in-Training: (1) A baccalaureate degree in Land Surveying from an accredited college or university, or (2) A Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited college or university and 2 years of land surveying experience, or (3) An Associate degree in Land Surveying Technology from an accredited junior college and 3 years land surveying experience, or (4) An Associate degree in Engineering Technology from an accredited junior college and 4 years land surveying experience or (5) A high school diploma or its equivalent and 8 years land surveying experience. Deadlines for submitting the completed applications (either for the FS or the PS exams) were established as December 15 for the spring examination and June 15 for the fall examination.
q) January 1, 1989. The Act specified that as of January 1, 1998, an applicant must have a baccalaureate degree in land surveying from an accredited college or university, or a baccalaureate degree in a related science including at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses from a Board approved curriculum of an accredited institution, to be eligible for licensing as a Land Surveyor-in-Training.
r) January 1, 1989. Endorsement of licensure replaces reciprocity. Requirements are based upon those extant in Illinois at the time of original licensure (education, experience and examinations) and passing the Illinois Jurisdictional examination.
s) January 1, 1989. The Act specified that the seal of the Professional Land Surveyor will contain the name of the land surveyor, his place of business, the license number, and the words "Professional Land Surveyor, State of Illinois".
t) April 2, 1991. Definitions of Related Sciences
1) A baccalaureate degree in a Related Science is a four-year curriculum that includes core courses in at least the following subjects for the noted semester hours or their equivalent:
A) Mathematics (beyond trigonometry) - 15 hours.
B) Basic Sciences (physics, chemistry, geology) - 15 hours.
C) Additional Sciences - 15 hours.
2) An associate degree in a Related Science is a two-year curriculum that includes core courses in at least the following subjects for the noted semester hours or their equivalent:
A) Mathematics (beyond trigonometry) - 3 hours.
B) Basic Sciences (physics, chemistry, geology) - 4 hours.
C) Additional Sciences - 4 hours.
u) April 2, 1991. Examination requirements: 1) NCEES Fundamentals of Land Surveying Examination (for enrollment as a LSIT), 2) NCEES Principles and Practice of Land Surveying Examination, 3) NCEES Public Domain (Jurisdictional Principles and Practice) examination and 4) Illinois Jurisdictional Examination.
v) April 2, 1991. Section 1270.35 Inactive Status was added to the administrative rules allowing a Licensed Professional Land Surveyor with an active license to place his license on inactive status.
w) April 2, 1991. Reciprocity replaced by "Endorsement" which requires all applicants from another jurisdiction to have met the education, experience and examinations (State constructed or NCEES examinations) required in Illinois at the time of original licensure and to pass the Illinois Jurisdictional Examination in order to be licensed.
x) October 1992. NCEES changed the PLS 2a exam to the PLS (6-hour exam) and eliminated the Public Domain examination.
y) April 5, 1994. Experience defined in the administrative rules consisting of two-thirds to be either A) locating land boundaries and land boundary corners including the following services: i) Researching public and private records; ii) Relocation lost or obliterated corners, iii) Establishing, reestablishing or perpetuating survey monuments; iv) Subdividing sections; v) Establishing or retracing property lines to determine length and bearing; vi) Reestablishing obliterated property lines; vii) Preparing descriptions of real property from data acquired by field measurements; viii) Conducting resurveys; and ix) Writing and interpreting land descriptions, and B) Preparing maps including, i) Maps of sections or portions of sections or townships as established by the original public land survey and subdivisions of those sections in accordance with the manuals of surveying instructions by the federal government and the State of Illinois; ii) Subdivision plans prepared in accordance with the Illinois statutes or local ordinances; iii) Certified survey maps prepared in accordance with the Illinois statutes or local ordinances; iv) Maps showing other divisions of land not controlled by statute or ordinance; and v) Official plats or maps of land in this State. No more than one-third of a Surveyor-in-Training applicant's experience may be acquired in A) Drafting highway and railroad rights-of-way plans; B) Construction stating for highways, roads, streets or similar projects within the boundaries of established rights of way; C) Performing topographical surveys; D) Developing control networks for aerial photography unless property lines are used for control; and E) Performing new building layout or construction surveys or other design related surveys.
z) November 15, 1995. Section 1270.55 establishing the Land Surveyor Complaint Committee was added to the administrative rules.
aa) April 3, 1996. Section 1270.APPENDIX A Rules for the Perpetuation of Monuments under the Land Survey Monuments Act was added to the administrative rules.
ab) August 1, 1996. Act required: Any professional services corporation, sole proprietorship, or professional land surveying firm offering land surveying services must have a resident land surveyor overseeing the land surveying practices in each location in which land surveying services are provided.
ac) August 2, 1996. The requirements for evaluation of foreign degree were established in the Act. The requirement for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE) were established in the Act. Effective January 1, 1997, TOEFL with a score of 550 and TSE with a score of 50 were required by rule. Dates for completed application to the Department for review by Board were established as November 15 for the spring examination and May 15 for the fall examination.
ad) January 1, 1998. As of this date, all applicants applying for the LSIT must have either: (1) a baccalaureate degree in Land Surveying from an accredited college or university; or (2) a baccalaureate degree in a related science including at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses from a Board approved curriculum of an accredited institution. Applicants who were approved prior to this date for the LSIT would not be required to have the education reviewed unless they did not apply for and acquire licensure before the LSIT expired (valid only for 10 years). Anyone who re-applied for the FS must meet the new education requirements.
ae) December 31, 1999. Section 1270.52 Fees was added to the administrative rules and taken out of the Act.
af) January 1, 2000. The name was changed from the land Surveyor Examining Board to the Land Surveyor Licensing Board. The Act eliminated the requirements that the managing agent for a Professional Design Firm be one of the officers/members/partners and that a majority of the officers/members/partners be licensed land surveyors. The Act still required the managing agent to be a full-time employee.
ag) January 1, 2000. Continuing education was added to the Act: the Department may promulgate rules of continuing education for persons licensed under this Act.
ah) November 20, 2000. Section 1270.56 Minimum Standards of Practice was added to the administrative rules.
ai) November 20, 2000. Section 1270.57 Standards of Professional Conduct was added to the administrative rules.
aj) March 1, 2001. Section 1270.15 - Definition of Related Science - education requirements reduced to:
A baccalaureate degree in a Related Science is a four-year curriculum that includes core courses in at least the following subjects for the noted semester hours or their equivalent:
1) Mathematics (college algebra and beyond) - 15 hours.
2) Basic Sciences (physics and/or chemistry) - 8 hours.
3) Additional Basic Sciences (including, but not limited to: geology, geography, dendrology, astronomy, biology, soil mechanics, and engineering sciences) - 20 hours.
ak) July 2, 2002. Section 1270.85 Professional Development was added to the rules. The professional development required as a condition for license renewal under the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act: All Land Surveyors shall meet these requirements beginning with the November 30, 2004 renewal and every renewal thereafter, in order to renew a license as a land surveyor, a licensee shall be required to complete 20 professional development hours (PDH) relevant to the practice of land surveying. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in non-renewal of the land surveyor's license or other disciplinary action, or both.
al) November 10, 2004. Section 1270.85 amended to specify that hours be in the following categories:
1) A minimum of 4 hours of programs, courses or activities in the area of State of Illinois statutes and rules that regulate professional land surveyors and surveys.
2) A minimum of 2 hours of programs, courses or activities in the area of professional conduct.
3) A minimum of 14 hours of programs, courses, or activities in the area of land surveying or related sciences.
4) No more than half (10) of the hours may be obtained from on-line, distance learning or video courses; however, the 4 hours required in subsection (a)(1)(A) may not be obtained in this manner.
am) August 29, 2009. Act was amended to allow an applicant to sit for the Fundamentals of Surveying and be enrolled as an LSIT meeting one of the following: 1) Accredited Land Surveying baccalaureate degree, 2) baccalaureate degree in Related Science with at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses, 3) an Associate of Science degree in surveying or a related sciences with at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses and at least 2 years of experience or 4) a high school diploma or equivalent with at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses and at least 4 years of experience. As no administrative rules were put in place before the Act changed again in 2012, no applicants for the FS were reviewed to meet the educational requirements of Section 1270.15 except for the 24 semester hours of land surveying courses.
an) August 29, 2009. The minimum requirements to sit for the Principles and Practice examination and the Illinois Jurisdictional exam were changed from having an active LSIT to having an active LSIT with either a 1) accredited Land Surveying baccalaureate degree or 2) a baccalaureate degree in a Related Science with at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses, with the degree meeting the Related Science course requirements in Section 1270.15. A LSIT was no longer sufficient to be approved to sit for the PS and Illinois Jurisdictional examinations.
ao) In March of 2010, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Test of Spoken English (TSE) ceased to be offered as the TOEFL-iBT (Internet Based Test) was established and superseded this exam. While in effect, the TOEFL and TSE requirements were a minimum score of 550 or 213 for the computer based-test and that TSE was a minimum score of 50.
ap) April 27, 2010. Section 1270.56 Minimum Standards of Practice was amended to include the standards for a topographic survey.
aq) January 1, 2012. Act was amended back to requiring either a 1) land surveying baccalaureate degree, or 2) a Related Science degree meeting the specific requirements of Section 1270.15 (24 semester hours of land surveying courses, 15 hours math, 8 hours physics or chemistry and 20 hours of additional basic sciences) in order to sit for the FS and be enrolled as a LSIT. The qualifications for sitting for the PS and the Illinois Jurisdictional examination were kept to be either 1) accredited Land Surveying baccalaureate degree or 2) a baccalaureate degree in a Related Science with at least 24 semester hours of land surveying courses, with the degree meeting the specifications of Section 1270.15. Any applicant who had been previously approved to sit for the FS exam was required to have the new application reviewed in order to determine that they met the current education requirements for licensure.
ar) January 1, 2014. NCEES changed the Fundamentals of Surveying examination from a 6-hour paper exam to a Computer Based Test (CBT) which became available to be taken up to a maximum of three times in a year, available through Pearson Vue testing centers once a quarter.
as) January 1, 2014. Written signature no longer required: Licensee may provide, at his or her sole discretion, an original signature in the licensee's handwriting, a scanned copy of the document bearing an original signature or signature generated by a computer.
at) November 13, 2015. Section 1270.5, 1270.10, and 1270.30 allow evaluation to be completed by NCEES.
au) October 2016. The PLS examination was changed from a 6-hour paper exam to a Computer Based Test (CBT) available continuously throughout the year for those approved to sit. The applicant could take the exam up to 3 times a year, with a maximum of once per quarter. NCEES stopped registering applicants to take state constructed exams. CTS is to increase the administering of the Illinois Jurisdictional examination to four times a year from twice a year.
av) January 1, 2018. Changes to Act took place.
1) The term Land Surveyor-in-Training was changed to Surveyor Intern.
2) The Fundamentals of Engineering examination and SIT(SI) enrollment no longer expire.
